Pittsburgh, Evanston, Atlanta

[varjohaltia]

All the flights went really smoothly. Walk up to a kiosk with no line, wave the barcode from the ticket, get boarding pass, walk through security (taking off belt, shoes, watch, glasses, wallet and tooth fillings) hop on plane.
Delta upgraded a number of servicemen returning from Iraq to first class for free. Delta also offers you a choise of snack, including Sun Chips. Sure beats peanuts!

I got sick almost the moment I got to Pittsburgh, so I didn't do too much, although I did watch Katrina unfold. Everything turned into a bit of a panic as Jukka kept trying to get his stuff together and simultaneously take care of getting his dissertation finished. Miraculously the truck got filled just in time, and we set out. The drive from Pittsburgh to Evanston was pretty nice over the turnpike. Indiana turnpike restroom urinals have helpful signs reminding travelers to check their belongings before leaving. (Admittedly the same signs were elsewhere too, but their placement in the urinal booths still seemed a little... odd. Did someone leave things one shouldn't there? As a male I'd imagine one would notice!) We hit Chicago late, so traffic wasn't a problem.

Evanston turned out to be nice. Pretty upscale, lots of pretty buildings and boutiques and whatnot. I only destroyed one garden arrangement with the truck, too. The new pad Jukka got was nice as well, only a few blocks from the university, in a huge maze-like old red-brick building. The building is all snakey, with billions of stairwells, each of which only serves a few apartments. Within/behind the building there's a network of neat little alleys and private areas leading to the back doors of the apartments too. Floors were real hardwood, and there were still steam radiators and all, although in general the apartment had been recently modernized with kitchen and bathroom remodelings.

We got the truck unpacked despite fever chills, then went to drive around to find food, dropped the truck off at the nearby U-Haul place, and walked back. I got to bed around 4 am, he stayed up to work on stuff. I woke up at 8 am, called a cab and went to O'Hare. I waited for the cab at a Dunkin Donuts, which turned out to be perfect because the cabbie was on his way to that very same one for his morning tea. I spoke with him a bit about Katrina and his life in the US (he had immigrated from India with his family,) got on the plane and flew to Atlanta!

I looked for a courtesy shuttle for the Marriott at Hartsfield, didn't find one, and took the Marta instead. $1.75 and almost door-to-door service. Darin and Oscar had already checked in, so I got into the room, dropped off my stuff and joined Darin and Cassie (a DC virgin) whom he had meanwhile befriended for registration. We visited the nearby Army-Navy store, and I ended up buying the makings of a Stargate costume, which ended up being extremely convenient, thanks to the many pockets and belt pouches and stuff.
Mel, who is very pretty, has engaging elfin eyes and won't believe it despite everyone telling her so, arrived on schedule later that night and made it to the hotel safely as well. That was largely it for Thursday, really, as the need of sleep claimed me.

Friday saw me successfully get my press ribbon, although Star threatened me with a spanking for not sending my request ahead of time as one is supposed to. I overall had a good time and managed to weasel myself into a prime spot at the Firefly panel, which was a lot of fun.

Saturday was more of the same; plenty of photography, meeting people, and another Firefly panel. I went to dinner with Oscar at a nearby Mexican restaurant, as the food court was rather mobbed. I watched the Dawn contest, though admittedly the most memorable moment in it was Voltaire playing an acoustic version of a song about sex with Data (the Star Trek android) while the judges were judging. Incidentally, Voltaire is pretty cool. Kinda like the Brobdingnagian Bards, except in a completely different way. The latter two were doing late night serenading too, to everyone's delight.

By Sunday I felt pretty decent, really, and surprisingly took more photos! I also went to the final Firefly panel, which was just as much of a hoot as the previous two.

On Monday I got a little greeting from Marc for Liana, bought one of their CDs, tipped them for their performance of the Jane song to entertain Firefly fans waiting to get into the panel, said bye to Star and the rest of the media relations team, and joined Darin and Oscar for the drive back to Tampa. The Brobdingnagian Bards are, incidentally, great Firefly fans!

I'll most likely fill in more details as they come back to me! Right now it's just good to be back home! (Where, incidentally, we're housing Justin and Amanda who evacuated from their home in New Orleans.)

Overall, everything went splendidly, despite the silly bug, and I had a blast! Thank you each and all who contributed!

Pictures are here.

Comments

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're back safe. As always, thanks for posting the pics! :)

[lilwashu.livejournal.com]

seems like it was alot of fun at Dcon this year!
man i hated that i missed the con, but maybe next year...
:)
glad your entire trip was good overall.
and got home safe!

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I definitely hope you can make it next year!

[silentbottlecap.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Toivo.
I had an awesome time with you and your spiffy friends (most of whom I may have to borrow, as they are, in fact, spiffy.)
Thank you again. And...um...I don't actually feel as though I can say "thank you" enough for everything you and your crew did for me.
But I hope this begins to suffice.

p.s.
I now have Bananaman on my comp...
You wicked, wicked Fin.

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to them! 'cause you're rather neat too, and it was a pleasure to have you join us. I wish I had had more time to give!