As the title implies, I think I need to take a break from blogging for a while. Just a week ago I had plans to write up my notes from DefCon and then go into all of the neat stuff that happened, like pulling a Charlie Brown at the locksport contest (okay, that wasn't so neat but at least I can laugh about it after the fact), the InSoc concert, and all of that happy stuff.

Unfortunately, I've just returned from the east coast. Mid-last week I got a phone call from my mother while walking to work and was …

Last weekend wound up a bit in the air due to an emergency at the last minute - one of Lyssa's relatives died unexpectedly and the family was hastily reconvened for her funeral, which was held on Saturday. because I'd been on the road the weekend before, I didn't have to make the trek back to Pennsylvania, much to my relief. Grant picked up Lyssa sometime on Friday while I was at work and returned to their homestead, which left me with some time on my hands. The first thing I did was move my car maintenance appointment back to Saturday …

I don't have a lot of time right now, so I'll give everyone the highlights:

Lyssa and I got back from Pennsylvania around 0000 EST5EDT this morning. Grandma Pat's funeral went smoothly, the wake was small (as wakes go) and reasonably uneventful. I wound up sleeping through most of it because I was still dead tired from driving all Friday night up to Pennsylvania after work, got up early to get ready and dressed, and attend the memorial service. We left around 1845 EST5EDT on Saturday night and, after driving through one of the nastiest rainstorms to hit the tri-state …