ok folks, the weather is getting chilly again and now we can heat
it up with the excess BTUs that only a happily humming VAX can provide!
thats right, it's getting time for the fourth annual VAX party!
as usual, we'll have to figure out when is the best time. I'm
currently thinking to do it on either the 8th or 9th of november
or the 15th or 16th if 8 or 9 dont work out. 8 and 15 are fridays. 
So, if anyone really cant make it some of those days, lemme know and
ill work out the optimal date for it and send that out too.
so, some may ask, what is a VAX party? quite simple! It's a lot of
VAXen, people, people geeking on the VAXen (and other stuff too), alcohol,
and playing hunt til 4 in the morning! One more attempt to fire up the
750 for the year, and then back upstairs to get stabbed, detonated, slimed, 
shot and at-bombed by ralston.. Also, for those interested, there will 
be a few VAX bits (random qbus stuff, maybe a vaxstation or 2 and a decstation
or 2, other random pieces of computing gadgetry) that folks will be
free to take home with them. The typical format is some hardcore vax
geeking in the couple hours before people start showing up to get everything
setup and working (anyone who wants to do more vax things and less other 
things, show up early) and people start coming around 8 or so. food & 
drink are whatever i think of, but there will be real food as well as 
snack-things, and a varied selection of beverages, fizzing, foaming, 
flammable, caffienated, expressed, infused, and boiled. 
In any case, it has been good fun the past 3 years so if you havent made
it to previous VAX parties, this is your chance (well, you could always
wait til next year..)
anyone who wants to come but has scheduling conflicts or preferences
about the 4 potential dates, please let me know so i can sort them all out. 
The VAX party is in Pittsburgh, PA, for those who are not in town. If 
some folks make a trek from anywhere distant, i can take several 
folks in (modest) accomodations at my house if you want to stay the night 
before a drive back. 

happy hacking,
isildur