Water Slide for the Cats!
This is part 5 of an increasingly ineptly named trilogy of posts. Follow the links for Part 1, Part 2a, Part 2b, and Part 2c
This is the last part of my AAR report on LibertyCon so let us all bow our heads in thankful silence.
The picture is not one you would normally associate with LibertyCon, but if you know me, you know that in my family, travel has risks not normally experienced by more mundane families. I’ve come home to dead fish, a wide open front door with the AC running in the summer for four days, and the neighborhood dogs using my house as a place to cool down and dry off after swimming in the cow pond. It’s not just me; it’s kind of a family tradition. I remember coming home from a weekend when I was 16 or so and finding that our pool was filled with cows, and not all of them were still alive. The farmer next door didn’t water them so they broke through the fence and jumped in.
Basically, I’m accustomed to disasters minor and major when coming home.
Apparently in this case, there was a dual failure of the toilet. The drain plugged and the supply flapper stuck slightly open. Over several hours a few gallons of water leaked out of the toilet and puddled on the floor. And doing what water does, it found a way to seep under the tiles, under the wall, and into the drywall below. I won’t show you a picture of the bathroom itself. It’s rated NC-17.
There’s a reason they call it drywall. It doesn’t like water.
So now my renovation downstairs is both postponed and accelerated. Postponed because now I have to fix the bathroom upstairs, and accelerated because I’m going to do the new ceiling treatment and install new lighting ahead of schedule.
As I look at it, God was letting me know which part of the Honey Do list I should attempt next.
I have a couple of pictures to sum up my LibertyCon experience.
A Statue wears a hat like that…
I was with a group of people for three days that understood why that picture is high-larious. And a group of people with at least one member smart/brave/drunk enough to put the hat on the statute. These are some good people to hang out with.
My con swag stack o’ books.
These are the books I got signed. Most of them I already owned and I’ve read 70% of them. In many cases, the signature doesn’t represent a quick glimpse and a brush off, but real connections. Some of these folks are now counted as friends and I hope they know they can count me as a friend as well.
I want to thank all the people who worked behind the scenes to organize and put on this Convention. It is surely a labor of love, but so is delivering a child and I don’t see many people putting themselves through that on an annual basis!
Special thanks go out to Vonn Gann who made Lissa and I feel welcome from the very beginning, and Vonn, the answer to your question is “Yes, I’ll be happy to!”
Things I’m going to do differently next year:
- I’ve got a bunch of autographs now. I’m going to spend more time stalking people outside of panels and less time in the Dealer Room.
- I’m going to bring business cards. Not for work, but I know I met a ton of people and I’ll never remember their names if I don’t have something to hand them and to get from them.
- We may stay Sunday night as well and help with the breakdown.
- I’m going to a room party even if I don’t know anybody there and see what happens.
- I’m going to find time for Lissa and I to actually get into one of the pools!
Things I’m going to do the same next year:
- Have an absolute blast!
And that concludes this extended AAR report. I want to point out one thing. As busy as we were, as much as we did, we didn’t see 1/10th of the things going on in this Con. As proof, read through the following list of AAR’s from other con attendees and guests. Each of them represent an entirely different experience. Side note, these are only the AAR’s that I’ve stumbled across. I’m sure there are a ton more. Leave a comment here or on Facebook with a link to others and I’ll add them to the list. Also, some of these are on Facebook pages that may or may not be public. Don’t blame me; I just link ’em!
We’ll create a post LibertyCon encyclopedia!
Jason Cordova (Sort of. But it happened at LibertyCon)
Great AAR! So fun to read. And thanks for the links to other AARs around the web, that’s super fun. One note, my name is either KC Seville (on facebook) or Kacey Ezell (in real life and publishing). Please feel free to use either one of those names. 🙂 Thanks.
PS. I promise, I’m not trying to nitpick every one of your posts, they truly have been delightful!
Fixed! And thanks for the correction. I went to boot camp with a kid named Bogner. The CC pronounced it with a long O throughout the entire 8 weeks. It was only on graduation day that he told me quietly that it was pronounced like a short u, i.e. bugner. I asked why he didn’t tell anybody sooner.
“I didn’t want to make waves.”