BYOC

Okay, the week started off with my birthday and the age reminders just keep a-coming.  Chaco asked if he could either borrow the car (no) or get a ride (probably not) to a friend's house for a party.  I asked him which friend this was and where friend lived.  The friend was Andrew and Andrew doesn't live that far away, so like the true bicycling mom I am, I suggested Chaco just ride his bike to Andrew's.

The following rivetting exchange ensued.

Chaco:  "I can't".

Me:  "Why not?"

So Chaco goes on to explain that he needs the car because he's bringing his computer.  Now, this Frankenstein computer he built has many bells and whistles and unique features.  However, portability is not one of them.

"Bringing your....?  What!?  Why?", I says.

"We're having a LAN party", he flatly replies like it should be obvious to me.

*blank stare*

At that point, I had never heard the term "LAN party".  I was familiar with "LAN", and I was familiar with "party", and the two terms seemed pretty mutually exclusive to me. 

Me: "A LAN party?!"

Chaco: "Yeah", looking around like there's something weird in the room that he hasn't noticed.

And I'm thinking that that's got to be the nerdiest thing I've heard in a long time and I'm giggling.  "Really?  A 'LAN party'"?

"Yes", Chaco replies, amused at my amusement.  And I'm thinking, without saying out loud, gosh, when I was his age we got drunk and made out...

I've since learned that these things... these LAN parties...  aren't so far outside the bell curve as I originally thought.  They're quite popular and common, and I'm actually glad that nerds computer aficionados have an agreeable means to socialize.

Figure 1 shows just such an event!

Figure 1

Here's a challenge for you.  Find the female. tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock...  Never mind, there isn't one.

Regardless, I gave Chaco and the beloved computer a ride to Andrew's for this LAN party.  There are certainly worse things they could be doing.  Oh... so much worse.

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