Notacon 7

Wendy & A.J. arrived at our house at 9:00 a.m.  The 3rd seat was taken out of our van, and everything was packed in.  We left at 9:30.

We made our usual stop at McDonald's in Reed City.  Ice cream cones for brunch?  Oh, well.

Another stop at Hobby Lobby to look for a certain dark blue/green material for Michigan's state square dance "uniform" for the Nationals.  We didn't find any and left without buying ANYTHING. We were only inside for about 10 minutes.  Then we went to Steak 'n Shake just down the road for lunch.

When we left home, the daffodils and forsythia were blooming.  About the Ohio line, I started seeing redbud flowers.  Near Jodie & Paul's house in Lakewood, magnolia trees were dropping their blossoms already.  Also blooming were tulips, azalea, dogwood, and the beginnings of color in lilacs.

We stopped at Jodie's to drop off the Nordic Track that Wendy brought along.  We said "hello" to cats Poppy, Lily and Bela.  I didn't remember Bela looking so much like our Merlin.  We said "Merlin, how did you get here so fast?"  He didn't answer.

As we were leaving, I called Jodie.  Oops!  I should have called BEFORE we left.  There's a package on the porch that they need.  Someone had been sent to get it, but if we'll go back, they'll tell the other person not to go.  Around the block, pick up packages - there was another one, too - and leave again.  We arrived at the hotel at 6:00, delivered the packages, and got in line for registration.  We didn't have our codes with us, but I told Joe that it wouldn't be a problem.  Jodie was working the desk.  "She knows us!"

It was after 7:00 now.  We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we went looking for food.  We brought an assortment of food along, but we wanted something more substantial.  A guy sitting on the bench in front of the hotel suggested The A Cafe within a block east of the hotel.  When we got there, they were already closed.  We knew there was a Subway west of the hotel.  Unfortunately, it was also closed.  We ate once last year at a restaurant in a hotel across the street.  They were open til 8:00, so we just made it.

Back at Notacon, we checked out our surroundings.  Joe & I sat in on one of the pre-conference talks ... previews of what was to come.  What we heard was about Recycled Rainbow ... a camp-out similar to Burning Man (a desert experience that has taken place annually since 1986).  RR has been held in Ohio for several years.  Both are "leave no trace" events.  Take in everything you will need.  Take out everything when you leave.

For Christmas, I made letter cookies and molded chocolate trees on pretzel sticks for all the "kids."  I didn't send any to Jodie & Paul because I didn't know if they would arrive in good condition.  They received their Christmas presents tonight.  I brought along the whole batch of cookies to share with their friends.  There were lots of comments about the cookies and the way they were distributed.  Some people ATE "J-O-D-I-E" ... some ATE "P-A-U-L-S"; "N-O-T-A-C-O-N-7" was saved for later.  There was also some misc letters without icing and sprinkles for anyone who didn't want, or couldn't have, all that sugar.

About 11 p.m., we went back to our room.  Wendy and A.J. stayed next door.

On hotel's closed-circuit TV.

We enjoyed an in-room breakfast from what we brought along, and I checked for internet access.  Yes!  It's available in our room and free!  Last year, I couldn't get connected in our room at all.  I was only able to use the Notacon set-up from the conference floors.  Even so, I don't think I'll be posting this til we get home.  There's too much going on, and we don't want to miss any more than necessary.

By the time we got down to the 2nd floor, the Opening Ceremonies were over.  They lasted less than 15 minutes anyway.  We went to

It's been raining, but thankfully it stopped for a while so we could walk back to The A Cafe for lunch.  It was quite good.

We explored a little on the walk back through the drizzle.  While we were gone, Wendy and A.J. went to Sidepocket's Thinking Outside the Mushroom Kingdom: Homebrew vs Piracy in Video Games.  I don't know what other talks they went to.

Paul's parents came to visit and helped out at the "crafts" table which included some key chains made two years ago by a friend of Jodie's, the little bags that I made, and assorted "robots" that Paul's mom crocheted.  I thought I had a photo of the robots, but I don't.

We went to

My back was bothering me again, so we went back to the room.  I stayed in the room while Joe went to see

The four of us went to the Winking Lizard for dinner.  It was about 4 blocks away, so we walked.

Back at Notacon, we went to

and then visited we Jodie and several of her friends.  Later we went to

We all went to breakfast at the Huron Street Deli across the street from the back of the hotel.  Afterward, we went to

During the afternoon, we visited a while and then went back to the room.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep and missed Gina's crochet workshop.  I talked with her later about what happened.

Joe went to another talk while I stayed near the Notacon desk.  Jodie and a few friends decided to go to the pool and hot tub in the hotel basement.  She changed into her swimsuit and came back to the lobby.  While they were walking around, they found Wendy who decided to go along.  Then Jodie found Joe, and he decided to go along.  Unfortunately, when we went to the room for him to change, I left my camera.  I took a photo of Joe with my cell phone, but so far, I haven't managed to transfer the ones on there to my laptop.  That's something I need to learn to do.  But I did get a photo before we went to the pool.

Jodie & Joe

Just before 8:00, some of the group hurried back upstairs to go to

There was a Trivia game at 10:00.  We missed it, but Wendy joined a team.  They placed 3rd.  Later, she told us some of the questions.  We wouldn't have known very many answers anyway.

Blockparty! started after 11:00.  We only stayed til about 12:45 and then went to bed.  It apparently lasted til about 2:30 a.m.

I had recently bought another luggage cart so it only took three trips to the parking garage to move everything out.  We didn't check out though til just before noon.

As usual, there was a rant session where people could tell what they liked and disliked about Notacon 7.  First-timers, including Wendy, were recognized by show of hands.  I don't know what the total number of people since Thursday evening was, but I believe it was almost 400.  Even so, there were a few people I didn't see who have attended before.

Last summer, we took Domo-Kun with us to Maryland on vacation.  This weekend, he was part of the Notacon Staff.

Closing Ceremonies included awarding of prizes for the competitions at Blockparty!  They also had a collection of books provided by one of the sponsors.  These were given away to anyone who wanted them.  Joe took one titled Hacking VoIP.  I picked it out since he works with VoIP occasionally.  I figured maybe it would be more to his liking and understanding.

We said "good bye" to as many people as we could and left.  To Jodie & Paul, we added "see you next month."

When we started the van, there was an engine-shaped light that wouldn't go out.  Checked the owners manual.  No real answer.  Called Greg to ask about it.  He didn't know either except to say stop at an auto parts store and have them hook it up to their computer.  After reading a little more, it seemed to be an emissions problem indicator ... and to drive normally for a while to see if it goes out.  Well, in this case, are we driving "normally"?  O.K., let's see what happens.  We left the garage at 1:10 p.m.  The indicator finally went out about half way home.

We talked a lot about what we had seen and learned.  We had lunch at BK on the Turnpike and dinner at Denny's, Grand Rapids.

We arrived home at 10:30.  Some of the cats were upset with us, but eventually all that came inside just wanted to be petted.