U-Con Day 0: A Little Snow And A Little Mouse

 

Hey gang,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Snider is on the convention circuit again this week. Today, I'm in frosty-cold Ypsilanti, Michigan, for my first time attending Michigan's U-Con Gaming Convention. I love going to first-time cons as I never know what to expect and am open to anything and everything that may surface during the event. At U-Con, I'll be manning the Goblinoid Games / Pacesetter LTD booth in the Vendor's Hall, as well as running games of Mutant Future and Cryptworld. (And, God willing, I'll find time to chuck some dice on the other side of the screen too!)

As always during these events, I'll be live-blogging from U-Con each day to give you a rundown of what's going on, what I've seen, and what you're missing out on. Today is "Day Zero," which means nothing is really happening tonight (that I know of). But I always like to arrive a day early in case I get lost, bad weather, or Cloverfield attack. (And I can sometimes find a pick-up game amongst other early-arrivers.) So here is today's preliminary post on what's up at U-Con!

• Was up until 3 this morning putting the finishing touches on my Cryptworld game to run Saturday night. Be sure to sign up, as it'll be a game to "remember." (SUBTLE GAME HINT) But I'm feeling that lack of sleep is starting to drag me under.
• Wonderful. I have to drive from northern Ohio into Michigan the day the area gets its first flakes of snow. Didn't hit anything more than a few flurries, but there were some frightening cloud packs on route.
• The best thing about the McDonald's dual drive-through order speakers? They can screw up your order in half the time!
• Got to the hotel, which is honestly one of the nicer hotels I've stayed at during a convention (yes, including Gen Con). When I checked in, I got a gratis upgrade to the top-floor concierge floor! So I have my own lounge with snacks and beverages and breakfast and hors d'vourves. If I wasn't so exhausted, I'd totally start carting trays of cookies back to my room.
• Ugh, I bought a mini-mouse for my laptop thinking that it might save space or something. This thing is so small, I'm getting frigging hand cramps trying to use it.
• Took a stroll over the convention center around 7 p.m. to see how the set-up was going. Wanted to grab some environmental shots of the banners and what-not. Well, access to the center from the hotel is sealed until tomorrow to keep folks -- like me -- from poking around. So I'll have lots of U-Con photos tomorrow, but tonight, you get shots like these:

MICHIGAN, I AM IN YOU

What the weather looked like as I crossed the Ohio/Michigan border at noon. I encountered one squall, but lucked out as I didn't hit the snow blast I was expecting.

That "mousepad" under my mini-mouse is my friggin' hotel room key.