elizilla

I had arranged to take the day off work on Friday so I could get to the convention early. Best laid plans and all that, y'know how it goes. Since I had a whole day to be leisurely in, I of course overcommited myself and procrastinated too much. I agreed to pick up

tanac and

whthorse and

lutzethesweeper at the airport and bring them to the con, and I also agreed to make the pocket program. I procrastinated all week and didn't get the pocket program done, which turned out to be good since Friday morning when I collected my email there was a new copy of the grid from

rikhei and it was easier to just whip it together out of the new grid, than it would have been to update an already formatted pocket program with the new data.

I started it printing and turned my attention to the scavenger hunt. I'd made up a number of questions, but I still wasn't satisfied with it. As I sat trying to decide whether to get rid of some questions, or modify them, and whether it was OK to send scavenger hunters to pester people who I hadn't prearranged things with, I noticed that my laser printer was printing the pocket programs painfully slowly. I timed it while it printed 20 copies of side one, and did the math to see how long it would take to print 700 two-sided copies. It was going to take about five hours! I only had about 2.5 hours until I needed to be at the airport. And after the pocket program I needed to print the scavenger hunt stuff, which wasn't even ready to go. And I still needed to pack.

I decided to let the scavenger hunt go. (Brendan - I know you still have the ribbons for it. I will pay for them and hold onto them, and try to do it next year.) I printed a side one and side two pocket program to white paper, and took it down to Staples to have them make the copies. It turned out the quickest and cheapest way was to do it with self serve, so I spent 45 minutes on one of their copiers, paid the $89, and it was done. While I was at Staples,

tanac called to let me know her flight was delayed. Good thing I'd already canceled the scavenger hunt because that would have really messed up my ability to launch it. As it was, this just gave me the chance to try on a lot of outfits and think harder about what to pack. This weekend, for the first time in years, I didn't forget any clothing item I would later wish for, and I hardly packed anything that I didn't wear. Yay!

Meanwhile, Michael decided to go to the con earlier than he'd planned, so he could take John's artwork out there. He also took the pocket programs, which was a load off my mind; I had been starting to worry about how late it would be before I got them up there.

I was packed and ready to go when

whthorse called. His plane was in, but

tanac and

lutzethesweeper's flight had been delayed even further. I drove to the airport and picked him up, and we got dinner while waiting for their flight.

whthorse and I enjoyed the chance to swap adventure travel stories over dinner. He told me about his trip to Antarctica and I told him about my trip to the Balkans. Eventually T & J's flight arrived and we picked them up. The roads had gotten pretty icy while we were waiting for the plane, and rush hour was in full pelt, but we eventually did make it to the convention.

With no scavenger hunt to run, I was able to just relax, which was SO nice! It was also nice to have the time and energy to dress up. For a long time I have felt increasingly invisible, and it was a nice change to feel like I looked well. And I wasn't the only one looking fabulous. Roxanne looked good, and so did Tammy, despite all the stresses of actually having to work at the con. And Krysta looked great in her sparkly black bolero. Yay!

There were tons of new people at the convention. I heard that attendance was up by about 100 people. I met a number of young new convention members, and they seemed to be having a good time. I didn't hear anyone whining about the smoking consuite. The program book was a disaster but people muddled through. The dance started on time. I checked in with Ops a number of times throughout the weekend and the worst problems they had were things like someone spilled a can of pop on the Ops desk; I didn't have to do any rescuing at all. They don't need me! All I do is give advice! Yay!

For years now I have made a point of trying to spot new convention members, and being friendly to them. I try to introduce them to other people, and point them at fun things. So when Chuck brought in four young men who he'd hooked up with at the neo panel, and then got called away, I took over as tour guide, for a little while at least. We went to the ConVocation party and they got their free tarot readings. I saw them many times, as the convention went on, and they always seemed to be having fun. Yay!

Eventually I wandered down to the dessert reception, where I scored an excellent slice of black forest cake, and spotted another unfamiliar face. But it turned out Edward was attending his second ConFusion; I somehow failed to meet him last year. He's from Kansas City and he flew in. I was pleased that he'd enjoyed our convention enough to return for a second year. I ended up hanging out with him a lot on Friday night. What fun it is to have a new person to flirt with! Yay!

At one point I asked a full elevator, "What floor is ConSuite on?" A couple people said "15" but one person said "What's ConSuite?" This was another neo, Jeff. I said "Come with me" and took him into ConSuite, where I introduced him to Sharon and Wyn. By the time I returned from getting a Diet Pepsi, Sharon was sitting in Jeff's lap. I think he enjoyed his first con. Yay!

I had the startling experience of being hit on by someone who was attending KidFusion when I was conchair. I have to admit that was quite gratifying. :-) I also got "rescued" by someone who thought I was stuck in a sticky social situation, and while I didn't need rescue in the slightest, it was nice to know she cared enough to do that; I accept it in the spirit intended.

So basically, I frittered away my convention weekend doing nothing very important. It was great. Yay!

Unfortunately I am pretty sure I now have the con crud. But I feel healthier now than I did when I left the hotel. I refilled the humidifier and cranked it up, so the air here is better than the hotel air. I got some solid food in me and I went to the gym. It was a good convention but it is good to be home again.

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From:

tammylc.livejournal.com

Unfortunately I am pretty sure I now have the con crud.

That's cause you didn't drink enough Tang.

Thanks for participating in the ConFusion virtual dead dog party.