Suellen remembers
Notacon 5
April 4-6, 2008

Our trip plans started on Wednesday ... actually, I guess the planning started in January.   Anyway, this was the day I made a list of things for Greg to do while we were gone.   He saw it on the table and asked me if we were going somewhere.   I said "Yes, didn't you know?   We've been talking about it for months."   Guess he didn't.   Later, he was talking with Wendy on the phone, and I realized she apparently didn't know either.   Gee, guess Jodie was the only one of the "kids" who did.   About 11:15 p.m., Greg asked if A.J. had called.   Seemed he might be interested in going along.   At 11:30 p.m., I called Wendy to find out, and we made arrangements to pick him up in the morning.

We left our house "early" (8:30 a.m.), picked up A.J., stopped at the bank and left TC.   Then we got gas in Lansing at Flying J, lunch in Portland (west of Lansing), and stopped in Livonia to pick up Daniel who was also going to Notacon.   We arrived at the Holiday Inn where Notacon was being held (in Cleveland) about 6:30 p.m.   We helped roll several hundred t-shirts and put labels around them.   This is a neat idea ... except that when Joe took the gift ones to his work place, the secretary wondered why he was bringing in pieces of material.   I guess they do look like remnants from a yard goods store.    Anyway, the size is easy to find on the label.   They stay together nicely on the shelf.   And the shirts don't get all mixed up in storage.   Jodie said the idea belonged to someone on their committee, and now other cons are doing it.

Pizza arrived for everyone, so we took a break to eat before finishing the shirt rolling.   Daniel, A.J., Joe & I inventoried the old shirts so that the numbers could be recorded on the computer and updated as sold.

Six-month-old Mason arrived shortly with his parents Jeff & Rose.   I almost immediately grabbed him up and soon took him to the other room to introduce him to everyone.   He was having a great time.   Jodie and Jeff have been friends since high school, so we've known them a long time.   We aren't in the habit of just taking anyone's child from them.   :)

We finally got to bed about midnight.   Our room was on the 10th floor.   I looked out the window and realized we were almost over the parking garage which was six floors tall.   There was also the roof of the conference rooms below our windows.   This was good.   I didn't feel like we were so high up.   My fear of heights is better but not gone.   Jodie & Paul were on the 11th floor.

We had breakfast in the ConSuite on the second floor where snacks and drinks were available constantly from just before the con started until Sunday morning.   Registration started at 10 a.m.   Opening Ceremonies started at noon.   Several companies supported Notacon in various ways by sending money or products.   One company sent cans of an energy drink called Bawls.   Imagine the jokes that went along with that, such as "I have Bawls in my pants." ... said by females with cans of pop in their pockets.

We went to several of the presentations.   I think we understood most of what was being said.   We only caught the end of one that I think would have been interesting.   All presentations were recorded, so we can watch it later.   DVDs of these recordings were available for purchase at the con and will be available online later.

We helped in various ways each day.   However, we decided not to wear Staff shirts because this was our first con, and we weren't from Cleveland.   We figured there'd be very few questions we could answer.   People should just go to those who could answer their questions without sending them to someone else.

Shirt inventory was part of the same program that kept track of pre-registrations and sales.   No one realized until late in the day that the shirts going to some of those who pre-registered weren't being deducted from the inventory count.   Therefore, we again didn't know how many of the new Notacon shirts were left.   Inventory of all the other shirts should have been right.   Finding some colors and sizes was a bit of a problem though because they were still in the totes and had to be searched for.   The master list that we made Thursday night helped a lot.

People were having problems with room reservations, too.   The hotel was remodeling and had booked rooms on a floor that wasn't finished yet.   So what's new???   I happened to be walking by when I heard Jodie and one of her many friends say he couldn't get into his room yet, and he desparately wanted to take a shower.   I gave him my room key card.   He was most appreciative.   When I got my key back, it was marked "Mommy."   Jodie had a lot of key cards, and each was marked so they knew which door it opened.   There was their own room/suite, at least one storage room (probably more), and ... well, let's just say she had a bunch of them.   They had six smaller conference rooms on the second floor.  

After the last presentations, the parties started.   A.J. went to one, but we went to bed.   A.J. said he returned to the room about 2:00 a.m.   We were sound asleep.

More presentations and a panel discussion.   Joe went to the discussion about physics and wireless communications.   He said most of it was over his head.   I'm glad I decided to sit that one out.   He has maintained a studied distance from anything to do with computers except for the occasions he has to use them at work to reprogram a commercial two-way radio.   He did bring his work laptop along.   I guess he wanted to be "one of the gang."   I don't think he used it for anything though.   A.J. went to the other presentation.   While they were gone, I stayed at the registration/sales tables and helped out where I could.

At some point, the t-shirt display/sales rack collapsed when a piece on the bottom row broke.   It was made from metal grids that snap together in whatever configuration you want.   It wasn't sturdy enough to carry the weight of all those shirts.   Fortunately, it didn't hit the computers sitting on the table in front of it.   Unfortunately, it hit my right shoulder which was already giving me trouble.   The only ill effects I've noticed from it is a little soreness that didn't show up until Monday morning.   It's too bad someone wasn't taking video at the time.   It was really kind of funny.   There are lots of photos online.   I think someone probably took a still.   I haven't checked them all yet to see.

