Winnipeg Weekend :D
Nov. 3rd, 2009 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ostarellaWell, this may be a bit convoluted as I'm still hazy from the trip, so bear with me 
Plans were to leave early Thursday morning, but that got a bit sidetracked when I discovered my dryer had conked out (AGAIN!) so instead of just packing up the last of my clothes and leaving, I had to make a run to the laundromat. Then my brother wanted to meet me for breakfast up in the Twin Cities as I went through - and the directions got a bit mixed up. So more delay - but a nice breakfast
Onward and upward... had started raining in town just before I left, and it didn't stop the entire trip. So driving through heavy rain and heavy traffic - not fun.
Then I got up to Fergus Falls and stopped for gas. Went to start the truck and - NADA. Not a click, not a whir - and definitely not an engine turning over. So, figuring either my starter or alternator had given up the ghost, I called the nearest repair shop and prepared myself for the trip home. Turns out the battery posts were so corroded and the cables so worn, they just weren't making the connection. Luckily it wasn't a hugely expensive repair - but it cost time. So now I'm running almost 2-1/2 hours behind schedule.
Get to the border - the only single passenger vehicle in a sea of semis - and I was lucky enough to be that "random" person the immigration people decided to call in for further questioning. There was already a guy in there ahead of me - now, I ask you. Who drives to the border to put in the paperwork for permanent residency at 7 o'clock at night? Well, this guy did. So I'm waiting and waiting and wondering why they pulled me over... my first thought, of course, was that my name was on some kind of list because of the various sites I've visited during the research for my stories - snipers, bomb-making, how to disappear, how to follow someone, hitmen - oh lord. LOL It wasn't until they were all done that they told me they did this on a random basis... So anyway, tons of questions about why I was going to Canada, where I'd be staying, how much money I had, was I working, how did I know Tracy, was she an adult
... good grief. At any rate, they finally let me go... And then I drove into Canada on one of the worst roads - dodging potholes during heavy rain and total night - and of course, immediately confused by "Maximum 100" for the speed limit. Took me a few panicked moments to remember they were talking kilometers. 
But it was difficult getting used to the signs up there - so different from the States. Especially because they're bilingual - barely figured out which part to try and read and the sign was past LOL
Anyway, I was supposed to meet Tracy at the restaurant - I had planned to be there between six and seven, have supper, and then follow her home when she got off work. Instead, it was sometime after 9 when I arrived, so I called her to get directions - and of course, my phone battery was dying so it was two cut-off convos to get me in the right direction. But I finally got there, and met her for the first time in person! What a treat, too. She's just as lovely (and a bit nuttier) in person as she is online - and her family is so cool Her son reminds me a lot of my own - same type personality.
So anyway, we sat up and talked for a long time, then got up the next morning, went out for breakfast and headed down to Winnipeg. Stayed at a very nice hotel - and lo and behold! discovered it was the "official" hotel for the convention so the guests (ie - DIRK!!!) were staying there as well. The convention center itself was only a block away, so we didn't have to drive anywhere. That was really nice.
We spent some time at the convention Friday night - I found a jigsaw puzzle with "Starbuck" which I hadn't seen before, so I had to grab that! (That's one of my hobbies - collecting Dirk memorabilia) and wandered around checking out the artists and dealers. Some of those artists are just totally awesome! And the dealers for the most part had stuff that was neither too "new" nor garage sale quality, so that was cool. It wasn't the greatest con I've ever been to, but it wasn't the worst, either.
