Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 12:26:50 -0500 (EST)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at keithlynch.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: PRSFS, Philcon (was Re: WSFA)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

<swstiles at comcast.net> wrote:

> Sleeping six to a room brings back old memories....

Seven to a room.  I did so since my finances have improved.  A year
or two ago, I either stayed up every other night, crashed at a local
friend's home, or simply skipped the con.  (I didn't go to Philcon
last year, though I did the year before that.)

My finances may improve even further in the near future; my employer
managed to completely screw up every employee's medical insurance, and
I'm considering just opting out and taking my chances.  This would
mean one fewer deduction from my paycheck.

We have a part-time boss, who inherited the business from her brother,
and she's pretty clueless.

I've been uninsured most of my life.  It's something we should all get
used to, since medical insurance is rapidly becoming a luxury good,
rather than something an average person can be expected to have.

"Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com> wrote:

> Thank you.  Is there any discussion of the reports, or just the
> report and on to the next one?  Is it only one person giving each
> one, or do they all read the same book and discuss it, ala a book
> club?  Just curious.

Anyone can report on any book.  Much of the time the book isn't even
fiction, much less SF.  There's plenty of discussion of each book.
The reviewer usually brings a copy of the book and passes it around
for everyone to take a look at.

I usually enjoy it, though it can get tedious when someone is giving a
lengthy report on a book that doesn't interest me at all.  As you may
know, I'm primarily a fan of hard SF -- the kind that gets me to use
my calculator and CRC handbook.  I'm bored by fantasy, unless it's
extraordinarily well done.  But I find it worth going to PRSFS even
though more "extruded fantasy product" than SF tends to be reviewed.

Three or four times a year they have a get-together that's just casual
conversation rather than book reports.  I like those best.

There's also a about an hour of causal conversation before and after
the book report section of each meeting.