I'm still alive and actually only in Philly

Well I got to Staging in one piece. I was one of the late ones due to complications with my shuttle and my flight getting in pretty close to registration, but all in all it was fine. My stuff is carry-able. In fact, I did much better than some others. There are some of those duffel bags here - you know - the kind you could fit into no problem. No I'd not like to carry my crap very far, but it could be done if need be.

There are just shy of 30 of us here. That's more than I expected. We're having our Staging at a hotel here in Philly and in just a few minutes we're going to venture out in search of a good philly cheese steak and a beer. Yep, continuing on the trend of enjoying foods I won't have for a while. And I should mention my very wonderful Katherine made me an excellent hamburger at 9 this morning that I wolfed down as I packed the last stuff and was the only thing I've had to eat today.

Thank you everyone for your notes and pictures and well-wishings and good-lucks. It really means a lot to me. That's all for now-