So yesterday was the coldest day yet this winter (which ain't sayin' much, but in this case it was way damn cold). And our friends 256, ni, and misstrish arrived on our doorstep mid-afternoon, having driven through from Toronto since the wee hours of the morning. I gather Niagra Falls at 5am in the winter is very cool: ice from the mist coats everything. And no, they don't turn it off at night, even in the winter.

I missed out on the fun at the old homestead, what with the work thing. iGrrrl was giving a talk in Medford, so she came by the house afterwards (maybe 4 miles away), and spend the afternoon chatting with toxicfur and the Canuckistanis.

We had arranged a Husi Meetup for Boston Beerworks for the evening. I was a bit delayed getting there; I had my carpool drop me at a subway station (see above under "way damn cold") and had to wait 10 minutes or so for a suitable green line train. So I was the last to arrive, and walked up to toxicfur just as she was trying to light up and call me, both at once.

Dinner has been discussed elsewhere. They pushed together 4 tables so I was five seats away from Kellnerin and aethucyn, and unable to hear much of the witty banter at their end of the table.

Imperial Stout is teh yum. The meatloaf gets a B+, would perhaps order again, after trying several other entries on the menu. When the food was mostly gone and people were into their second beer (or water, or tea, or whatever) we did some shuffling of seats. So I got to hear an impassioned screed on the joys of proofreading a box of blank origami paper (Kellnerin to 256). Also a fascinating discussion mostly between iGrrrl, 256, and ni, on the nature of vows, language, and marriage. With toxicfur and me as case in several different points.

As we broke up, I suggested calling the San Francisco Husi Drinks, which should then have been getting underway. As it happens, since I was in SFia last fall, I still had aphrael's phone number, so, um, why not? iGrrrl took the phone from me as it started to ring, and left a message. He called back half an hour or so later, by which time iGrrrl, 256, ni, misstrish, toxicfur, and I were about halfway back to our house on the train. aethucyn and ad hoc went the other way on the subway, and Kellnerin was probably still wondering why the benches at the commuter rail station are roped off.

As I plugged my phone in later, I was wondering how many of my plethoric minutes I'd spent, so asked it for a balance. Turns out it was 2 after midnight, so i'd spent zero minutes so far today. Dunno about yesterday.

This morning: There's half a bottle of bourbon (Maker's Mark), six bottles of beer (KLB) and a hat on the kitchen table. toxicfur coveted 256's hat, and wore it much of the evening. The dog has had his breakfast, but I'm rather afraid his excitement at the very fact of morning has awakened several of our guests. Nobody has appeared, though, so perhaps it's all good. I'm wondering who the dog has found to crawl into bed with, though.

Today's fun includes trying to find a replacement for the tire on "old salt", a movie (Pan's Labyrinth) for this afternoon, and no doubt some improvising re: itinerary and other activities.

My washer has finished, so I'll post this and go tend that.