In Which We Risk Medical Emergency/Financial Ruin To Meet Firefly Stars

Tags

Andy Runton, comicon, emerald city comicon, Firefly, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, labour, Owly, pregnancy, seattle, star trek, travel

Everyone said we were crazy to do it, and we knew that they were right.

You do not travel two weeks away from your due date.

You especially do not travel close to your due date IN THE UNITED STATES.

The cost of American health care is infamous. BC radio is filled with Pacific Blue Cross commercials featuring John Cleese, in which he plays a greedy American (?) doctor called Nigel Bilkington who does x-rays on you just to make sure you have your wallet on you before you even receive care.

(Want to hear? I found one here.)

On the way to the border there are big signs reminding you that even a day trip can result in a broken bone and thousands of dollars of debt.

It’s important to remind Canadians of this because we take free health care for granted.

PH and I have cross-border insurance.

But no insurance will cover you if you wander into the states while totally full-term and end up having a baby there. I can’t even imagine what an emergency C-section or something would cost.

So why would we go?

We go to Emerald City Comicon in Seattle every year. It has become a family tradition. Every year we get a new family portrait with some geeky-famous person. The first year was George Takei.

The next year was Patrick Stewart.

My new favourite family photo

I didn’t get around to posting about it last year, but we went again and got our photos taken with Alan Tudyk, otherwise known as Wash from Firefly as well as about a million other characters.

He put his arm around me. It was awesome.

This year, Levar Burton was scheduled to be there, and I couldn’t miss my chance at getting a photo with Geordie LaForge/The Reading Rainbow guy.

So we bought tickets. I bought a maternity shirt that read “The Next Generation” right over my belly.

We also packed a hospital bag.

We figured that if we drove like hell, we could probably get back to the border within a couple of hours, and there was a hospital just across the border. All I had to do was hold the baby in ’til we got there.

Everyone told us it was a bad idea.

They were right.

You Want ‘Em? We Got ‘Em.

Tags

action figures, anime, anxiety, auctions, collectibles, D&C, depression, ebay, Marvel, selling, star trek, star wars, WoW

Perfect Husband’s depression still weighs him down, but I’m seeing signs of hope… like a vague interest in things.

A couple of weeks ago he started browsing auction items for an upcoming collectables auction.

He wore himself out obsessively researching every item on the auction, noting its average sale value online, and then figuring out the maximum he could pay if he wanted to make a 50% profit off of the item.

He used to work at Ebay a long time ago, and he knows the tips and tricks for figuring out what stuff is really worth, and not just what it is selling for.

His list had hundreds of items.

I figured it was pretty unlikely that many items would sell for half their value or less, given our prior experience with Vancouver auctions, but I was glad that he had a project, because it was the first sign of being interested in anything that he had shown in a long time, so I encouraged him.

This is our living room after he unloaded the car.When he came back from the auction, the car looked like this.

That was the first load.

He had to go back the next day for the second load.

The next morning when we woke up, he said, “I dreamed that I spent over $3,000 on toys and they filled our entire living room.”

“Yeah, that happened.”

We have Star Trek figurines, Star Wars, Muppets, DC Comics, Marvel, WoW, anime, and all kinds of other statues and models and action figures that I’ve never heard of.

Who the hell is Elongated Man?

Why is a Star Trek Salt Vampire worth money?

PH has catalogued, photographed, and stacked them all in our computer room, where he guards them jealously from pet fur and curious little boy fingers.

When he finally sells them all, we’ll make a significant profit. Plus I think it’s healthy for PH to have a project. I keep hoping it’ll help ease him out of his misery.

Unfortunately, PH is now suffering from severe anxiety that they won’t sell.

But I’m not worried.

And when I’m not worried, you can take that to the bank.

Who Needs Science Or Logic? Not Star Trek: Into Darkness!

Tags

benedict cumberbatch, Enterprise, fail, khan, logic, movies, reviews, science, star trek, star trek: into darkness

A friend took Owl so we could go to a movie this weekend, so I dragged PH to Star Trek: Into Darkness.

Not because I thought it would be good but because I figured it would at least interest him.

It definitely INTERESTED him.

It also may have shrivelled his soul.

I’m not an original Star Trek fan. As much as I love George Takei, my knowledge of Star Trek starts with Captain Picard.

But PH is a genuine Trekkie, he even owns a detailed manual to the Enterprise, which he consults occasionally, so I was surprised that he was so accepting of the 2009 reboot. He was okay with the ending – he felt it left room for the director to make new story lines instead of simply rehashing old stuff.

So I figured this movie would be about the same.

Yeah, about that…

PH’s brain nearly exploded about two minutes into the movie, and it just went downhill from there. Even I, as a non-Trekkie, was offended.

If you are a Star Trek fan, you probably shouldn’t see this movie.

The funny thing is, when we mention it to people, including people who claim to be fans of the original series, they have all said “What? It was good…” Then PH starts pointing things out, and they go “Oh, well, yeah… yeah… you’re right… that didn’t make sense…”

So allow me to rephrase.

If you kind of liked Star Trek and you like movies that are shiny (like me), you should see this movie.

It is VERY shiny.

If you are a Star Trek fan and consider yourself a PURIST, which I think all true Trekkies DO, you should NOT see this movie.

Nor should you see it if you have an interest in, oh, SCIENCE.

I’ll start with non-spoilers, so don’t be afraid. I’ll warn you before I give away anything remotely important.

Emerald City Comicon – OH, MY! (Or, In Which Owl Meets George Takei)

Tags

artists, comicon, comics, Dinosaur Comics, emerald city comicon, george takei, memes, Questionable Content, seattle, Something Positive, star trek, The oatmeal

PH and I drove to Seattle for Emerald City Comicon. We’ve been looking forward to it for months, ever since we found out that George Takei, a bunch of PH’s favourite web comic artists, Christopher Lloyd, and a bunch of great voice talents would be there.

My only disappointment was that Journey Quest didn’t seem to be making an appearance. Then Christopher Lloyd dropped out and I was more diappointed.

Nevertheless, the lure of George Takei was strong, and PH and I haven’t had a trip to Seattle since Owl was born. We went to stay in our usual motel, a sleazy inn with rates to match, but with the added benefit of in-room private Jacuzzis in some of the rooms. Carol Heaven. Probably also Chlamydia Heaven, but so far I’ve been lucky.

In preparation for meeting George Takei, I ordered a special onesie for Owl. After all, you don’t get to meet a Meme Hero every day.

I'm going to meet who, now?