Arisia Part II

[lensman]

So nihonjin and I finish setting up Thursday night, and finally go to bed around 2am.

Get up Friday morning around 8:30-9ish. She goes in to take a shower, and I take off to deal with more setup issues. I purchase bateries for the FRS radios we'll be using all weekend. That takes a while. I get back and Open up the Ops Desk at 10AM. We get the key and start organizing. It turns out we don't have enough power cords, nihonjin goes out to buy some. Allen and his wife show up and help with setup.

B shows up and we get to go to dinner with a long time friend of hers who also happens to be one of the guests of honor at the con. fuzcat is also able to join us.

The stress starts to build when we get back. The usual con CRISISIES. No biggie, it was somewhere at this point where nihonjin switched over to the security desk. I finally get everything settled for the overnight shift, and I set up an air mattress I brought for nihonjinand go off for a bit I see some of the "SissorKiss" concert I see lachesis and Skaven. After a bit B and I head to bed. I get up the next morning around 8:30-9ish again. head down and relieve the overnight crew S had managed to find good gopher help for that shift. Note to self: get that person's contact info from claudia_.

The Sat morning stress startedd almost right away. The day proceded apace. I made it out of Ops once or twice but not for very long. Just basically for meals. One of the few times I had gotten out I ended up having to deal with a situation between a gopher and our security staff. Lets just say it wasn't pretty, and kick the stress machine into HIGH GEAR. It was finally resolved. Was supposed to have dinner with B, A, and her SO. But those plans just didn't work out. The wait at the resturaunts was just too long. B brought a meal back for me, but as I was eating dinner The problems REALLY began. The overnight person who worked the first night didn't come around for the second, due to a mis-understanding on my part. Opps. I begin to make contingency plans.

The goffer from before who was still in a hightened state of agitation, was given something to do that normally wouldn't have been all that bad, BUT (Oh come on now. You knew there'd be a "but" here) what he did was move a bunch of personal belonging of some people, and when they came back looking for them got them all worked up when they couldn't find their stuff. He then brought the worked up people to me to fix their problem. since he can't deal with the security folks from feeling persecuted. Ok I deal, and help them find most of their stuff. (It was under a table.)

As I'm finishing up this, and talking to the security desk person; She collapses. I call the on-duty EMT, and we get her evaluated. ( I mentioned STRESS right? ). While we're dealing with this the next shift Security Desk person comes in. The place that had been her home for a number of years had burnt down and killed some tufts student that was currently living there. As we're finishing up the reports from the last two incidents We get to have one more (which I can't mention in any more detail for a variaty of reasons), and we go on a hunt for the apporiot people to deal with this. YAY!

I discuss the contigency Ops plans (Close the desk and consolidate the communication functions into the security desk.) with the approriot people. Sec Dpt head, and one of the ConChair assistants. ( I avoid dealing with the Ops Div head as its been a strain to deal with her as well, fortunately for me I am unable to reach her by her main contact method ).

I pop my head into one of the parties with B, but neither of us is much in the mood for it so we head off to bed.

I wake up sunday morn and go reopen Ops desk. At one point when I step away from the desk I come back to find my Div head has given the problem gopher a radio and has him "helping out", okay well at least this lets me keep him out of trouble. The problem is that he wants to be like the cool kids and try to setup his radio with a headset, on our main chanel which causes a bit of feel back right into my ear, I start to get snappy. The Arisia problem child from years past starts getting snippy on the radio, and this is where I realize I NEED A BREAK I get Allen and the on shift people to cover for a bit. figure I'll go take a nap get some air or something to eat.Things get a little fuzzy here B, ironfinch, grovegoddess, and I head out at this point I realize I need to lie down ( I think ), and I head up to the room while they go get something to eat. I realize I'm going to be off-line longer than I had made arrangments for so I decide I need to contact a reliable staff member to cover for me. I try razing someone on the radio. I'm so frazzled at this point that I forget about the frieght elevators, and walk up to the 15th floor to the Staff Den. by the time I make it there I'm burnt toast. I poke my head in and half to pull out to try and compose myself. I manage to get Joan's attention tell her I need to go off-line, that someone needs to contat one of the SWAT TEAM (These are reliable staff who've held high positions before), and I loose it. I head back to the room and crash.

It's late more tomorrow...

