Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Dallas or Bust

Been working like a dog for the last couple weeks so I can take some time off for BGG.con. Took Monday, October 30th off to play a couple games with a new guy, but that was it. Been working every day otherwise.

I leave for Dallas just after midnight tonight and will arrive Thursday afternoon. The temperature at Coldfoot Manor has been hovering between -10 and -20. My biggest fear is that the air conditioner in my room at the Westin has been turned off and I'll have to suffer those unforgiving, tropical, Dallas temperatures.

I've already checked the CDC traveler's guide and there appear to be no flags for the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Just to be on the safe side I did get my malaria booster, a snake bite kit, and picked up a Texan/English phrase book at Barnes and Noble.

The CIA World Factbook has only spotty information about the Dallas area. There was one warning of an increased probability of being a victim of a violent crime when in the vicinity of a Dallas Cowboy, but that information has not been updated since 2003.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore doesn't appear to be playing within 100 miles of Dallas during the weekend in question. There would seem to be no reason to leave the hotel. I shouldn't have to brave the outdoor heat, or accidentally insult a native with a botched phrase, or risk the possibility of coming into contact with a Dallas Cowboy.

BGG.con will be my first big boardgame convention, and I am looking forward to it. The two conventions I have attended were in Anchorage and were primarily for miniature gamers. I had fun, but it just won't be the same as the local con. I am especially looking forward to meeting BGGers. It will be nice to be able to finally put a face with your avatar.

By the way: If I have access to a computer, perhaps at an internet cafe, I will try to post some pictures of the con to this blog.

Plenty of games, no wife, no stressing about getting tickets to the Jimmie Dale Gilmore concert. Looks like a good weekend for gaming. See you there.

3 comments:

Yehuda Berlinger said...

Enjoy!

I notice that they don't have The Menorah Game on their list of games. You should bring it. ;-)

Yehuda

Ava Jarvis said...

Glad to see you're coming!

Some comments from what I recall from my last trip:

The DFW airport is incredibly ginormous, and I'm not kidding: bigger than O'Hare or Seattle/Tacoma, though perhaps that's not saying much. And for goodness's sake if you're traveling across the airport take the little train thing.

If you are lucky to share a cab with some fellow conventioners, do it. The shuttle van is much cheaper, but the last time I took it, it took us one and a half hours to reach our particular the hotel. I'm probably not going to see any BGG.CON people and I'm still taking the taxi there (though not everybody is that insane budget-wise, it's a time versus stuck in traffic visiting several other hotels thing for me).

General comment, but if you don't fly so much and get horrible level change headaches like I do: buy some "earplanes", filtered earplugs with little holes in them. They help tremendously. If you buy them outside the aiport they are $7-$8 or maybe less. If you buy them in-airport they go for $16-$20, but it's worth it even then. Not very BGG.CON related, but my headaches were so awful that I frankly feel obliged in case this helps you or anybody else....

Oh yes... and learn to use the train station early. That's the only route to decent food that's open at reasonable hours for dinner. And sometimes lunch, from what I recall. It's not a big old commuter train or anything; it's just a get-around-the-area-of-decent-stuff mini-train. If possible, learn to use it with fellow BGG.CON members because it's always better to share bafflement with the ticket machine with friends than alone, especially as the next train goes by without you....

See you there!

Gerald McD said...

BilboAtBagEnd --- I was living in Irving, Texas, at the time the DFW airport was being built (early 1970's) and have flown in and out of it several times. It definitely is large. The worst part is having to change planes there, especially changing airlines.

BTW -- seeing your avatar again reminded me -- I just finished reading The Hobbit, again, for the umpteenth time. Every repeat reading is just as enjoyable as the first.

Coldfoot -- Hope you have a great trip. Remember, anytime you visit your relatives in Colorado, let me know if you have time to meet somewhere for a game or two.