TCEP 15 recap
As usual, I'll break it down by day. And I'll put it behind cuts, because I'm the friend of youf f-list page...
Friday:
Got up on Friday and helped get the kids out the door for school. By this time, we were 90% packed - the only things left to do was a little bit of laundry and some grocery shopping. mousecat0 & I did a bit of shopping research (IE who had the better prices on the few groceries we needed) and left. Bank first, then breakfast at la Madeleine. Not a preferred dining location for me, as they tend to be overpriced and, well, not really worth it, IMO. However, we had a gift card from there, so breakfast, coffee, and a pastry each cost us ~$2 out of pocket. Stopped at AC Moore to grab a few things we needed for the con, then off to Giant for the aforementioned groceries.
mousecat0 finished the laundry, and we packed the cars. Around 1445 hrs, I left for the hotel. OMFG! Due to the combination of rainy weather, Labor Day weekend, and the water-soluble driving skills of the drivers in the DC area, I didn't get there until just after 1600 hrs - a trip that normally takes ~35-40 minutes! Checked in with no problem, and met up with therevdrnye to ensure that all was going well. Unpacked into our room (ground floor YAY!) and joined therevdrnye, kmusser and radiant_one in the con suite to await the arrival of the rest of the con goers. Once mousecat0 & the kids got there, we unloaded the rest of the gear and settled in. In our room, I fired up the laptop to get some one or two things taken care of for work (silly shit like timesheets...) and then a shower. Dinner was the Outback Steakhouse, where the kids and I split a bloomin' Onion, and we all devoured great chunks of meat. After dinner, mousecat0 went home, as she had to work the next morning. The kids and I unloaded the bins of games onto the shelves, then B went to work on some beading patterns while F & I played his Transformers card game. I stayed up for a while and talked with folks until Tad got there; the kids went to bed when they were tired.
Saturday:
Woke up early, got the kids showered and dressed, and headed out for the Munchkins I needed for my "Munchkins and Munchkin" event. This turned out to be a minor PITA, as the Dunkin' Donuts we went to last year was closed for renovations, which meant that we had to go back past the hotel to the DD on Rt 1, then back again for the coffee (since I don't dare get DD coffee - they haven't gotten my order right in years - and I don't do difficult coffee orders). We got back in time, and ran a game of Munchkin Cthulhu. B. won the game, in large part because all players were at 9th level, and it was just a matter of when we ran out of monster modifiers. After we cleaned that up, there was a meeting of the Barking Mad BoD, then we had our open Barking Mad meeting. A lot of good information was exchanged, and a number of people stepped up to volunteer.
A side note here. A number of the people who stepped up to volunteer read this LJ. Thank you all for stepping up. A number of our current and past volunteers read this as well. Thank you for everything you've done.
Well, after the meeting, I got roped into learning Race for the Galaxy by ext_42142. I enjoyed this game quite a bit - got thoroughly trounced my first two games and did better on my third. After this, mousecat0, the kids and I went to Five Guys for dinner for ourselves and blackpaladin. We brought it back, then I spent more time playing Race for the Galaxy. Eventually, I crashed out.
Sunday:
Well, I had no takers for my Nuclear War game, so I taught Strange Synergy to B & F. byronczimmer also sat in for a bit. B. drew a particularly broken combination of cards, and essentially won the game. After that, I got to play Arkham Horror. I love it. Must get it. My thanks to dagopher for bringing it and running the event. mousecat0 got some KFC for us, and, after that was demolished, the Munchkin Cthulhu tournament sorta went off...in that we had players for a game. Hrmph. F. won that one, scoring a Munchkin Bobblehead. The full set of Munchkin Cthulhu went to the couple that were playing, and psywildfire walked away with a black Munchkin Die and a Munchkin Coin.
Then, it was time for the 1st Annual E. Gary Gygax Memorial Dungeon Crawl. 1st edition rules. No "Unearthed Arcana". No "skills" or "feats". Just your dice, your character sheets, and your own bloodshot instincts. This will get it's own post.
Finally, I played my yearly game of Shadows over Camelot with blackpaladin, psywildfire, angel_vixen, starmalachite, killernurd, & stevemb. We won, though we really didn't deserve to. I'll put it this way, had there been a traitor, we'd have lost.
Monday:
Well, once we got up, we packed out the room. I sent mousecat0 & F out for coffee, since what we got in the room was the functional equivalent of dipping a brown crayon in hot water. B & I packed a lot of our stuff in the car, then headed to the gameroom for my annual Car Wars/ Battle Cattle Card Game (aka "The Beefsteak Invitational"). It's a great game to run on the last day of a con because it's simple, it's easy to set up and explain, and there's plenty of mayhem and fun. Got all the games packed up and got everything loaded out. TGIFridays was again the location for the Dead Dog meal afterwards. F. managed to confuse ext_42142 when he said that he couldn't wait for his "Cup of Dirt" (chocolate pudding with crushed Oreo's on top and some Gummi Worms). The dessert that mousecat0, B & I split was their "Mini Desserts" - three jigger size glasses, one with "Orange Cream", one with "Rocky Road", and one with "Peanut Butter Cup". All small, all delicious, and just right to split 3 ways.
The only downer to the weekend: On the way home, my front drivers side tire blew while on the beltway. Which meant I had to unpack the car to get to the donut, change the tire, then repack the car.
::sigh:: At least it didn't happen on Friday, when it was all rainy and stuff.
All in all, a great weekend.
Stay tuned, boys and girls! Coming next: TCEP 16: Tad And Craig against the World Crime League! Labor Day Weekend 2009!
