westercon/anime expo wrap-up
2002-07-08 - 10:11 p.m.
Wow, this turned out to be a long post.
Ahh, a weekend involving a road trip to a con.
Sure, every one is different. But this one stands out in a number of ways.
First, just getting the time off was an adventure. As requested, I gave my employer a list of days off in February. It was still a fight to make sure everything was okay with my taking two days off, and we're still sorting out the paperwork. I'm hoping everything works out for Con Jose, and my road trip from OryCon to Loscon.
The drive there was pleasant. My non-romantically-involved domestic partner ("DP" for the remainder of this entry) and I drove to my mom's house Wednesday night, and it was nice to visit with her and other family, who were about to fly to Hawaii (they will still be there on my birthday). Oh, my birthday is Thursday... no idea what I'm doing for that... okay, enough off-topic...
Westercon seemed to have low attendance. The hotel wasn't particularly nice, but it had a cylindrical penthouse on top that was really nice, and the con suite and Loscon party were there. There was a total lack of an internet lounge, which was very surprising. Six years ago it was cool to have one... now it's expected of larger cons.
DP seemed more critical of the con than I was, and that influenced me at first. Then we explored the con separately for a while, and I enjoyed myself more, even when we met up later. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed having her with me at the con, and I'm glad she came along.
Saturday we picked up the cake for Chaos's 17th birthday party. It was a nice little party. No vegan cake, of course, but I did hunt down a case of Henry Weinhard's root beer.
Then we went to Anime Expo. It had been 8 years since Westercon was in southern California, so 8 years since I had attended Anime Expo. I don't know how many people they had attending back then, but they broke 10,000 members last year, and this year was bigger.
I didn't think to bring sun block. After waiting 45 minutes indoors to get a $10 exhibit hall (read dealer's room) hand stamp, we waited an hour and a half *outside* to get into the exhibit hall. I did get a break from the line, as I went in search of food and came back with very yummy (and surprisingly high-priced) sushi (avocado rolls and exquisite veggie rolls) from a place called Wasabi. I got my first sunburn (a rather mild one on my forehead and nose) in years.
Upon entering the dealer's room, I realised why there was a line. I could just barely wade through the crowded exhibit hall, and it was huge! My budget did appreciate that I wasn't able to see everything thanks to the huge crowds, and I didn't really buy much. While there, I realised why so many people buy merchandise online and put up with the shipping costs.
I came back not intending to stay up very late at Westercon, and found a perfectly reasonable reason to stay up: attention. (: I ran into a girl I've talked to at a few conventions (this is the 3rd I've seen her at this year), and we wound up sitting together. Let's just say playing with my hair is a good way to melt me.
She lives about 500 miles away from me, but she does attend a lot of the same conventions I do.
I woke up with a stomache ache and feeling awful. DP was nice and got me antacid from the gift shop, which quickly helped.
On the way back, we heard a whoosh noise. I got off at the next exit. I checked, and the oil was low--the water was fine. I bought and added oil, and once had trouble getting the car to start up again. I noticed a slow oil leak. I tried to find a mechanic to check it out, but the one we found that was open was just closing for the day. When we were ready to go, I asked God to please let the car start on the first try if we should just drive home. It did, and we did. I'll get it checked out soon.
Later in the drive, we hit traffic. Bad traffic. I finally went a bit crazy and decided to try a new route. Highway 33 North splits off of Interstate 5 a bit before you reach Highway 152. Taking I-5 North you see an exit for 33 North... then a bit after you get on 152 West, you see another exit for 33. It seemed like a nice shortcut, cutting the corner, and avoiding some of the traffic that will stick to the major routes.
Unfortunately, 33 North veers a bit *East* of I-5, then joins with 152 West, before continuing North again where I had seen a sign for it on 152. Check out this map, which shows 33 veering in the wrong direction. It isn't labeled in that view, but the small line coming straight up from the "5" sign is 33 continuing North to Anderson's Pea Soup.
