Now that I'm feeling better, at least for a while...
...Lyssa and I headed out to Rialian's place last night for the return of open study, stopping at our local Five Guys burger joint for dinner en route.
Five Guys reminds me a lot of the O in Pittsburgh - it's homey and cozey, the food is tasty (only they serve hamburgers made to order instead of hot dogs), and when you order a large fries, they give you a large order of fries. A large fries is easily enough for two people so it's safe to halve your order if you go there. The hamburgers were made on site and not shipped over frozen, and it showed. Please bear in mind, they are a burger joint only, so if you're looking for more you won't find it, but what they do have is excellent. I give them two flareguns, only because your heart will despise you afterward.
After dinner Lyssa and I got lost on our way to Rialian's due to the traffic construction that seems to have turned Rockville into a maze of temporary roads and orange cones. It was almost like Pittsburgh. Rialian had a full house last night - he'd invited a few new folks over, some of whom we were already aquainted with from the Walnut Tree, a shop that no longer exists. I wound up swapping data with Shawn for most of the night and reading over Brawnwyn's work (she's finally been published!). Unfortunately, we had to leave early because there was laundry to do and both Lyssa and I had to go to work today, so the night was cut far too short for our liking.