Con Report, Day One

After tbutler arrived, we hit the road, heading north on 29 to get to the airport where the convention hotel was. We were delayed for 15 or 20 minutes by an accident on the southbound lane just south of the bridge over the Missouri River—apparently someone had run into a USPS 18-wheeler, as there was one sitting at the side of the road with its driver-side fuel tank bashed in. There didn't seem to be any reason for the northbound lane to be delayed...perhaps it was just people slowing to rubberneck. Anyway, traffic in the southbound lane was backed up for miles and miles.

At first, I had no real idea of where the airport was, but as we approached closer, it hit me: I had been here before. A number of years ago, probably about a decade, I caught a plane from K.C. out to Seatttle to visit demiurgent and friends in Seattle, and foomf in Portland. My brother had driven me up to catch the plane out, but had been unwilling to drive up again to pick me up for the return trip. Rather than take a bus (as there wasn't one leaving until the next day), I rented a car one-way and drove down to Springfield. It was the first time I ever got to drive "solo" for any great distance, and it was a marvelous adventure for me. And it all started at that very airport.

( ConQuest Report: Day One )

( The Computer-Stupid Hotel )

About 1 a.m., I brought my computer out, connected to MapQuest, and worked out the route back to Travis's house. (He'd gone back in his own car earlier.) I also worked on the first draft of this journal entry, but lost it entirely when my computer's battery ran out of juice and put it into sleep mode. Since my commputer doesn't wake up properly from sleep, that meant it was basically gone. I shrugged and decided it could wait 'til this morning, then headed on back. Didn't have any problem hitting the right exits on the highways, but got a bit lost in the warren of streets with identical rows of houses where Travis lives before finally finding the right one.

Got back, showered, slept, and just woke up. In a few minutes, I'm going to shave, and then we're going to hit the road again. Going to be meeting dvandom at the con today; haven't met him in person in several years and rather looking forward to it.

More later.

---

May or may not be available from iTMS...
Gheorghe Zamfir, Harry van Hoof & Harry van Hoof Orkest - Violin Romance No.2 in F Major, Op.50

ConQuest, afternoon

Got left about noon, and I only managed to take the wrong exit twice on the way to the convention. Met dvandom at the hotel and we went out to a pizza/sports bar place called Minsky's a few miles away. Dave and Travis hit it off pretty well. We stopped by a Wal-Mart so Dave could hunt Transformers, then headed back to the con.

I spent a half hour in a "coffee klatch" hosted by K.D. Wentworth, and got a copy of her book Black on Black autographed. She's a really nice person, and I was glad for the chance to meet her. Maybe someday the third book in that series will get to come out...

Now I'm sitting downstairs in one of the gaming rooms watchin Dvandom paint a figurine as part of a speed-painting contest. I'll probably wander off and see if I can hunt up John Ringo again at some point, or perhaps check out a panel or two. Later on, we'll head downtown to see Union Station again.

More as events warrant.

Stormy weather, as the song goes

Had a bit of excitement today...not long after the last entry, when I'd managed to get a book autographed by John Ringo, I came back from putting it in the car to find everyone being herded downstairs. The storm sirens were going off outside, and there was a tornado warning on. So dvandom, tbutler, and I ended up downstairs. Fortunately, the wireless access from that aircore network was available down there, so I was able to keep myself amused until twenty minutes or so later when they let us back up.

At the moment, I'm sitting on a sofa in the lobby next to Dvandom, watching a weather report on a green-tinted TV set. The tornados near us seem to have dissipated now; it's a bit cloudy and windy outside, with the late-afternoon sun occasionally slanting down on us through the clouds, and there's been a bit of rain, but nothing too terribly threatening.

We're planning to head downtown and take in Union Station, if we can ever find Travis...but when I call his cellphone, I just get voicemail. I'm not even sure it's his voicemail, because it's entirely unpersonalized. Well, it's a small hotel; we'll run into him sooner or later. In the meanwhile, I'm just going to sit here and enjoy the wireless access and good companionship.

ConQuest Day 2 Evening

Well, I never ended up finding tbutler. As it turns out, his cellphone number (being from one of those prepaid services) had changed and I didn't have the new number.

About 7:30 or so, dvandom and I headed out of the hotel, down to the heart of downtown to see Union Station. We walked around there, then went over to the Crown Center mall...just in time for almost everything to be closed. Dvandom bought a couple of robot toys in the last few minutes of one store's open time, then we headed down to the Streetcar Named Desire restaurant/bar, one of the few open after 9 p.m. He had a steak sandwich and water; I had a bleu cheese burger and a bloody mary. Thus fortified, we headed back to the car and drove back to the con hotel; I dropped him off at his hotel nearby and went back to the convention center.

Spent a little time upstairs in a couple of party rooms—one for the 50th birth-year of some fellow, and one for another con. Booze flows freely at these affairs, but mindful of the need to drive home, I limited myself to a few ounces of beer, a few sips of port (I'd never had it before and was curious what it tasted like. Funny, I'd never expected it to taste exactly like Robitussin), and about half a shot of peppermint schnapps. Then I came downstairs to get on-line again.

Not too much later, Travis called me, and we got together at last...and promptly each of us buried his nose in his respective computer. Life proceeds apace.