Ullsvik Hall, which was the student center back in our day (the 1980s), is not a good place for Plattecon IMHO because it typically does not have food service, nor a place to relax and plug in a laptop. The Markee Pioneer Student Center (MPSC) has such amenities, but from what the PGA tell me, the MPSC is more expensive and difficult to schedule. Thus, Friday I went shopping to our local Costco for foodstuffs we could take with us.
Mountain Dew is the drink of geeks, but because the WGH has diabetes II, I purchased Diet Mountain Dew and G2. The WGH also wanted beef jerky, hummus, and celery; and I wanted chocolate. The large container of Jelly Bellies was a pure impulse buy, but the only chips I purchased were veggie straws. Costco has an amazingly good and portable veggie tray, and I knew the WGH would love the fresh grapes. Because the WGH had to work, I packed everything except his duffle bag of clothes, then loaded everything (including said duffle) into the car.
Brian was tired from being up so early and working all day, and despite my good intentions, I napped, so I was awake enough to drive. Unfortunately, it started snowing, and even though I’ve made great progress since our first married Thanksgiving (long story short: Brian tried giving me a driving lesson, then it started snowing), we switched seats about halfway to P-ville.
Upon arrival and the expedient check-in system (the PGA are geeks who are good with technology), I noticed that their security/helpful staff contingent all wore hats identifying them as ‘Brute Squad.’ Nice. We immediately found our friends Brian (BAS) and Walter Stewart (brothers). I was surprised that BAS already was there as he normally runs later than I do. We spent a few minutes reading the program for the weekend, and the WGH commented on the great and life-like mini someone had: a baby. The baby wore a onesie that her mom made with the itty bitty’s D&D stats: STR: 6, DEX: 3, CON: 4, INT 4, WIS: 3, CHA: 20. Mom told me the next day the little girl would wear a onesie with the graphic, “Hello, my name is Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All.” I told the little one that she had a bright future ahead of her; geek parents are a lot of fun.
We brought games to play, and the WGH wanted to play Trailer Park Boys Supply and Command card game. I didn’t want to play, having never been a fan of the TV show, but the game required four players, so I acquiesced. Good thing, too. It was a fun variant on Dilbert’s Corporate Shuffle, and one didn’t need to know the show to play the game. Similar to The Walking Dead Board Game and its source material.
The Stewart Brothers and I frustrated the WGH by deciding upon dinner plans, then changing them again, and again. Finally we opted for a local Mexican restaurant that was showing the NBA on two TVs and WWE on the third. Walt astutely compared to professional wrestling to the performance of gymnastics.
Although Walt has a spacious spare bedroom, the bed in it is full-sized, not king like our bed at home. We didn’t have our puppies with us, so that made falling and staying asleep even harder. The only good side was that the WGH and I had several good snuggle sessions without a fur-bearing critter sandwiched between us.
Saturday morning we woke at our leisure and ate the delicious pumpkin muffins Walt baked for his guests. Back at the convention’s open gaming area, we snagged a table, and I set up the food and drink purchased the day before. I brought two games: Munchkin Quest, a board game variant of the ever-expanding card game, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig along with its supplement The Secrets. Steve, a longtime convention-friend joined us, so we had to play the former as the latter is a four-person game only. Unfortunately Munchkin Quest is IMHO more complex than needed, and it took too long to learn and play well. The WGH was bored, and because of the mechanics of the game, BAS said at one point, “I guess I’ll fight myself.” The ‘highlight’ of the game was when I gave the Shrieking Geek monster a mate. We stopped at 2:00 so I could join a Star Wars Trivial Pursuit game.
The lady running said game (GM) didn’t realize she had a sign-up sheet at the check-in table, so she already started before I arrived. No problem; it’s just a game. The GM also had house rules: 1. After going to the circle part of the board, your pawn always must go clockwise, and no moving back up the spokes. 2. Answer as many questions as you can from the same card before discarding it. 3. Pie pieces are awarded only on their specific squares. 4. If you have a pie piece of the color pie piece square you landed on, you may request a color that you don’t have and earn it with a correct answer. 5. The winner of the game is the first person who earns all six pie pieces.
