Webwords

Most have taken place at restaurants. One started at a ferry terminal, one at an airport, and one at someone’s home. Each meetup has created lasting memories for me.

Back in 1998, when I first went online, the Web was a strange new place. Who were those people we talked to in newsgroups and elsewhere? You didn’t know who you might be communicating with online.

As I got to know people through posts and emails, I realized that they’re the same kind of people I’m in contact with in other situations except that we don’t all live in the same area. And by choosing a newsgroup or other forum to get involved in, we’re choosing to get to know people we have something in common with. Most likely, we have more in common than what we discuss in the group that brought us together.

I’ve now met people in person from a newsgroup, a Yahoo group, and a forum — more than once for each type of group. Typically, it takes a bit of time to adjust at first as we become accustomed to physical presences to go with personalities. The other people never look and sound exactly as we’d pictured. But once the conversation gets going, we talk like people who know each other. As we do.

Last month, I had the pleasure of meeting in person three people I got to know in a health support group back in the late 1990s. While I’ve spent time in numerous other groups since then, that group and its people are still special to me. We’re there to help each other — not just with a project or particular interest, but with our health and our lives.

I owe so much to these people for the knowledge and support I’ve gained from them. I value the friendships that started years ago and continue today. Ted, Mag, and Gary, thanks for the good memories and for the years of learning, helping, and playing we’ve shared.

She: a lactose-intolerant, hypoglycemic, semi-vegetarian (no red meat) health food nut.

He: literally a meat-and-potatoes guy ("vegetables are what food eats!") with a penchant for baking and eating pie.

What happens when they share a kitchen and all their meals?

They both compromise, they eat more variety than they did alone, and they eat very well.

She takes Lactaid so that she can eat dairy, forgoes eating organic produce only, and indulges in more desserts than she usually eats in a year. He drinks juice with their oatmeal at breakfast, sometimes eats fruit or yogurt for a snack, and eats salad at dinner.

They cook different dishes. Sometimes only one of them eats them, and sometimes they both eat them. Together, they prepare lots to choose from, especially on leftovers nights:

• Vegetarian chili and other bean dishes
• Spaghetti with the meat prepared separately
• Vegetarian pasta dishes
• Roast beef or hamburgers with meat or soy patties
• Baked potatoes
• Southern cornbread
• Chicken stir fries
• Vegetables in cheese sauce
• Egg-potato-vegetable medley

Desserts are just as varied:

• Bread pudding
• Fruit and custard pudding
• Dirt cake (chocolate)
• East Indian banana yogurt salad
• Peach cobbler
• Non-dairy chocolate ice cream
• Pie: coconut cream, pumpkin, strawberry, chocolate

They both like cooking and eating, they both like chocolate, and they both respect the other person’s choices. Together, they’re eating very well.

Yup, Vegas was hot. At 116 degrees Fahrenheit or 47 degrees Celsius on Saturday (the day they issued an "extreme heat warning" for), it was hotter than anything I’d experienced. After spending several hours outside on a Lake Mead cruise, we drove to Hoover Dam, parked, and decided that we were too tired from the heat to walk the quarter mile or so to the dam.

On Sunday, the others arrived. They were still adjusting to the heat while we were enjoying the "cooler" temperatures. The four of us WHT moderators (Dennis, Steve, Paul, and me) met and had lunch together, and that evening, the four of us had dinner along with the three iNET staff members who were there (Troy, Mat, and Scott).

Vegas involves a lot of walking. I’d heard that, but I couldn’t fully grasp it until I was there. From the parkade at The Mirage, where the conference was, it was a 15-minute walk to get out of the parkade, into the hotel, and through or past the reception area, the casino, the restaurants, and the shops. To do any sightseeing, you also need to consider the time needed to walk from where you’re parked into and through the building. To go from one building to another is another major walk.

Driving is another story. Don’t count on Google Maps to show you the full routes. There are shortcuts through hotel property to avoid driving on the Strip, and once you’re parked, it’s a while before you can get to a road again.

Working in the conference exhibit hall was fun. We met a lot of people we’d gotten to know online, and of course we played around a bit. Dennis, Steve, Paul, and Mat, among others, I really enjoyed meeting you and spending time with you.

Vegas isn’t my type of vacation, but it wasn’t just a vacation, and it was a different type of experience. You have to be there to understand it. I’d like to go back and plan on more time for each activity, relax more, and splurge on a show. Many of the free attractions aren’t worth the time it takes to get to them, but I heard only good comments about the shows.

For those who are wondering about my other reason for going to Vegas, this picture tells the story:

“I never thought you were the Vegas type.” I agreed with him, but I’m going. As I’ve learned, Vegas is a lot more than gambling and conventions.

First, right in Vegas, most hotels on the Strip (the main drag for tourists) are themed and have attractions, many of which are free. From a fake volcano and a pirate battle to fountain shows and wildlife habitats, it’s all there. Just a short ride away is the Liberace Museum featuring "dazzling jewelry, rare antiques, unsurpassed wardrobe, unique and historical pianos and his custom car collection." Downtown, Fremont Street Experience is a nightly (several times per evening) sound and light show in a canopy above the street. As one person described Vegas, everything is over the top.

It isn’t my kind of place, but everyone has to see Vegas once. That’s what people have been telling me. It’ll be an experience.

And when I’m offered an all-expenses-paid trip if I work at a conference for a few hours a day, how could I turn that down? I didn’t, of course. The "work" will be greeting and talking to people in an exhibit hall lounge. I’ll be getting to know people in person I’ve already gotten to know online as well as meeting new people.

Within an hour of Vegas, there’s Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead (including cruises), and Valley of Fire State Park. If we extend the time to a couple of hours from Vegas, there’s even more to see.

I won’t have time to see everything, but I’m looking forward to seeing a lot. Gambling? Even if I were interested in gambling, there’s too much to see and do to waste time in a casino.

I didn’t give much thought to the decision when I moved into the neighbourhood. The veterinary clinic was a five-minute walk from where I lived, and my neighbour took her dog there and liked it.

I first took Benjy there a few days after getting him from the SPCA. It was to be a checkup, but Benjy had developed an infection of some sort. Dr. Jack Brondwin, the veterinarian, estimated Benjy’s age to be about 14 weeks, commented on how beautiful he was, and prescribed some antibiotics for him. A few days later, Benjy was almost better again.

Until Benjy was about 12, the reasons for visits were mostly routine — vaccinations, allergies, occasional injuries. When his health problems developed, having a good veterinarian to consult with became a lot more important. What are the options and the new developments for treating each health condition? How can holistic and conventional treatments work together? What steps need to be taken when?

When your veterinarian is someone you can discuss all of the above with, the stress of taking care of a sick pet is more manageable. When the veterinarian shows how much he cares about animals and is someone you’ve gotten to know throughout your pet’s life, you and your pet are even more fortunate.

One day, I stopped at the clinic shortly before closing time to pick up some medication. Jack and I got into a long conversation about our personal views on health treatment. While we were talking, I realized that he was probably the person I’d be sharing the last moments of my cat’s life with.

He was. It was an awful time, but having a veterinarian that I knew and trusted provide the final advice for Benjy kept it from being even worse.

Thanks, Jack. And thanks also to all the other caring staff members at your clinic. I hope that other pet owners can be as fortunate as Benjy and I were.