So after the con that night (and Tracy and I getting separated - what an experience that was!), Dirk had invited Tracy and me to the "meet and greet" as his guests - which was really nice because otherwise it was $100 to get in! It was very nice - wine and snacks (although I stuck with cranberry juice as I'd already had a couple brandys before that) and we got to listen to the stories and jokes - I could sit and listen to him for hours. He can be funny then serious and back to funny in a matter of seconds LOL
Saturday we went over to the con fairly early. Tracy and I went around to the dealers (I'm an incurable collector so I had to check out the dealers that hadn't been there Friday night) and we found both an A-Team and a Battlestar Galactica game. The A-Team was in a little better shape, and I almost bought that when Tracy discovered another BSG game in nearly unused condition - so of course I bought that instead. And the Dirk signed them both for me - he said, "Not often I get to sign one 'star' to another!" We also had to stop him from taking the whole game out and playing with it LOL
More chatting with him for a while, and then his line was building up again so we wandered the con for a bit more before heading back to the hotel. Went out for lunch and just relaxed that afternoon. Then we went down to the lounge and had a few drinks - quite a few, actually LOL I'm pretty sure I wasn't drunk, but Tracy says I was... It was a lot of fun, I know that
Sunday we probably spent more time with Dirk than the rest of the weekend combined. I was taking pictures right and left for DBC, and chatting with Dirk and other con-goers. Had a lovely chat with Jim Smith, who does models. A very nice man who does marvelously detailed work. He'd made a model of a Colonial Viper for Dirk which was just fantastic!
Dirk gave his talk Sunday - a bit more political than usual, but OMG he had everyone laughing so hard! At one point toward the end, some people started leaving from the back rows, and he threatened to undress to get them back - unbuckled his belt... oh lord! He's spontaneous with a capital "S"! I started to tape the talk, but - techno troglodyte that I am - didn't realize how much memory tapes take up on a digital camera, so only got the first 23 minutes. Oh well - better than none and next time I'll know better
After the talk, his line was even longer - and then when they announced he would only be there for another ten minutes, everyone started swarming around! We got to ride back to the hotel (a whole block!) with him and then it was time to wrap things up and head back to Tracy's. We stayed up a little too late talking more and then... I hit the road again 6:30 Monday morning. It was a much better trip back - no rain, sunny most of the way, no engine trouble or problems at the border. The only problem was when I got home (about 6:00 PM) and discovered that my phone was totally dead - I think the battery that's not wanted to hold a charge long for quite some time has finally died. So I need to get that fixed.
Home wise, the animals were fine - happy to see me again but letting me know I had transgressed the rules by leaving them Woke up this morning and all was forgiven - Muffy nestled in by my knees, Petey snuggled by my side, and Fang blissfully sleeping on my chest...
Family...
Plans were to leave early Thursday morning, but that got a bit sidetracked when I discovered my dryer had conked out (AGAIN!) so instead of just packing up the last of my clothes and leaving, I had to make a run to the laundromat. Then my brother wanted to meet me for breakfast up in the Twin Cities as I went through - and the directions got a bit mixed up. So more delay - but a nice breakfast
Onward and upward... had started raining in town just before I left, and it didn't stop the entire trip. So driving through heavy rain and heavy traffic - not fun.Then I got up to Fergus Falls and stopped for gas. Went to start the truck and - NADA. Not a click, not a whir - and definitely not an engine turning over. So, figuring either my starter or alternator had given up the ghost, I called the nearest repair shop and prepared myself for the trip home. Turns out the battery posts were so corroded and the cables so worn, they just weren't making the connection. Luckily it wasn't a hugely expensive repair - but it cost time. So now I'm running almost 2-1/2 hours behind schedule.
Get to the border - the only single passenger vehicle in a sea of semis - and I was lucky enough to be that "random" person the immigration people decided to call in for further questioning. There was already a guy in there ahead of me - now, I ask you. Who drives to the border to put in the paperwork for permanent residency at 7 o'clock at night? Well, this guy did. So I'm waiting and waiting and wondering why they pulled me over... my first thought, of course, was that my name was on some kind of list because of the various sites I've visited during the research for my stories - snipers, bomb-making, how to disappear, how to follow someone, hitmen - oh lord. LOL It wasn't until they were all done that they told me they did this on a random basis... So anyway, tons of questions about why I was going to Canada, where I'd be staying, how much money I had, was I working, how did I know Tracy, was she an adult
... good grief. At any rate, they finally let me go... And then I drove into Canada on one of the worst roads - dodging potholes during heavy rain and total night - and of course, immediately confused by "Maximum 100" for the speed limit. Took me a few panicked moments to remember they were talking kilometers. But it was difficult getting used to the signs up there - so different from the States. Especially because they're bilingual - barely figured out which part to try and read and the sign was past LOLAnyway, I was supposed to meet Tracy at the restaurant - I had planned to be there between six and seven, have supper, and then follow her home when she got off work. Instead, it was sometime after 9 when I arrived, so I called her to get directions - and of course, my phone battery was dying so it was two cut-off convos to get me in the right direction. But I finally got there, and met her for the first time in person! What a treat, too. She's just as lovely (and a bit nuttier) in person as she is online - and her family is so cool
Her son reminds me a lot of my own - same type personality. So anyway, we sat up and talked for a long time, then got up the next morning, went out for breakfast and headed down to Winnipeg. Stayed at a very nice hotel - and lo and behold! discovered it was the "official" hotel for the convention so the guests (ie - DIRK!!!) were staying there as well.