The GM also seemed a bit OCD because she kept moving everyone’s pawn and trying to remember who was supposed to ask questions. I smiled because I know what it’s like to have such personality quirks/mental health issues. Two of the other gamers were a father and daughter duo. The daughter was a student at UW-P, and the father was a former colleague of mine that I referred to as “The Narc” when I worked in the hell that was DSPS. (Guess why.) Because I never saw the front of his badge, I couldn’t recall his real name, and it didn’t really matter. During the game he mentioned his dog Karma, and if the dog was being naughty he’d say, “Bad, Karma!” Groan.
Less than a half-hour into the game, and with many super easy (and a few super hard) questions asked of me, I finally had all six pie pieces to win the game. I guess my starting late gave everyone else a sporting chance. I also mentioned that I won a game of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit while waiting in line for a midnight showing of The Phantom Menace. My geek street cred still is solid!
When I returned to the open gaming area, I learned that BAS channeled me in the extreme by accidently dumping the veggie tray. Mercifully he cleaned it all up. Hey, one less thing to take home, so no problem. We still had candy, veggie straws, and grapes.
Steve brought his copy of Cards Against Humanity (CAH), which as usual drew an extra player named Evan. This is why I love gaming conventions and their open gaming areas: you start a game, and anyone interested can join. It’s a ton of fun meeting new people, especially sick and twisted people like us. I was in a particular sick mood with my cards. When the WGH was judge, he drew the card, “What gets me laid?” I had a choice between ‘grave robbing’ and ‘children on leashes’. I asked Walt how gross should I be. He reminded me that it’s CAH and the sicker the better, so I played the leash card. I don’t think I won that hand, though. What I did win was when BAS pulled a two-fer card: “For my next trick, I’ll pull (blank) out of my (blank).” I played ‘coat hanger abortions’ and ‘my vagina’. Very sick; the WGH made me take a picture of the cards. Steve won the game, though.
Later while waiting for our friends to finish their all-day game of Civilization, I checked out artists alley and the silent auction. I didn’t see anything at the latter, but the former had an artist who made geek crafts out of fusible plastic beads and magnets. I chose a blue lightsaber and a potion bottle from the original Legend of Zelda game and will add them to my geek collection in my
I also checked out the vendors area and encouraged the WGH to buy something for GMs Day. Our friends Lynn and her ex were running a booth selling clothes, and the company that supplies her wares does make things in ‘hefty.’ Lynn is volunteering for Odyssey Con this year, and I told her we purchased our weekend passes to support the cause.
The WGH was surprised to see that I went to a specific table, picked up several items, and put them in a zippered baggie from the stash I brought. I can’t think of the name of the group, but they encourage board game creation and provided plenty of blank supplies. I explained to the WGH that I read about it in the program, and that I hope to create games based on my Hirapis series of novels (as soon as I write them).
While we continued to wait (Civilization officially is listed as a 3-12 hour game), we rambled the way only gamers can. BAS said he would like to create a wizard named Zoloft because he thinks it would be a kewl name. Someone else suggested a parody or adult board game called ‘Revenge of the Stiffs.’ During a routine check of the Civilization game, our friend Ted and I compared pix of our kids.
Finally the game was done and we headed to Steve’s Pizza, which was very crowded, but they have increased their dining room with space on the second floor of their building. We ordered two extra-large pizzas on thin crust, and the carnivore was served within reason. Unfortunately, they gave our Greek to another table, making us wait an interminably long time. While we waited, I tried to keep the conversation going, but I felt like Mrs. Peacock from the movie Clue, with about as much success. Our discussion included other (and lewd) definitions of things Greek and Roman. (Just go to the Urban Dictionary if you want/need to know more.) When we received the check, I asked to see the manager because we weren’t going to pay for that second pizza. Our server briefed the manager before he arrived, and before I said anything he said he was having the server take that ‘za off the bill. Good.
We’re geeks, though; so the server still received a good tip. The mix-up wasn’t her fault, and she was very frank and honest and apologetic during our wait.
Sunday morning, the WGH and I decided to forgo the breakfast buffet tradition and headed for home. The dogs were happy to see us; the cats acknowledged that we returned and could we please fill the food dish because they could almost see the bottom – almost. Finally we all were back in our king-sized bed for a glorious post-convention nap.
Pog ma thoin!
-Lori
“What’s the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One is very heavy, the other is a little lighter.” – Facebook Meme the WGH read during our trip
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