So the week before Dragon•Con was simply ridiculous. Busy. Busy. Busy. In addition to staying past 5:30pm TWICE last week, I had to do some work during the weekend. Went in early on Monday. Stayed late the whole week, even 10pm on Wednesday. Ridiculous. Oh well. I still love my job, and I personally think I did some awesome projects during that crunch week. Man, I was exhausted. And poor Scott had to deal with me that week.
I bought some luggage from Target and (somehow) managed to pack on Wednesday night after coming home from work. I was leaving on Thursday evening for Atlanta. I wanted to leave Wednesday, but Delta charged too much to reissue the ticket. Plus, they really needed me at work that Thursday. Delta did call me to inform me that my flight was delayed for an hour. Well, I didn't mind, as it meant I a little extra time to get stuff done.
Of course, once I got to McCarran, I find out that the flight is delayed for an additional 30 minutes. Wonderful. But the flight finally did leave. And of course, it was completely filled, and I got stuck behind a toddler. I used the word toddler to mean, too old to drug with Benadryl in the milk, but too young to communicate or cooperate beyond screaming and crying. So I had a very unrestful flight, with the little tike crying the whole way for 4.5 hours, and the in-flight movie in my face. I have no clue why the decided to play the movie, as it was an overnight flight. I think they should have handed us earmuffs and eye masks, in addition to the blanket. I think I barely got 15 minutes of sleep that whole flight. Michael got me when I got to Hartsfield-Jackson, and were off to Dragon•Con.
I managed to check us in early at the Hilton, although none of us got to the room until after the dealers' room was closed that day. I was helped at the check-in desk by a Malaysian guy. Interesting. The rest of the convention was crazy. I managed to get to the dealers' room to help with last minute setups and then the crowds flooded in. My feet and back hurt for the rest of the con. Our booth was also right at the a/c vents, so we froze to death, while other parts of the dealers' room resembled a furnace. Oh yes, the dealers' room, as well as the exhibitors' rooms, were at the Hilton this year, because the Marriott-Marquis was undergoing some construction to their function rooms. I saw some familiar faces, including some I never thought I would see. The past just comes back. As for the con itself, this year was a letdown. We did excellent in sales, including on Monday (which was unheard of). The costumes were just lacking this year. But there were some gems. Marvel Zombies. 300. Slutty Strawberry Shortcakes. Pirates. LOTS of pirates. I retired early every night, as I simply wasn't impressed or entertained. The parties were a bust. We broke down our booth on Monday in record time and had a nice dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse on North Druid Hills Road.
One segway for me was that I lost my con badge on Saturday night. We went out to eat at Benihana. Horrible service. Got back to the hotel room, and that is when I discover that my lanyard was holding...nothing. We tried retracing our steps, to no avail. And of course, it was late so registration closed. Mighty annoying. But someone found it and turned it in the next morning. It saved me $50, but man, it took forever to retrieve it. The guy that had the badge was an older dude that had to have breakfast because he was diabetic. So we wasted an hour hanging around while we waited. I'm sure PJ and Kerri wasn't pleased, but they dealt with it.
I am also pleased to say that I only spent $45 on myself. I bought a Suigintou figure and a black Mokona plushie. Plus $20 to get a signed copy of The Devils' Panties (by Jennie Breeden) for Andrew. Food was a silly ordeal, as always. Higher prices and long lines, plus bad service.
At the con, I saw many familiar faces. Mary. Michael. Kevin. Sean. John. Matthew. Dave. Sarah. Jennie. Outside the con, I saw more faces. Aaron. David. I had hardly anytime to myself, but I did manage to get some stuff done. I got a haircut at Helmet, went to Ikea and Outwrite, and paid a visit to Lenox Square. Ate at The Silver Skillet, Doc Chey's, Joe's on Juniper, Hashiguchi Jr., and R.Thomas. Plus, I had an impromptu birthday dinner to attend, so it was off to Whole Foods to get a nice bottle of organic Cabernet before dinner at Dave & Busters. I also packed up everything of mine that I left in Atlanta and brought it back with me to Vegas. The rest was shipped. Of course, in the rush of it all, I left my travel/immigration documents Mike's desk and he had to overnight them to me. Thankfully, they arrived at my office safely and intact.
As for Michael, Randy and Leland...all I can say is wow. That place has changed SO much since I left. For the worse. It changed when I left and Jonathan came it. It further changed when John and Jonathan left and Randy came in. And now Leland and her cat Tiggs just stirs up the mess pot even more. That's all I am gonna way. Wow. Btw, Scampi has not gotten much bigger, but he is MUCH heavier.
The flight back was MUCH better. It was a 767, which I have never been in. Full flight, with some disabled passengers and 3 babies. We left on time. No noisy toddler during the flight. And somehow I managed to get some sleep. We even arrived 5 minutes early. Of course, our gate was occupied, and we had to wait for our gate to clear up. That was the only time the toddler cried. That was tolerable, as it only lasted 5 minutes. Scott came to get me at the baggage claim (my bags made it without being inspected), and we went to It's A Grind for a smoothie. I passed out when I got home. I just got out what I needed, everything else went everywhere else. So my living room is a mess right now. Sable was very glad that I was home again.
Thursday was kinda insane at work. I should have taken off to recuperate, but no, I was desperate to get back to work for 2 days this week. I was seriously jet-lagging at work. And work was there. No doubt about that. Someone else was let go that day, made known to us all by that very neutral departure e-mail from HR. Thursday evening was also the time I started to get an exhaustion cold. Still have it. I managed to get all my laundry done, including my sheets.
It was good to escape to Atlanta for the weekend. As tiring as it was, I had fun. It was great to see so many freaks indulging themselves at Dragon•Con. It was good to see Midtown Atlanta, and all my friends there. But I am really glad to be back in Vegas. Now I am glad it's the weekend, so I can recover from my vacation. Michael gets here in 2 weeks, so I'll be running around again soon enough.
And yes, I've got a few anime DVDs that I need to preorder.
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