Annotated 33-21
From this, we can probably gather that Fr’Nj and Scipio have done some talking we haven’t seen, regarding Fr’Nj’s uncertainties about her role in the group and the just-what-are-we-as-a-couple questions that Syr’Nj needled Scipio about. We’ll pick that thread up in Chapter 37.
I think Bedard is probably just needling Syr’Nj for his own amusement, not actually trying to manipulate her into taking on a risky mission that could get her bumped off, considering the offer he and others will make her later. On the other hand, Miyamoto is doing his best to be diplomatic here, but his hatred of Syr’Nj is already well documented. If Bedard had told Miyamoto, “We should tell her that if she doesn’t jump off a bridge, she’s insulting all the adventurers who would,” then Miyamoto would be like, “Would… would that work?”
That last panel is a treasure. What an expression.
Picking up from yesterday…
The last leg of the journey to Plattsburgh was a ridiculously long two-lane state road (one lane in each direction), where I kept getting stuck behind all sorts of idiots who didn’t know about the 9.5-mile-per-hour-over-the-limit rule. At this point in my sleep dep, I’d progressed beyond talking to Cardboard Box Man and just uttered random words and phrases under my breath, like I had a G-rated version of Tourette’s.
At least I got to see the countryside.
2 PM: Finally, Plattsburgh! Finally, the Plaza Center! The mall where Diamond Comics Distributors was! I’d say it was in a rundown part of town, but really the whole town looked fairly rundown to me. But what did I care? At last, my journey was ov—-
Where the hell was it?
I turned on my laptop, connected its phone charger, and started sucking juice out of one electronic crutch to feed the other. And I rechecked the GPS. It was supposedly here… but all I saw was a Dunkin’ Donuts, a Dollar General, and a supermarket.
Could the internet have lied to me? The truth… tomorrow!
oooh this is reminding me of the time I had to drive down to Savannah for a programming conference of some kind and MapQuest, upon being given an address that deviated from its preferred format in any manner whatsoever, threw its hands up in defeat and delivered me to its best guess as to where the exact center of Savannah was, all without informing me that anything was amiss.
Took me ages afterward to figure out what had happened there and why.
This was in the just-pre-GPS, pre-WiFi-hotspot days, when “printing directions off MapQuest” really was about as high-tech as you could get. At least I had a cell phone I could use to make a few phone calls with.
That’s why I always *try to* check the directions for any longer trip before I get on the road. I know no route service/software that doesn’t occasionally misinterpret the destination or come up with a silly route, like taking you off the motorway, through a city and back on the same motorway for no reason… (happened several times to me with Gmaps and some expensive Garmin thingy)
“try to” because really, how often do you take the time? Back in 2012, it was mostly printed-out screenshots from Google Maps for me, since I had no smartphone (and really no desire to pay for continuous data while driving internationally), so you pretty much had to see the route first, and try to memorize at least parts of it because looking at a piece of paper while driving is annoying. Shortly after, I switched to OpenStreetmaps, which was way more up to date in many of the parts which I traveled through.
Also, two pro tips for those relying only on their smartphones (as do I these days):
1: Use OSMAnd instead of (or in addition to) Google Maps or whatever iPhones come with. It downloads the maps (from OSM) and computes the route on the device, too. That way you need no data connection.
2: If/when battery might run low: Look at the map, memorize as far as you can, turn off navigation and go by street signs and memory as far as you dare before consulting again. If navigation is paused most of the time, that saves a ton of power
That really is an amazing last panel.
Seconded.
I had expected something along the lines of “oh, so are you as a responsible council member also going to join your army on the front lines?”, or about Syr’Nj not being daring to abandon her important duties to Gastonia — but this reply is actually way better. And her expression is marvelous.