Meet Doug! Doug’s the bald guy, ‘cuz shaved heads aren’t just for racists anymore! Also, meet Brian! Again, actually, ‘cuz you did meet him before at the end of Chapter 1. And, if you’ve been around since the original webcomic, you met him then, too. This means you should know something’s coming. Don’t spoil it for the rest of the readers, okay? 😉
Sooooo, by all rights, this page should have posted last week. Unfortunately, I took it upon myself to go check out a local convention to see if it might be worth it to take part in it next year. Y’know, for the sake of marketing and possibly getting my feet wet with some commission work again. (I still owe some commissions as of right now. But, since this is a year off, it’d give me some time to try and finish off what I currently owe, or at least whittle down the list considerably.)
At the last minute, I’d learned that the convention was going to be the weekend of 1/22 through 1/24. Last I’d heard, it was going to be in early March. So, it was fairly last minute, but I decided I’d go for a day.
Thus begins “The Tale Of The Stupid”…
I looked over the website for the convention to get exact location details. On the site, I learned that parking at that hotel was only for people staying at the hotel, which did make sense. It’s not a huge hotel, after all. So, not a lot of parking. No biggie.
The site did state that there was an overflow parking lot at the Cambridgeside Galleria, a giant mall in Downtown Boston. I figured that made sense, since there are several hotels in the area. It should be a pretty convenient walk. Maybe a half-mile at most. I mean, if it were further along than that, you would think the website would make sure to let people know to call the hotel to arrange a shuttle pickup, since they do in fact offer that service.
Sadly, the site never mentioned that anywhere. As I arrived at the parking garage, I stepped out to get my bearings. I knew which direction I had to walk in order to get to the hotel, so I started moving. After realizing I’d been walking for more than 10 minutes and my ears were starting to hurt due to the cold, I began to get a little concerned. Being a pretty sedentary guy (I work at a job that requires that I sit at a desk for 9 hours a day, more or less), I tend not to get a lot of exercise. I knew this going in, but didn’t think I’d be walking terribly far. I felt it would probably be a good idea to check how much further I actually had to go, so I grabbed my phone and pulled up Google Maps… and immediately regretted every decision I’d made since looking at the website to plan this whole thing out. o_o
“1.5 miles to go – Approximately 20 minutes at the current pace” (Those weren’t the exact words, but you get the gist.)
I had no place between my point of discovery and my destination to warm up or take a breather. Sitting down to rest in that cold was NOT an option. So, I kept walking.
By the time I finally reached the hotel, my legs were fairly numb. I should point out that my right hip has been giving out on my somewhat over the past few months and it is a potential case of arthritis, though I won’t know for certain ’til I see an orthopedic doctor sometime in the near future. But, suffice it to say that I had a very hard time getting up the stairs to get into the rear entrance of the hotel. : P
Once I got in, I sat down hard on the first chair I came across and stayed there for 10 minutes, just trying to warm back up. The convention itself was small, but nice. People were obviously having fun, and from what I learned from the artists in the dealer room, it was a pretty nice experience overall. So, I may very well try my hand at it next year, provided it’s at the same time and the organizers don’t change the date without announcing it. : P
I’ll just make sure this time to park at the hotel. Definitely not walking 2 miles like that again. >_<
Next week: Another Page! … Seriously!
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