It was a fun weekend overall, but not without some minor gaffes. Nothing serious, more in the "amusing anecdote" vein.

There were a few panels I thought I'd attend as they were being done by friends of mine, but I naively assumed they'd be held on a Saturday or Sunday. So when I finally check the schedule the Monday before and see and Stele's panels were Friday, when I'd normally be working. Swell.

Could I get the day off at nearly the last minute? I have one Critical Task I have to do, but maybe they can let me leave after that. My supervisor works in another office on Tuesday and Wednesday. I could send an email, but I'd rather appeal in person. So I'll get in a bit early on Thursday and ask.

Of course I'm running late. I get to the office, no lights on. Huh. Okay, maybe she's working in another office today. I clock in, check email, and my brain train comes to an abrupt halt. There's an email from my supervisor, she basically pulled a Jerry Maguire. Well. I find the person who was designated as her temporary replacement, "Hey, so I arranged to leave early tomorrow after [Critical Task]. With the changes is that still okay?" "Yeah, that's fine." Woot.

Friday morning I go in, quickly do Critical Task, go out and drive up to the DoubleTree making Whoop Whoop noises like Zoidberg. I get my badge and hang around the Registration/Charity room chatting with staff. It being a local con, most of the Staff are friends/acquaintances/assorted other people who tolerate my presence. And most of the Staff are buzzing around like aircraft trying to avoid a target lock. Everyone's walkie talkie kept going off summoning them from one problem to another. So...your typical convention.

Erin's panel went very well. She was in suit and gave a talk about her life and identifying as therian, furry, trans, etc. I set up my iPodTouch to record the audio for future reference.

Next was Stele's panel. It was a story hour, him relating weird anecdotes from his life, along with TechBurr and Haunter. It wasn't Maine-style, like Tim Sample or Bob Marley. Just telling them like he would hanging out with some friends. It was a little rough, and he did have a tendency to fidget, but I thought he did well and with some practice could be a regular storyteller, provided enough weird stuff happens to him.

With his permission, I set up my iPod to record his panel as well, and made a mistake I was kicking myself over all weekend. It's an older device and the battery isn't as powerful anymore. Despite being on for all of Erin's panel I assumed there was still enough juice for Stele's. I was wrong. And I didn't have a long enough charging cord. After the panel I plugged it in, and the app showed a saved file...with 0:00. Crap. It shut off before the end and corrupted the file. After the con was over and I had a chance to use my GoogleFu I found a solution (involving a HEX editor) and was able to fix the file, saving the audio up to the point the battery died.

The really sad part? The main reason I was calling myself an idiot all weekend? I completely forgot I had a backup battery in my backpack, for exactly these situations.

One of the reasons I wanted to attend Stele's story hour was because he reached out to me a couple of months before. "Hey, you remember that time, with that thing? I wanna use it in my panel and make sure you were okay with it" I was okay with him sharing. It was a weird situation, but once it was resolved, it was kinda funny. He didn't bring it up in his first panel, but in the second; ConDerps with wayonoransky.

That panel had some hiccups, but was also enjoyable. Wayon and Stele both work retail, so there's no end to the stories they can tell.

Saturday I returned to the con feeling a little blah. After the last panel I was a bit bored. I hung around with nothing to do. Most of my friends were on Staff and too busy to hang out and everyone else seemed to want to be with people more interesting. This feeling hit me hard at the end of Anthrocon last year. But I head in, mostly for Joaquin_N_Memphis's reading. He gave a good reading of stories related to some of the novels he has out.

And then it happened. I don't remember who it was, but I was chatting with a friend about how busy the Staff and Volunteers looked. The friend, who was also Staff, said they were really understaffed and always in need of help. Now, I've been going to Anthrocon on and off since 2002 and every year I tell my friends on Staff there that one of these days I should volunteer or something. They reply "Yes, you damn well should." Manana, manana.

This afternoon I figure, what the hell, got not much else to do until 's fursuit photoshoot on Sunday. I walk over to the Security desk outside the ballroom and ask Gesten how one might go about volunteering for this convention, if it wasn't too lat. He pointed me toward Registration. Okay, I figure they have a form or something you fill out providing contact information, agreeing to abide by the rules of the convention, releasing PineFurCon LLC and its subsidiaries free from liability should volunteering result in death or dismemberment, that sort of thing. Maybe snag one of those nice VOLUNTEER ribbons to attach to my badge and use it to pick up ladies at the bar later on.

Nope. Registration just sends me right back to Gesten who gets on his walkie talkie offering up a victim to the Staff Gods, then points toward the GameRoom with an evil laugh.

I spent the rest of the day in the GameRoom, helping Hawk, Wayon and Walolas, checking out controllers, helping people use the VR rigs, making sure nobody walked off with one of the huge-ass TVs.

A few attendees were playing a fascinating game called Secret Hitler. After the GameRoom closed, they adjoined to the Zoo where I got to join them in a few games. A curious and weird game. But fun.

Sunday I drove back to the Hotel, helped Radar take photos of his fursuits, then resumed volunteering. I got to employ my excellent data entry skills, honed from years of finding customer accounts when coworkers misentered information in every single field. I also won one of the raffle items, an Indiana Jones MicroMachine set. After Closing Ceremonies I stayed to help tear things down, feeling like a furry roadie and wondering if there were roadie shirts, then wondering if any Guests of Honor had riders like rock stars do, with requests like which brand of bottled water they get, and bowls of M&Ms with no green ones. Eh, what can I say, my mind loves going off on tangents.

I left the convention knowing I was going to sign up to volunteer or staff again the next year, and I was going to volunteer at Anthrocon this year.