Bay area visit?

[algeh]

I just got back from Conflikt (up near Seattle) and I had a great time after a rocky start (allergic reaction to dinner + social anxiety worsened by squirming children sitting behind me and constantly moving in my peripheral vision = lousy Friday), so I'm considering going down to California for Consonance in early March. The con itself is in

Comments

[algeh]

I totally dropped the ball on this....I'm still only 70% sure I'm going (I need to find a roomshare for the con itself to save money, probably), but I do make it it looks like the best day for me visit would be Tuesday March 9th and (hopefully) crashing at your place that night (or hanging out that day and then catching the train back to PDX that night, if you prefer - I have no idea what your daily schedule is like or how this might or might not fit in). The daily train to PDX leaves San Jose at about 8:30 pm, so either entertaining myself during the day on Tuesday, hanging out with you in the evening, then crashing at your place Tuesday and then getting the Wednesday train or hanging out during the day on Tuesday and then heading to the train station would be fine, but it'd be cutting it close to do something in the evening and then bus to the train station in time to get my train home. I'd be coming from my friend's place in Marin somewhere Tuesday morning, but I don't mind spending the day touristing around somewhere if you've got a day job. (That's what I'm planning on doing during the day Monday, too - I spent a month semi-homeless in the Bay Area ten years ago and never did any of the touristy things because I was so busy and stressed out trying to find a place to crash for the summer and this trip is totally my revenge.)

I'm staying with a different friend on Monday night, and if Tuesday doesn't work I could do Thursday the 4th instead, but I'd prefer to avoid spending the night with cats at the start of the trip since I'm somewhat allergic and then I'd have cat hair all over my stuff the entire trip until I could get home and wash everything, which might mean taking my allergy meds the whole trip rather than just that one day. That's not a huge deal, but it's something to avoid if I can.

If neither of those work for you, we can start trying to plan how I can sneak away from the con for a meal or something, I guess. :) The con still doesn't have any kind of programming grid or concert schedule on their website, so it's hard for me to be specific about my weekend availability. Filk cons can be kind of relaxed about these things since mostly they just have one main programming track (mostly concerts) and occasional workshops or spontaneous small group activities going on in another room, so sometimes scheduling kind of happens at the last minute. (The filk track at Orycon this year was being re-arranged at the con on Friday to the point that the track head was stationed at the hotel entrance flagging down other filkers to see if they wanted a last-minute concert slot due to a cancellation. The track still went pretty well.)

I will know if I am going or not for sure no later than the 20th, because that's when pre-reg closes, and I'd like to get my train tickets booked by then too, so please let me know if this works for you.

I don't know what happened to my organizational skills about this. It's like time wasn't really passing this month or something.

[lucca1]

Okay, based on my schedule I do work on the 9th, but I'm off by 3 pm. I could easily pick you up after I'm done with work from BART or something, and we could plan stuff from there.

I'm also here on the 4th, too, but I also get off at 3 that day (closer to 3:30, actually).

Tell me what works best for you!

[algeh]

Tuesday the 9th is better for me, so let's go ahead and plan on that, then. (That lets me start my trip with checking into a hotel, which is easier to push the start-time for later and later if the train is late, rather than with trying to meet up with a specific human at a specific time, which would involve a series of increasingly annoyed phone calls as it became clear that the train schedule was not reflecting reality.) I could either hang out for a while and crash at your place on the 9th or we could meet up briefly for dinner near the train station and I could get the train that night, but unfortunately I need to know which ASAP since Amtrak wants it all booked in advance. I'm up for either, whichever fits your schedule better. (I know trying to fit in company mid-week when you're working can be kind of a pain.)

Also, assuming I'm in your neck of the woods, is there a better Amtrak station for me to go to than the San Jose one for my return trip? Amtrak appears to offer round-trip pricing even if you don't use the same station both ways, so I'm wondering how to make this part easiest to handle. (The train leaves the area at about 8:30 pm, so I'd want a station with mass transit access in the evenings and that isn't terribly sketchy to be waiting in at night. If you don't have any idea, I'll just book both ways using the station that makes the most sense for the con.)

[lucca1]

Wow I completely missed this post!

There may be a small chance I can't do this now due to my grandma passing away. I have a feeling the service will be before the 9th, but I don't know. I'll keep you posted.

If it's not too late, Martinez is the best station if you're gunning for the east bay in terms of Amtrak. If you want the San Francisco area, Oakland has a few stations. San Jose is kinda far for me to drive -- it's over an hour away, and I'm totally not familiar with the area. I could do it, but you'd have to pay me in some sort of baked confection.

BTW, if you're coming from SFO, Bart (Bay Area Rapid Transit) has a train that leaves directly from SFO.