The convention center itself was only a block away, so we didn't have to drive anywhere. That was really nice.We spent some time at the convention Friday night - I found a jigsaw puzzle with "Starbuck" which I hadn't seen before, so I had to grab that! (That's one of my hobbies - collecting Dirk memorabilia
) and wandered around checking out the artists and dealers. Some of those artists are just totally awesome! And the dealers for the most part had stuff that was neither too "new" nor garage sale quality, so that was cool. It wasn't the greatest con I've ever been to, but it wasn't the worst, either. So after the con that night (and Tracy and I getting separated - what an experience that was!), Dirk had invited Tracy and me to the "meet and greet" as his guests - which was really nice because otherwise it was $100 to get in! It was very nice - wine and snacks (although I stuck with cranberry juice as I'd already had a couple brandys before that
) and we got to listen to the stories and jokes - I could sit and listen to him for hours. He can be funny then serious and back to funny in a matter of seconds LOLSaturday we went over to the con fairly early. Tracy and I went around to the dealers (I'm an incurable collector so I had to check out the dealers that hadn't been there Friday night
) and we found both an A-Team and a Battlestar Galactica game. The A-Team was in a little better shape, and I almost bought that when Tracy discovered another BSG game in nearly unused condition - so of course I bought that instead. And the Dirk signed them both for me - he said, "Not often I get to sign one 'star' to another!" We also had to stop him from taking the whole game out and playing with it LOLMore chatting with him for a while, and then his line was building up again so we wandered the con for a bit more before heading back to the hotel. Went out for lunch and just relaxed that afternoon. Then we went down to the lounge and had a few drinks - quite a few, actually LOL I'm pretty sure I wasn't drunk, but Tracy says I was... It was a lot of fun, I know that
Sunday we probably spent more time with Dirk than the rest of the weekend combined. I was taking pictures right and left for DBC, and chatting with Dirk and other con-goers. Had a lovely chat with Jim Smith, who does models. A very nice man who does marvelously detailed work. He'd made a model of a Colonial Viper for Dirk which was just fantastic!
Dirk gave his talk Sunday - a bit more political than usual, but OMG he had everyone laughing so hard! At one point toward the end, some people started leaving from the back rows, and he threatened to undress to get them back - unbuckled his belt... oh lord! He's spontaneous with a capital "S"! I started to tape the talk, but - techno troglodyte that I am - didn't realize how much memory tapes take up on a digital camera, so only got the first 23 minutes. Oh well - better than none and next time I'll know better
After the talk, his line was even longer - and then when they announced he would only be there for another ten minutes, everyone started swarming around! We got to ride back to the hotel (a whole block!
) with him and then it was time to wrap things up and head back to Tracy's. We stayed up a little too late talking more and then... I hit the road again 6:30 Monday morning. It was a much better trip back - no rain, sunny most of the way, no engine trouble or problems at the border. The only problem was when I got home (about 6:00 PM) and discovered that my phone was totally dead - I think the battery that's not wanted to hold a charge long for quite some time has finally died. So I need to get that fixed. Home wise, the animals were fine - happy to see me again but letting me know I had transgressed the rules by leaving them
Woke up this morning and all was forgiven - Muffy nestled in by my knees, Petey snuggled by my side, and Fang blissfully sleeping on my chest...Family...
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