FA+
Shop
NWA-MFM Con Report
a year ago
A Peek Into My Mind. Be Afraid.
I just re-entered the MinkAbode after being away for just short of two weeks in the wilds of Northwest Arkansas and Olive Branch, Mississippi. Herewith, the report!
Like Caesar's Gaul, the trip was in three parts: about a week in Springdale, Arkansas, five days (inclusive of two days of travel) at MFM, and then two days back in Springdale. The logistics were made possible by
walt46 (hereinafter, "Mutte"). Because your humble servant does not have a driver's permit, and hasn't been behind the wheel of a car in probably 35 years (though he did pass a written test some years ago), and because 
marmelmm (hereinafter, "Bear") has recently had a medical procedure that makes driving not possible, Mutte did a great deal of heavy lifting (inclusive of 16 hours of interstate travel) to make Things Happen. (Mutte also did a job on some followup medical attention that aroused the compliments of a professional, later.)
The first part of the venture had, as a principal goal, the bucking up of the morale of Bear by Mutte and Mink. In some part, this included helping organize and tidy up Chez Bear, the more so after things got in slight disarray owing to the need to set things up for Bear after he got out of hospital/rehab. In no small part, this also included taking the Bear around for assorted meals. These included: (1) Monte Ne Inn in Rogers, where the Mutte now realizes precisely why the Mink is always whining and carrying on about the need to eat their fried chicken; (2) Doe's Eat Place in Fayetteville, home of delicious steak (the Bear had a large one, a chunk of which was taken home, and Mutte and Mink each had a tasty filet, the Mutte's accompanied by a wine that met with such satisfaction he researched where he could get it back home; (3) Pasta Grille in Van Buren (an hour's drive away, to test Bear's ability to handle long trips) for French Dip, and (4) Neal's, a very nice diner in Springdale itself. The look of pleasure upon the phiz of Bear upon eating both fried chicken and steak was worth the price of admission. Bookstore raids, as per tradition, were also had, though I had a large batch of books awaiting me (as well as
steamfox and a friend/boss of Mitch's). I did, later, have to send home three boxes via USPS so as not to arouse the wrath of Delta Air Lines. The Bear even made a cameo appearance at his heritage railroad, much to the pleasure of the personnel there (including the boss, who got her aforementioned books and a few other things).
MFM, for me, tends to be about a few different things. One was "Dinner with the Dons" at Coletta's (see Bear's post on his pizza), which involves Don Sueme (i.e., Mink) acting as bag man for the tip. The tip comprises a wrapped stack of 100 $1 bills for the very nice and funny waitress that has been waiting on the Dons for years. She gave us a brief twerk by way of thanks, to the amusement of all. (My shrimp and mushrooms with alfredo sauce was excellent.) There was also the closing dinner at Osaka (no need for Mutte to raise voice, even though we didn't get the grille this year because the restaurant did odd things about taking reservations), and exchanging loot with
rabbi-tom. I pranked him at Osaka with plum wine (they've not had it some years at Osaka, though they did this year), plus a White Castle "sippy cup" (which made him laugh), a plushie AR-15, and a "Chummy Book of Little Ships," which provoked the Lil' Rabbi act I thought the plushie would! I also got a few drawings out of Jim, which I will post, soon, and I'm waiting on a few others. One writer's panel (not hugely worth it), a metal souvenir tag (two, actually, owing to a mistake by the maker) for charity, and that was about it. More support for Bear.
The second Springdale venture did result in improvements to the living room, workroom, and clothes-space (we got a small set of plastic drawers for his closet), with clothes organized. I'd also gotten some tool bags at Lowe's to use as a document bag and as a doctor's bag. We also set up (earlier) a shower chair, which worked fine. One more meal wish-fulfillment for the Bear, which was at Napoli's in Rogers, where veal parmesan was had by Bear and Mink, and veal marsala (I think) by Mutte.
Overall, we left the Bear this morning in a good frame of mind. Which was the point of the drill.
Like Caesar's Gaul, the trip was in three parts: about a week in Springdale, Arkansas, five days (inclusive of two days of travel) at MFM, and then two days back in Springdale. The logistics were made possible by
walt46 (hereinafter, "Mutte"). Because your humble servant does not have a driver's permit, and hasn't been behind the wheel of a car in probably 35 years (though he did pass a written test some years ago), and because 
marmelmm (hereinafter, "Bear") has recently had a medical procedure that makes driving not possible, Mutte did a great deal of heavy lifting (inclusive of 16 hours of interstate travel) to make Things Happen. (Mutte also did a job on some followup medical attention that aroused the compliments of a professional, later.)The first part of the venture had, as a principal goal, the bucking up of the morale of Bear by Mutte and Mink. In some part, this included helping organize and tidy up Chez Bear, the more so after things got in slight disarray owing to the need to set things up for Bear after he got out of hospital/rehab. In no small part, this also included taking the Bear around for assorted meals. These included: (1) Monte Ne Inn in Rogers, where the Mutte now realizes precisely why the Mink is always whining and carrying on about the need to eat their fried chicken; (2) Doe's Eat Place in Fayetteville, home of delicious steak (the Bear had a large one, a chunk of which was taken home, and Mutte and Mink each had a tasty filet, the Mutte's accompanied by a wine that met with such satisfaction he researched where he could get it back home; (3) Pasta Grille in Van Buren (an hour's drive away, to test Bear's ability to handle long trips) for French Dip, and (4) Neal's, a very nice diner in Springdale itself. The look of pleasure upon the phiz of Bear upon eating both fried chicken and steak was worth the price of admission. Bookstore raids, as per tradition, were also had, though I had a large batch of books awaiting me (as well as
steamfox and a friend/boss of Mitch's). I did, later, have to send home three boxes via USPS so as not to arouse the wrath of Delta Air Lines. The Bear even made a cameo appearance at his heritage railroad, much to the pleasure of the personnel there (including the boss, who got her aforementioned books and a few other things).MFM, for me, tends to be about a few different things. One was "Dinner with the Dons" at Coletta's (see Bear's post on his pizza), which involves Don Sueme (i.e., Mink) acting as bag man for the tip. The tip comprises a wrapped stack of 100 $1 bills for the very nice and funny waitress that has been waiting on the Dons for years. She gave us a brief twerk by way of thanks, to the amusement of all. (My shrimp and mushrooms with alfredo sauce was excellent.) There was also the closing dinner at Osaka (no need for Mutte to raise voice, even though we didn't get the grille this year because the restaurant did odd things about taking reservations), and exchanging loot with
rabbi-tom. I pranked him at Osaka with plum wine (they've not had it some years at Osaka, though they did this year), plus a White Castle "sippy cup" (which made him laugh), a plushie AR-15, and a "Chummy Book of Little Ships," which provoked the Lil' Rabbi act I thought the plushie would! I also got a few drawings out of Jim, which I will post, soon, and I'm waiting on a few others. One writer's panel (not hugely worth it), a metal souvenir tag (two, actually, owing to a mistake by the maker) for charity, and that was about it. More support for Bear.The second Springdale venture did result in improvements to the living room, workroom, and clothes-space (we got a small set of plastic drawers for his closet), with clothes organized. I'd also gotten some tool bags at Lowe's to use as a document bag and as a doctor's bag. We also set up (earlier) a shower chair, which worked fine. One more meal wish-fulfillment for the Bear, which was at Napoli's in Rogers, where veal parmesan was had by Bear and Mink, and veal marsala (I think) by Mutte.
Overall, we left the Bear this morning in a good frame of mind. Which was the point of the drill.
Vix