I’m still dealing with jetlag induced slump, so this is a bit of a short one.
Continue readingMonthly Archives: August 2024
Friday through Sunday – LAS to LAX to NAN to AKL
I’m going to be adding to this as I go along, assuming airport WiFi happens.
Continue readingThursday in Las Vegas
This was a slow day; Hard to wake up, hard to get moving, and the noise & crowds were getting to me more than ever before. There’s a non-zero chance that some level of Con Crud¹ is at play, because I felt cold today; Not outside, but when indoors, it felt cold.
Did a few walks along the Vegas Strip, wandering more or less randomly. At one point it tried to rain, and I guess technically succeeded, in that there were raindrops, though they did instantly vanish to evaporation once they hit the ground.
¹ Con Crud is the low level unwellness that hits a lot of people after a big con. Not a serious illness, but tends to feel like a bad cold with a throat irritation. Me being me, and a collector of lung issues, I tend to get chest congestion of some kind.
The general assumption on it is that it’s a combination of bad sleep, iffy nutrition, and the exposure to thousands of brand new bugs & viruses, none of them virulent enough to cause a serious problem, but the combined minor effect is enough to give you a few days of feeling run-down & unwell.
Continue readingWednesday – Kà
The original plan was to do some kind of trip out into the desert today, either a Grand Canyon tour or one of the others, but I decided not to to because of the heat warning – pretty sure my travel insurance would laugh at me if something happened, and it’s hot enough that my breathing is affected after a while. It’s not like I can’t come back here, and there’s no sense in doing something dumb.
Instead, I went to a Cirque Du Soleil show.
Continue readingTuesday In Las Vegas
Today was mostly a wandering around day.
There’s an extreme heat advisory in effect, so the wandering around process involved a lot of “walk to the next air-conditioned space”, because it’s dangerously hot out there.
Got to see the fountain outside the Bellagio, which I missed the last time I was here.
Leaving Town On A Monday
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.
Continue readingSunday: Predation & Closing
The day started with VIG swag; Well, technically with a shower & getting dressed, but then VIG swag. There was a lot of it, but I have essentially no luggage space, so Naomi+Jay very kindly swung through the JW in their truck & took it off my hands to give it a good home.
We’d arranged that they’d let me know when they were on their way, and I’d be waiting in the hotel pull-through valet parking area. As it turned out, our timing was perfect, because the message arrived just as I woke up and checked my phone, giving me enough time to have a shower and get dressed, and then they arrived in the pull-through area just as I walked out of the lobby. Could not have timed it better if we’d tried.
Continue readingSaturday: Rapscallion, Brindlewood Bay, & Old Gods Of Appalachia
This was my three-game day; Rapscallion, Brindlewood Bay, & Old Gods Of Appalachia; 12 hours of games, though maybe a smidge less as some of them finished early.
Continue readingFriday: Psychic Trash Detectives
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.
Continue readingThursday: Coyote & Crow
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.
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