Didn’t have the post-con blues, but certainly had the post-con exhausteds.

Had a very leisurely morning, packing up the room and doing a final check and rebalance of the suitcases before checking out and storing my bags for a few hours. Just kind of wandered around looking at the rapidly vanishing remnants of the con, and headed for the airport well in advance because I wanted to make sure to miss the end of  business day traffic.

There was still some Gen Con stuff at the airport, which was nice to see; Some tables where people were gaming, and the animated signs for the two security check areas still had Gen Con branding on them.

My flight was uneventful? Indianapolis International TSA staff were their usual chill selves, the flight got bumpy in places & the landing was rough, and the shuttle from the airport to my hotel took a while through kind of insane Vegas traffic, but the whole experience was fine. Nobody particularly upset, everybody just generally going with the flow of the thing.

I’m staying at the New York New York hotel, and the internal layout was a little odd to me, because you have to wander through the casino floor to even get to the reception desk, which I guess tells you a lot about their priorities.

Today’s game was Psychic Trash Detectives, and it was great; Immediately went out & bought the game.

I probably could have used the afternoon more effectively, but I had fun, so I’m happy with it.

Got down to the stadium just to see it, and picked up a few things for myself & others at the Hall Of Wallet Emptying. Also picked up the VIG swag & lugged it back to my room.

I find I have to do the Vendor area in a series of short visits; It’s such an assault on the senses, and so crowded, that after a while I just want out.

Had dinner with a huge group of people, and a Nerdprov Live show in the evening. Both of these were fun.

First game of the con, Coyote & Crow, was awesome; We all had a good time, and my character got to finish a fight by hitting a group of people with a couch.

The second game, in the evening, didn’t happen; I was the only player out of 5 who turned up for Tales From The Loop. I chatted with the guy who was intending to run it for a bit, he explained the system, and after 20 minutes we called it.

I refunded the ticket, so no money lost, but it did mean I needed to find something else to do with the evening; fortunately there was one ticket left for a social mixer thing that I’d not planned to go to because I had this game on my schedule, so I grabbed that. Tried to do a demo of another game, but at 8:30 p.m. there weren’t a whole lot of players around, so I chatted with the guy who would have been running the demo, read through the quick start rules, and he ended up giving me a copy of the rules/scenario & and a pack of dice, so I’m calling that a win.

The social mixer was pretty fun, though it did feel like it emptied out earlier than in previous years. Afterwards we wandered in the ICC for a bit, but I was kind of tired and approaching “dead on my feet” so I headed off at around midnight.

“Day Zero” of Gen Con; Most of the setup is done, and lines from for folks getting badges & merch.

I did go to the wednesday night social event, The Stink, for a while, but it was pretty loud & oddly hot, so I left pretty early & found somewhere quieter & cooler to be. Happy with that decision.

Wound up having dinner with some friends, then wandering the halls of the ICC looking at the shiny things in the display cabinets.

Again, mostly images.

Went to the Children’s Museum with Tom in the middle of the day, & caught up with Frank in the late afternoon.

Also image heavy, so they’re behind the cut.

This was the day that Tom arrived downtown, so I met up with him & Dawn for breakfast, once he’d got set in his hotel. Before that I was wandering the ICC halls & getting a few more pictures.

A whole lot of images here, so I’m putting them behind the cut.

Saturday was pretty much the “stay awake while the sun’s out” day, to try to adjust to the new time zone. Hung out with Naomi+Jay (whose place I was staying at), and then Tom.

Sunday was a … Is it a cookout if there’s no cooking outside because it was easier to pre-prepare, and also rain was forecast? Well, it was one of those, and it was a lot of fun. (And it rained a lot when the rain came)

One of the office cats, for reasons of insanity, decided to test his luck with the other office cat. He regretted it almost immediately, and then continued to regret it as she stalked him around the space to make sure he’d understood the point that was being made.

Tom dropped me off in downtown Indy in the evening, and after settling into my hotel room, I took a wander through the Indiana Convention Centre to see what, if anything, had been set up already.