Friday:
Got up on Friday and helped get the kids out the door for school. By this time, we were 90% packed - the only things left to do was a little bit of laundry and some grocery shopping. mousecat0 & I did a bit of shopping research (IE who had the better prices on the few groceries we needed) and left. Bank first, then breakfast at la Madeleine. Not a preferred dining location for me, as they tend to be overpriced and, well, not really worth it, IMO. However, we had a gift card from there, so breakfast, coffee, and a pastry each cost us ~$2 out of pocket. Stopped at AC Moore to grab a few things we needed for the con, then off to Giant for the aforementioned groceries.
mousecat0 finished the laundry, and we packed the cars. Around 1445 hrs, I left for the hotel. OMFG! Due to the combination of rainy weather, Labor Day weekend, and the water-soluble driving skills of the drivers in the DC area, I didn't get there until just after 1600 hrs - a trip that normally takes ~35-40 minutes! Checked in with no problem, and met up with therevdrnye to ensure that all was going well. Unpacked into our room (ground floor YAY!) and joined therevdrnye, kmusser and radiant_one in the con suite to await the arrival of the rest of the con goers. Once mousecat0 & the kids got there, we unloaded the rest of the gear and settled in. In our room, I fired up the laptop to get some one or two things taken care of for work (silly shit like timesheets...) and then a shower. Dinner was the Outback Steakhouse, where the kids and I split a bloomin' Onion, and we all devoured great chunks of meat. After dinner, mousecat0 went home, as she had to work the next morning. The kids and I unloaded the bins of games onto the shelves, then B went to work on some beading patterns while F & I played his Transformers card game. I stayed up for a while and talked with folks until Tad got there; the kids went to bed when they were tired.
Saturday:
Woke up early, got the kids showered and dressed, and headed out for the Munchkins I needed for my "Munchkins and Munchkin" event. This turned out to be a minor PITA, as the Dunkin' Donuts we went to last year was closed for renovations, which meant that we had to go back past the hotel to the DD on Rt 1, then back again for the coffee (since I don't dare get DD coffee - they haven't gotten my order right in years - and I don't do difficult coffee orders). We got back in time, and ran a game of Munchkin Cthulhu. B. won the game, in large part because all players were at 9th level, and it was just a matter of when we ran out of monster modifiers. After we cleaned that up, there was a meeting of the Barking Mad BoD, then we had our open Barking Mad meeting. A lot of good information was exchanged, and a number of people stepped up to volunteer.
A side note here. A number of the people who stepped up to volunteer read this LJ. Thank you all for stepping up. A number of our current and past volunteers read this as well. Thank you for everything you've done.
Well, after the meeting, I got roped into learning Race for the Galaxy by ext_42142. I enjoyed this game quite a bit - got thoroughly trounced my first two games and did better on my third. After this, mousecat0, the kids and I went to Five Guys for dinner for ourselves and blackpaladin. We brought it back, then I spent more time playing Race for the Galaxy. Eventually, I crashed out.
Sunday:
Well, I had no takers for my Nuclear War game, so I taught Strange Synergy to B & F. byronczimmer also sat in for a bit. B. drew a particularly broken combination of cards, and essentially won the game. After that, I got to play Arkham Horror. I love it. Must get it. My thanks to dagopher for bringing it and running the event. mousecat0 got some KFC for us, and, after that was demolished, the Munchkin Cthulhu tournament sorta went off...in that we had players for a game. Hrmph. F. won that one, scoring a Munchkin Bobblehead. The full set of Munchkin Cthulhu went to the couple that were playing, and psywildfire walked away with a black Munchkin Die and a Munchkin Coin.
Then, it was time for the 1st Annual E. Gary Gygax Memorial Dungeon Crawl. 1st edition rules. No "Unearthed Arcana". No "skills" or "feats". Just your dice, your character sheets, and your own bloodshot instincts. This will get it's own post.
Finally, I played my yearly game of Shadows over Camelot with blackpaladin, psywildfire, angel_vixen, starmalachite, killernurd, & stevemb. We won, though we really didn't deserve to. I'll put it this way, had there been a traitor, we'd have lost.
Monday:
Well, once we got up, we packed out the room. I sent mousecat0 & F out for coffee, since what we got in the room was the functional equivalent of dipping a brown crayon in hot water. B & I packed a lot of our stuff in the car, then headed to the gameroom for my annual Car Wars/ Battle Cattle Card Game (aka "The Beefsteak Invitational"). It's a great game to run on the last day of a con because it's simple, it's easy to set up and explain, and there's plenty of mayhem and fun. Got all the games packed up and got everything loaded out. TGIFridays was again the location for the Dead Dog meal afterwards. F. managed to confuse ext_42142 when he said that he couldn't wait for his "Cup of Dirt" (chocolate pudding with crushed Oreo's on top and some Gummi Worms). The dessert that mousecat0, B & I split was their "Mini Desserts" - three jigger size glasses, one with "Orange Cream", one with "Rocky Road", and one with "Peanut Butter Cup". All small, all delicious, and just right to split 3 ways.
The only downer to the weekend: On the way home, my front drivers side tire blew while on the beltway. Which meant I had to unpack the car to get to the donut, change the tire, then repack the car.
::sigh:: At least it didn't happen on Friday, when it was all rainy and stuff.
All in all, a great weekend.
Stay tuned, boys and girls! Coming next: TCEP 16: Tad And Craig against the World Crime League! Labor Day Weekend 2009!