Comments

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I look forward to the installment where you go out for dinner with us girls and get massaged and realize that the con is over and it's all looking up from here. :)

But wait there's more

[lensman.livejournal.com]

It does begin to look up from there, but then...... It's probably going to be a busy day today so I don't know if I will get to it till tomorrow.

[gingicat]

I seem to recall you burnt yourself out like this in Member Services, too. *hugs*

Do I need to get someone to tie you down when you start doing this to yourself? (Yes, I know there were real emergencies. Finding a designated conchair was probably the way to go. If you're actually doing this next year, I'll have to connect with roaming and give her the "Care and Feeding of Your Pet SMOF" manual.)

[lensman.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall you burnt yourself out like this in Member Services, too. *hugs*

Only that time Mike T and I bought BJ's wholesale out of soda and loaded it by ourselves in the snowstorm, so that I got sick durring the con. (That was the year we were at the Copley Westin I think).

I'll have to connect with roaming and give her the "Care and Feeding of Your Pet SMOF" manual.

Hey, I hardly think I qualify as a SMOF just yet..... :-)

[lachesis.livejournal.com]

roaming was wondering to me why you do this to yourself every year. ( shrugged, and said, "maybe on some level he enjoys it?"

As for other stuff, You can answer Y/N/No comment - am I correct in thinking the "Problem Child" is the same 'lovely' person from last yeat?
*hugs*

Come visit me soon, or tell me when you and roaming will be home.

complete wild guess...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

...but based on his over-enthusiasm on the radio that I remember last year and (IIRC) the year before, too, goes-by name starts with R, 6 letters?

Re: complete wild guess...

[lensman.livejournal.com]

goes-by name starts with R, 6 letters?

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

He hasn't risen to the melt down levels of the one I refer to as the "problem child", but this one is working on it. Just wait till I get to the next istallment there's more that he pulled.

Re: complete wild guess...

[happypete.livejournal.com]

Oh...I guess I don't know problem child.

[lensman.livejournal.com]

"maybe on some level he enjoys it?"

On a couple of levels actally. I don't usually get this burned out by it that I break the way I did this year. I get mad at some of the "personalities" I have to deal with, but you get that in any grouping of a significant size.

am I correct in thinking the "Problem Child" is the same 'lovely' person from last yeat?

Why yes, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that. He has become a recurring problem, but one I expect. At least HE didn't have a melt down again this year, he was just merely annoying. (Even though his timing was one of the last straws for me.)

SMOF-ish masochism?

[erik-j-meyer.livejournal.com]

Darn tootin' he enjoys it. Yeah. Some folks enjoy it more than others. Those seriously warped folks become Div heads or Con chairs. Silly folks.

Re: SMOF-ish masochism?

[lensman.livejournal.com]

Those seriously warped folks become Div heads or Con chairs.

Yes mister Asst Div Head..... :-) and those who work WorldCon would be "Compleately Derranged"?

But I guess this means I'll be "seriously warped" again for next year. with a brief stay in "Compleately Derranged" durring the summer.

[nazier.livejournal.com]

*muttering and swearing about little gopher boy* Sorry I had to bail on you, and work security but it turned out it was avery good things as Saturday night they needed me help big time. And yes lets think about sleep dep. By the way did you wind up with my USB cable?

[lensman.livejournal.com]

*muttering and swearing about little gopher boy* At least we can laugh after the fact. (or should we really call this psycotically gigeling?.....)

Sorry I had to bail on you, and work security but it turned out it was avery good things as Saturday night they needed me help big time. It's ok, I understand both your reasons and the need at Sec Desk. (btw - e-mail me off-line what happened Sat night. It will become clear why I want this info in my next installment.)

And yes lets think about sleep dep. No I'd rather not it hurts my brain thinking about it.

By the way did you wind up with my USB cable? Nope, Didn't see it when I picked up my computer.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

yas, things did get a little fuzzy from there. I came to get you at Ops because Allen said you needed to get away. On the way to the hotel room (from mezzanine to 15) you went off someplace else, I said I'd meet you up at the hotel room. Which is how you ended up walking up 15 flights of stairs not taking the elevator. Grovegoddess and Ironfinch ended up at our hotel rom because they brought their bags over to avoid having no place to store them after the 12 noon checkout time. And that's when we found you lying down on the bed with a pillow over your head. So you got a wet washcloth and your feet massaged (by Ironfinch). Then we went to get some food. Protein. No more carbo-loading for you. No more nothing-but-caffeine.

(sigh) I try, but you are one stubborn man with a mission when you do Ops.