Ohayocon 4:
In case you forgot that it's winter...
Somehow, this convention became a staple con for me, having been going
to it for the third time in a row. Naturally, there's always more than
one reason for me to go to any convention.
Friday:
I should have learned by now.
After some minor preparations and otherwise driving all over the place,
I set off after oversleeping. What was meant to be a 6-hour drive
turned into 8 in the last 5 miles due to the combination of Friday rush
hour and snow, causing cars to slide all over the place and otherwise tying
up traffic. But this was foreseen, just without the proper precautions
taken.
"I'm not used to seeing Japanese people speaking Japanese!"
Finally arrived at the hotel, and parked Yamiko-chan in the parking garage.
Wandered into the convention area like a zombie and found Corey by sheer
luck and minimal effort. From there, settled in the room, and showed
some anime to Corey and Mike on my laptop, thusly saving Mike the trouble
of getting up at 4AM to watch Maburaho. Showed Eiken to both of them,
and both of them promptly asked for a copy. Then we went to eat at Damon's,
and went back to the room for more anime, including the live-action Sailor
Moon.
Sometime during the day, when I ventured out, I forgot which hotel room
we were in, so I was going down the hallway, sticking my key into the slots,
just to see which one worked. I knew it was going to happen someday.
It's late morning, and I'm wired!
My friends are about to conk out, so I set out on my own. In the
meantime, the convention center is also being used for other groups.
One of them is an Army recruiting event, another is a Christian group ("bible
humpers" as Corey calls them) and another group for some political event.
So far the score is: Anime fans 1, Bible humpers 0. Case in point:
Someone that Mike and Corey knew was wearing fake vampire teeth from a costume
that she was going to wear later on, then she nonchalantly smiled at one
of the Christian girls on an elevator, who promptly spazzed out. Ah,
what fun.
Found the function space proper, and one of the video rooms that's supposed
to be closed is showing Agent Aika, then they show Witch Hunter Robin, then
they show I-My-Me Strawberry Eggs. Stuck around for all of it, even
though it was all dubbed. It didn't bother me, really.
If Mike and Corey weren't going to be at this convention, and I knew ahead
of time what was involved in getting to and from this convention, I probably
wouldn't have bothered going. Especially the "from" part. More
on that later.
Saturday:
Ok! Plan B!
Woke up sometime past noon. Helped Mike get his cd burner working
(I suppose one could call it "helped") then found out that Corey wasn't
planning on selling the Scrapped Princess OST that he picked up yesterday.
Ah well, I guess I'll have to make other plans. So I went into the
dealers room, and got my own, plus the second OST, the opening/ending singles,
and a couple Komugi cds. Then there was doujinshi! The dealer
that was at AUSA last year with nothing but yaoi doujinshi was here, this
time with hentai as well. Shook my finger and expressed my disapproval
at that tactic, and bought some hentai doujinshi to further my point.
Ok, hopefully I'm done buying stuff now.
Stairwell to ETERNITY!
Put it all in the room, then set my laptop to make a DVD-R full of stuff
for Mike. Started waiting for the elevators, then some girl and I decided
to use the stairs. Somehow 7 floors parlayed into over 20 flights
of stairs. It was daunting to see the sign of "No guest access for
12 flights", but we got to the bottom of it. Not something I'd want
to do again, especially to go up. I would if I had to, though.
Every convention should have one of these.
The food court stayed open later than usual for the purpose of the various
conventions, which meant a nice variety of reasonably priced food, much like
how it was at AWA. This is a good thing, to be sure. I noshed
down on a buffalo chicken sub. Hm, I should see if there's a hot spot
around here. The general layout of the two hotels and convention center
under one roof is as confusing as it is convenient. By the time I
figure it all out, it'll be time to go home. But that's what usually
happens.
So then, I go to a room party with some AUSA friends, and the party gets
shut down before 10PM. But I got a couple drinks in before that happens,
and once out, we congregate in the lounge area for more drinks, this time
some Midori Sours. Tasty. We also listened to stories from Danny
T., then after we parted ways I ambled back to the room to exchange more
anime with Mike. It's not long before I pass out.
Sunday:
I could look, and still not see it coming.
Got off to a late start, mostly sharing files with Mike. Convention-wise,
didn't do much if anything. One last buzz through the dealers room,
didn't buy anything. By the time I left, the hotel was practically
empty. Paused at one area just long enough to use their internet service
to make a payment on Yamiko-chan. Looked outside and saw wisps of snow.
If that's all it is, I can take it. If I could eat my words, that statement
could have kept me fed for weeks.
And now for the Not Fun parts.
The trip home was harrowing at best. When I left the hotel, it had
started to snow again, but I wasn't scared then. As I headed further
east, the snowfall became heavier and heavier. I started off being
able to hold an average speed of 60, which gradually dropped the further I
went. Watched a pickup truck pass by, going not much faster than me,
then spin out and bounce off the center wall. Certainly woke me up.
I finally reached New Stanton to get gas, and if I had enough sense then,
I would have called it a night there. But no, I had to keep going.
Lesson: Avoid the PA Turnpike when it's snowing. It's bad enough
that the road should hold the record for Longest Highway Construction Zone
in the World, it's worse when snowy weather is thrown in. The first
few miles should have told me all I needed to know. By the time I had
passed the exit for Donegal, I had fully realized my mistake, but it was
too late. Going up a mountain, Yamiko-chan's tires with barely enough
tread left on them, almost no traction to speak of, no visibility, trucks
passing on both sides, it was just spooky. Ever see those kiddy rides
in the mall or outside a grocery store, where the steering wheel doesn't
do anything except spin around? It was like that. The turns on
the mountain were banked, which meant that any effort to pick up any momentum
invariably meant that I would slide towards the side of the road. When
I would get enough speed to keep moving in a straight line, some dumbass
in front of me would slow down, and I'd have to start all over again.
Finally I got over that mountain, and when I got to the next exit, I pulled
off, stopped at the first hotel I could find, and got a room. Screw
showing up for work on Monday. It was either this, or slide off the
road in the middle of nowhere. I spent the evening catching up on watching
Maburaho in my room, where it was nice and warm.
The next day, I continued my odyssey home, stopping at Borders to do some
power-leeching. I didn't get home until almost 10 in the evening.
But, getting home was the important part.
Survey says:
Attendance: Early official figures are at 2650.
Good: Seeing Mike and Corey again, and otherwise running wild for
the whole weekend.
Bad: Snow. I think that topped everything.
Food: Got a couple good meals from yonder food court at relatively
decent prices.
Total price: Still calculating. I might never bother to come
up with an exact number, but seeing as how the cds I got were close to $200,
that was roughly half the total, carry the three, round it up, oh never mind.
Conclusion: This weekend wore me out on many levels. It was
one of those conventions where I knew there was a weekend, but it didn't
feel like it. Next year? As long as it looks like I won't have
anywhere near as much hassle getting to and from, it's a go.
Up next: Katsucon 10!
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