8/20/2014 - I SURVIVED OTAKON.

Here's the run down, day-by-day:

Wednesday/Thursday: Woke up around 6am, ran last-minute errands before heading off to work, worked 12p-5:30, got home, showered, ate, then ran out the door to hop the local bus to the Greyhound station one city over... which I just missed, so I ended up calling a friend to give me a lift. But at least I made it, and I left Norfolk around 11pm.

Said bus trip was fine... until I got on the bus leaving Richmond, which left a half-hour late. And then somewhere between DC and Baltimore, the bus got caught in traffic for about an hour or more. And there was some dude sitting next to me and REALLY getting into my personal space -- I do not like that, but I guess I made do. Still.

Finally, we pull into Baltimore about... 90 minutes late? after eating breakfast, charging electronics, and changing clothes, I made my way to the hotel to drop off my stuff... during which, the handle on my suitcase failed catastrophically. Luckily, I had a feeling I should bring some Krazy Glue, so that came in very handy. Eventually, I made it to the light rail, and go to the general area of the convention center, where I dropped my things off at the hotel. I didn't have much to do for the next six hours(which was when the people with the hotel room were due to arrive), so I more or less bummed around. I did go to a late-morning meetup, and that was okay.

Eventually, roomies showed up, I took a shower, and got dressed and eventually went to pre-reg... which was horrific. I got into line late, and gave up 45 minutes later.

Finally, I decided to just crash around 1am, maybe 1:30... after being up for about 40-plus hours.

Friday: Friday was pretty chill, by and large. I ended up getting my badge late in the morning, and was only in line for two hours(and I saw a homeless guy who was either really passed out or stone DEAD -- I wasn't sure). After that, I basically just putzed around. I managed to hit the lone tokusatsu-related panel on the schedule, which was pretty good. But mostly, I just roamed around and Streetpassed with people.

Saturday: Was pretty much the same. Hit the toku gathering around 10am(it was small this year, because 10 in the freaking morning. Cosplayed Stein very briefly in the afternoon before giving up because OMG ROASTING -- after wich I went back to the room, Febrezed the hell out of Stein, and went back out until I had to throw him back on before the 9PM Soul Eater gathering. (I think this was the day I finally found the Nando's, and delicious avians were consumed.)

Sunday: Same as the others, pretty much. Streetpasses, last-minute dealers' room and artists' alley runs, touching base with people... and then I left my hotel, and the handle on my suitcase catastrophically failed AGAIN. I managed to juryrig something, and made do. The light rail was a pain in the arse, though. The convention center stop only took fare cards, not cash, the one at Camden Yards TOOK cash, but the buttons were stuck, and the one north of the convention center that worked properly... well, I got on there, not knowing that it was the freaking Camden Yards shuttle. Eventually, I managed to hop a bus to the Greyhound station... and the first thing I did was get a bottle of water and crush it. I was that thirsty. Got some last-minute Streetpasses, and then the bus left around 10pm or so.

The trip home was uneventful. Heck, I guess we were making such good time, the driver stopped at a McDonalds between DC and Richmond! Although I just had a couple smokes and a soda before getting back on.

And then I got home, and basically slept off and on all day.

And that was more or less my Otakon experience for 2014.

Will I go back next year? Oh, if I can get another really chill room, I'd like to.