This is how it all went down.
It started with Eye of the Tiger and ended with me barely keeping my eyes open.
FLYING BLIND
I was 2 minutes away from the airport when Eye of the Tiger started playing on the radio. I kind of felt the urge to leave the car through the window. I suppressed it. But it was a nice sendoff.
I just wish the rest of the journey could have been that pleasant.
Cause it really, really wasn't. I spent those 6 hours at the Munich airport and 11 hours on a plane to LAX and the 1st hour at the Marriott freaking out because the dude at the security checkpoint managed to drop my bag with my camera on the floor. And of course, when the other dude asked me to turn the camera on, LCD screen was black. So, my 1st thought was: OMG, he broke it! Then: OMG, this could look suspicious!! And immediately after that: OMG, I won't be able to take photos of Jensen!!!!!!!!!! (Wha? We all have our priorities.) So I was really, really pissed for the next 18 hours. Until I found something in the manual that seemed like light at the end of the tunnel. And one thing led to another until finally I pressed DISP and everything was good with the world again. :D
But there was something not that bad in this whole unfortunate episode. Airplane food. You gotta love it. <3 It's fugly as hell, and yet, somehow, to my great surprise, edible. Go figure.
Pudding!!! :D
AH YES, THE COVETED VIEW OF THE PARKING LOT
I came, asked for a room on 2nd floor (that's lobby level) and almost ended up on 15th floor. That would've been a lot of elevator riding. *shudders at the thought*
It was well after 8pm when I finally found myself in front of the front desk. I asked if they had a room on that floor so that I could avoid elevators as much as possible. They did, but it was the room with the view of the pool and that one was more expensive. (It wasn't more expensive last year, but OK.) So I ended up on the 9th floor. When I finally got there (with all my luggage), I saw that that room was for handicapped ppl. So, I went back down and was offered a room on 15th floor. *cue mini freak out* But luckily, they DID have a room on 2nd floor, only it had double beds and not king. Who cares?! It's not like I don't fit into a smaller bed. So yes, of course I took that one. And just like that, poof! went the elevators. *cue a huge grin*
Just one thing though. Housekeeping at Marriott? What housekeeping? As soon as I got to my room, I found an empty bottle under the bed.
See? A pic. So it did happen. *nods*
I threw it away, of course. Next day I saw that there was a coin under that bed, too.
It was still there five days later when I checked out. Efficient housekeeping, right?
BTW, I'm really tidy (to the point of covering all my tracks), so it's not like they had so much to do in my room that it was understandable that they missed something.
OK, back to the room. I had a very nice view of the parking lot. Sarcastic much? Yes, thank you.
Compare that to the view I had last year.
Now that? Best. Hotel room. Ever. (And keep in mind I stayed in the too expensive Sheraton Wall Center. Twice.)
I should've paid more to get a room with a balcony, but not because of the view. The air in the room was awful and I woke up with a headache every day. (It's not just Marriott, it's like that in every hotel.) So, if I had a balcony, at least I would've been able to open the door and get some fresh air. Hindsight, right?
*KNOCK, KNOCK* ROOM SERVICE!
Well, I had to eat. And calling room service is always the easiest, most practical and most expensive way of not dying of hunger. It just makes most sense. For me. Especially when the schedule is so busy that there's no time to eat.
But luckily for my wallet, the portions were huge. One portion was usually enough for three meals (once even for four, HTG). So $19 divided by 3... That's only $6 per meal. I mean, I paid more for Internet that didn't work most of the time, and I'm not even going to mention how much I paid for my plane ticket, hotel room, Gold and POs... So $6 was hardly a blip on my radar.
CHRIS THE LIFESAVER
This was the first con where I actually had a whole day to pack. For every con before this one I had work and/or headache related issues that forced me to pack in less than an hour. And yet, this was the first time that I actually managed to forget something. *smh*
It occurred to me on Thursday night while waiting in line for pre-registration. OMG, I forgot my photo ops from Vancouver! *cue facepalm* The ones I wanted to get autographed. *headdesk* *headdesk, headdesk* Good thing it happened while I was waiting in line, for an hour, so I was able to think and think and obsess about it.
I was all set on going to the front desk and asking if I could print photos somewhere in or around the hotel, and then I saw Chris and it hit me. He has to print photo ops somewhere. I'll ask him. And I did. He told me that he had his own printer, I asked if he could do me a huge favor, he said he could print the photos for me but that he didn't have the JPEGs, and I said: no problem, my sister can e-mail those to me.
And THAT is why you should always buy JPEGs.
(I had a really nice conversation with Jensen during autographs because I had my photo op from Vancouver. :D)
Chris, thank you again. You're the best. :)
Money saving tip: Buy your tickets at the convention because you won't have to pay that $7.75 handling fee. (Yes, it IS $7.75 now.) Any Jensen and Jared tickets are obviously the exception. Although, lately, even those tickets don't sell out.
BTW, this is one ticket. So, is it for Traci or for Misha? lol How did they even manage to print that?
End of part one. TBC...
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