Dis pre-Con, and also food near con hotel
Worldcon is coming up, and it's in DC.
This is a big deal for me.
It's in my city and I've been looking forward to it for years. It's inevitably an opportunity to spend time with delightful people, largely of fellow tech variety.
But... My approach to the pandemic has generally been on the paranoid side of risk-avoidance, and I've been less than comfortable in public spaces and surrounded by people. I've hardly ever had to spend more than a couple hours masked. The idea of confining myself to a hotel where I spend 14-16 hour days in a mask around people who may or may not do so effectively has seemed like a less than a wise one. I am anxiety-prone; going to the con would be recipe for a disaster, would it not?
I've been on this anxiety train ride for months.
So... there was an in-venue meeting to have a walkthrough and to get on the same page and confirm the scheduling and logistics and things. And I thought, maybe even if - especially if - I can't handle being at a con, going to the meeting will be like a tiny micro-con with the people I'd want to see the most. So, after much angst and indecision I made my way to the Omni Shoreham hotel.
The parking situation for the con proper will be atrocious, but I scored a magical spot free for the day across the street from the hotel doors and spent my "one perfect parallel parking job per decade" luck on whooshing into it.
At the desk they directed me to a ballroom which was nearly empty....except for a handful of techs gaffing down cables, so moments after entry I grabbed a roll and gave one of them a hand - it does go much quicker as a two-person job.
("I found the techs!" I texted Spouse. "Are they staring at the ceiling?" he quipped. "Floor at the moment" I replied.)
The rest of the group rolled in. There was some time to exchange hugs with the techs as well as with Werewulf before the official proceedings.
These started with an icebreaker. Name, department, and "what are you looking forward to at the con". I considered dodging out of the nearby door to avoid the matter, but then I had the perfect answer. I gestured at the assembled techs. "Lurking at the tech desk with my family".
Some folks about to investigate lunch invited me along, and were amenable to meandering the block to see what we can see and know what's around. The weather was perfect for it, and we had a good stroll before zeroing in on Bistro Bites, which purveyed crepes and dosas. (A mango crepe with mango ice cream was delicious if not entirely filling.) I was pleased to find an Ace Hardware and a little "NYC-style" corner market store within a block of the hotel.
In a break the TD and I took a walk to check out the main ballroom, and I took the opportunity to talk to him about my con apprehensions. He suggested I be there before it opens on Tuesday and also consider the Masquerade which would confine me to a nearly empty ballroom for most of the day - both prospects that seemed manageable - and play the rest by ear. His understanding was a relief.
The meeting part of the meeting was fine, although the choice to run meetings between departments via zoom with breakout rooms seems to have been ill-advised, especially as there was little foresight on who's to use what room, so the names were not indicative of content, and I heard a few reports of not finding what one needs. Having multiple zoom clusters in a large ballroom was also a bit distracting.
Eventually dinnertime came, and the techs fell into the trap of saying "We should talk dinner" only to promptly be distracted by talking of other things. This proceeded until one particularly frustrated diner-to-be exclaimed loudly and emphatically, "Federalist pig!"
This turned out to be his suggestion for a BBQ joint, which in no way prevented us from exclaiming that at any new person to meander towards us. Which did rather extend the time for the takeout order to be placed, but also added to the merriment.
It took far longer than expected for the dispatched party to return with the food and a report that an order for 14 broke the eatery, and they advised that next time we call a day ahead with a catering order. We were not impressed. Nor were we particularly impressed with the meal itself.
On the other hand the dessert was from Sharbat, an Azerbaijani bakery, and it was fantastic. I usually find baklava a bit one-note and over-sweet; this one - although still a bit rich for me - was best balanced I've ever tried, and a pastry with pumpkin filling was perfect.
After dinner a few of us decided to do one more walkthrough of the main ballroom. On we walked through the abandoned hallways and dark corridors and vacant rooms. We stared at the ceiling indeed and poked at buttons and peeked into wall panels. We found a set of swinging doors with signage reading "block doors" on one side and "do not" on the other - in the reasonable order, but this did not reduce our amusement in the least. It was delightful and joy-filled and amazing.
Then we went up to the party and I quite rapidly crashed - too small a space, too many people in it, and besides if I wanted to make it home it'd be a good idea to get started on that. (I did score a potential crash space had I decided at the last minute to stay - another delightful aspect of tech tribe - but it would have been in the party suite, and that was far too daunting.
As I made my goodbyes I was asked again and again and again if I'll be seen at Philcon. It felt good. (Alas, I don't think we're up for venturing to a convention in another city quite yet. But I gave it far more serious consideration than I would have expected myself to feel capable of. Originally posted at https://leiacat.dreamwidth.org/353008.html. Please comment either there using OpenID or right here. I read both with the same distracted semi-frequency.
