Free stuff can't go to waste

Aside of the people handling the auto-pay on my mortgage fouling up January's withdrawals, today has been OK. Cats were behaved, it's relatively warm out, I solved a problem that was bugging someone for a while, and my arrangements for Lotusphere are locked in. Almost.

This year, I'm basing my choice of en route hotels pretty much solely on whether they offer wireless net access. I just like staying connected too much to spend a night without it... particularly at a time when I'm out of touch with my office and when, historically, shit explodes for no apparent reason except that my servers miss me.

Among other stupid facts, I discovered today that a Southwest free roundtrip ticket that I earned back when I was shuttling back and forth from Baltimore to Manchester, New Hampshire (when I still thought I had a marriage worth saving) will turn black and rot on February 8th. I have no idea where I'd want to go between now and then, since this would be right after Lotusphere.

Fark.

Maybe I should ask Alison if she's interested in meeting up that weekend. I can also use it to visit my parents without the hassle of holidayism, and maybe catch up with a couple of people up there. But then again, it's a little stupid to fly somewhere that's only a five-hour drive from here, knowing that I'd have to get a rental car anyway.

I just hate giving up free stuff, and this free thing, I feel like I earned.

Got a call this evening from a longtime friend I know mostly through Lotusphere. She's looking forward to getting down there and blowing off steam... apparently, she's had as crappy a year as I've had. Maybe worse.

Time to go get catfud.