Thanks! It was the result of a photowalk where none of the people I expected showed up, and a bunch I didn't expect did (including a Kirsten, who's the SO of a FOAF), so I was kind of out of sync on the socializing. Which induced me to shut up and concentrate on the camera for a while.
As for setting up the squishycow and Snowglobe Chip, it looks like Topeka, KS is about halfway between us....