This is a big deal for me.
It's in my city and I've been looking forward to it for years. It's inevitably an opportunity to spend time with delightful people, largely of fellow tech variety.
But... My approach to the pandemic has generally been on the paranoid side of risk-avoidance, and I've been less than comfortable in public spaces and surrounded by people. I've hardly ever had to spend more than a couple hours masked. The idea of confining myself to a hotel where I spend 14-16 hour days in a mask around people who may or may not do so effectively has seemed like a less than a wise one. I am anxiety-prone; going to the con would be recipe for a disaster, would it not?
I've been on this anxiety train ride for months.
So... there was an in-venue meeting to have a walkthrough and to get on the same page and confirm the scheduling and logistics and things. And I thought, maybe even if - especially if - I can't handle being at a con, going to the meeting will be like a tiny micro-con with the people I'd want to see the most. So, after much angst and indecision I made my way to the Omni Shoreham hotel.
The parking situation for the con proper will be atrocious, but I scored a magical spot free for the day across the street from the hotel doors and spent my "one perfect parallel parking job per decade" luck on whooshing into it.
At the desk they directed me to a ballroom which was nearly empty....except for a handful of techs gaffing down cables, so moments after entry I grabbed a roll and gave one of them a hand - it does go much quicker as a two-person job.
("I found the techs!" I texted Spouse. "Are they staring at the ceiling?" he quipped. "Floor at the moment" I replied.)
The rest of the group rolled in. There was some time to exchange hugs with the techs as well as with Werewulf before the official proceedings.
These started with an icebreaker. Name, department, and "what are you looking forward to at the con". I considered dodging out of the nearby door to avoid the matter, but then I had the perfect answer. I gestured at the assembled techs. "Lurking at the tech desk with my family".
Some folks about to investigate lunch invited me along, and were amenable to meandering the block to see what we can see and know what's around. The weather was perfect for it, and we had a good stroll before zeroing in on Bistro Bites, which purveyed crepes and dosas. (A mango crepe with mango ice cream was delicious if not entirely filling.) I was pleased to find an Ace Hardware and a little "NYC-style" corner market store within a block of the hotel.
In a break the TD and I took a walk to check out the main ballroom, and I took the opportunity to talk to him about my con apprehensions. He suggested I be there before it opens on Tuesday and also consider the Masquerade which would confine me to a nearly empty ballroom for most of the day - both prospects that seemed manageable - and play the rest by ear. His understanding was a relief.
The meeting part of the meeting was fine, although the choice to run meetings between departments via zoom with breakout rooms seems to have been ill-advised, especially as there was little foresight on who's to use what room, so the names were not indicative of content, and I heard a few reports of not finding what one needs. Having multiple zoom clusters in a large ballroom was also a bit distracting.
Eventually dinnertime came, and the techs fell into the trap of saying "We should talk dinner" only to promptly be distracted by talking of other things. This proceeded until one particularly frustrated diner-to-be exclaimed loudly and emphatically, "Federalist pig!"
This turned out to be his suggestion for a BBQ joint, which in no way prevented us from exclaiming that at any new person to meander towards us. Which did rather extend the time for the takeout order to be placed, but also added to the merriment.
It took far longer than expected for the dispatched party to return with the food and a report that an order for 14 broke the eatery, and they advised that next time we call a day ahead with a catering order. We were not impressed. Nor were we particularly impressed with the meal itself.
On the other hand the dessert was from Sharbat, an Azerbaijani bakery, and it was fantastic. I usually find baklava a bit one-note and over-sweet; this one - although still a bit rich for me - was best balanced I've ever tried, and a pastry with pumpkin filling was perfect.
After dinner a few of us decided to do one more walkthrough of the main ballroom. On we walked through the abandoned hallways and dark corridors and vacant rooms. We stared at the ceiling indeed and poked at buttons and peeked into wall panels. We found a set of swinging doors with signage reading "block doors" on one side and "do not" on the other - in the reasonable order, but this did not reduce our amusement in the least. It was delightful and joy-filled and amazing.
Then we went up to the party and I quite rapidly crashed - too small a space, too many people in it, and besides if I wanted to make it home it'd be a good idea to get started on that. (I did score a potential crash space had I decided at the last minute to stay - another delightful aspect of tech tribe - but it would have been in the party suite, and that was far too daunting.
As I made my goodbyes I was asked again and again and again if I'll be seen at Philcon. It felt good. (Alas, I don't think we're up for venturing to a convention in another city quite yet. But I gave it far more serious consideration than I would have expected myself to feel capable of. Originally posted at https://leiacat.dreamwidth.org/353008.html. Please comment either there using OpenID or right here. I read both with the same distracted semi-frequency.