Just before the collapse, one guy was taking Subway orders on his PDA.   He finished and left after the rack clean-up.   When he returned with the subs, each was marked as to who ordered it.   About half way thru mine, I thought "this doesn't taste or look like roast beef."   I asked Joe.   He wondered, too.   When we checked with A.J., sure enough, they were marked wrong.   By then, we were pretty well done eating so we each finished what we had.   When we saw Jodie and the guy's wife later, we found out theirs had been marked wrong as well.   I think they were able to swap them before they ate much.   Anyway, we appreciated his efforts.   :)

The fire alarm went off, but no one in our group moved.   We checked where the exits were, but that was all.   I overheard someone say, "I hope it's not us."   One room had people doing some soldering.   That could have been the cause.   We never heard.   It stopped after a minute or so.

The elevators had problems, too.   There were four of them for 18 floors.   Several times, one or another would get stuck for 15 minutes to over an hour ... maybe two hours.   At least twice the one we were on didn't settle into the same level as the floor until it bounced up and down a few times ... above the floor ... below the floor ... less above the floor ... less below the floor ... do it a couple more times ... until it finally evened out.

The other energy drink arrived this afternoon from Chicago.   The name hadn't been said in case it didn't show up ... didn't want to give them any free advertising if they'd didn't come through.   It was Cocaine.   The cans were double labeled ... a plastic label over the original one printed on the can which said "the legal alternative" or something like that.   Both Bawls and Cocaine have a lot of caffeine in them, so I didn't try more than a sip of Bawls.   From the looks on several faces when they tried the Cocaine, I think I'm glad I didn't try it.   Those who drank it said it burned.   This could have been just because it was warm.   Even regular pop burns my throat when it's overly warm.   We did, however, bring home a couple cans for other family members to try ... if they dared.

Music took over for an hour or so after the last presentations ... starting about 10 p.m.   At midnight, Block Party started.   During the day, entries were made in several contest categories.   I entered a photograph of a sunset over Lake Michigan.   I picked out six of my favorites from the 2000 (more or less) photos on my laptop and then decided among them which I would enter.   Paul entered a photograph, too, and a couple other things involving computer programming and computer generated music.   Everyone in attendance had a chance to vote by entering their score for each on their laptops ... most of whom had them along.   Ratings included "SUCKS," "naaah," "alright," "good," "great" and "RULES."   My laptop was in the room, so I wrote my scores down on paper.   Block Party ended about 2:30 a.m.

After entering my and Joe's votes and making notes of some of the things that happened over the past several days, the last time I looked at the clock, it was about 4:00 a.m.   I guess I was just too wound up to sleep.

Block Party entries from last year are available at their website.   This year's entries may be available by the time this is posted.   I don't have an address for it though.

In the morning, most of those who came were checking out of their rooms and storing their luggage until after the Closing Ceremonies or bringing it into the conference room.   Therefore, the attendance at the "chat" session was sparse.   At this, we discussed what went right, what went wrong, what could be done to make it better next year, etc.

The Closing Ceremonies followed.   Some of the discussion from the chat session was mentioned, prizes were given, and we all agreed we'd had a good time.   I had mentioned to Jodie that her dad was wondering if he was the oldest in attendance.   Paul had some shirts to give away and wasn't quite sure how to do it.   Jodie said "My mom suggested the oldest and youngest."   Well, I didn't know this was coming when I mentioned it, but O.K.   The first to mention their age was about 52.   Second was 55, I think.   Third was 61.   I didn't bother to tell them I was 62, because I knew Joe was older.   Then he stood up and announced 67.   He got those two shirt.   Youngest was Mason at 6 months.   There had been a younger baby there, but they left before the Closing Ceremonies.   We don't know what Mason is going to do with his shirts.   They were all XL or bigger.   Paul said there was a relatively large group from TC ... especially considering that he said at least 80% of those attending were from outside Cleveland.

By this time, almost everyone knew we were Jodie's parents.   Paul's parents were there for a little while on Saturday, but they didn't stay long.   They live in the Cleveland area.   His Dad made the most delicious Rice Krispie squares.   You'd think they would all taste alike, but these were better than most.

And finally, back to the hotel.   We were all getting pretty hungry by this time, so thanks to someone in the group who lives in Cleveland, we went to My Friends for dinner where the food was quite good ... and I got to play with Mason some more.

Joe surprised us all by picking up the total bill for dinner.   I said the government paid for it because Joe is collecting Social Security and still working almost full time.   I overheard someone say it was about time the government paid for something. :)   There were 11 of us ... counting Mason who didn't eat much.

We packed everything onto a luggage cart and proceeded to checkout about 10:00 a.m.   Daniel was waiting for us when we got to the Front Desk.   There's a lounge area there.   We had a chance to say good-bye to Jeff, Rose and Mason ... who smiled almost all weekend.   Because we had parked in the hotel garage, we needed a room key to exit, so we still have the "Mommy" key.

After several phone calls with Jodie and breakfast at Dianna's, we stopped at Jodie & Paul's for a last good-bye and to drop off a few things I had found since they were home for Thanksgiving.   It was noon when we finally got on the road home.  

At this point, we had gone exactly 1,000 miles since we left home on Thursday morning, but we still had 14 miles to go.