Remember WENN Get Together 2000
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Other Reports

• Michelle "Biz" Savage
• Diane Valancy
• Linda Young

Preparations

The 26-29 May, 2000, Remember WENN Get Together was held at the Trueman Club Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. Always with too much to do (people who are bored are alien creatures to me), I rushed during Friday to complete my electronic preparations. This mostly meant getting my Gateway Solo laptop prepared.

I loaded the software to interface with my barely used digital camera. To be able to view and manipulate pictures taken with the camera, I loaded PhotoImpact.

I also loaded my Rio 500 MP3 player software and loads of shows on the laptop so I could upload them to the Rio and listen to Suspense, Inner Sanctum, Benny Goodman and more while driving to and from Ohio. Meanwhile I got caught up on the OTR newsgroups since Giganews' retention has slipped down to just over a week.

I didn't leave until about 6:30 PM (walking right past the tripod I had placed in my way so I wouldn't forget it and leaving the dishwater door down and inactive although I had it full of dishes and detergent). I fired off an e-mail to Biz at her Infinet address in case she was checking her account so they wouldn't worry.

Traveling

I followed I-70 from Baltimore, Maryland up into Pennsylvania as it joined the PA turnpike. The road rarely had shoulders, just concrete dividers. After it got dark, if the vehicle going in the opposing direction had headlights high enough to be seen, they almost blinded you. This was because the space between the opposing lanes was barely wide enough for the concrete barriers to sit. I'd hate to break down there; I'd have nowhere to go. And this was a toll road I had to pay for. I hope never to drive that stretch of highway again.

Arrival

Eventually I-70 broke off from the turnpike and proceeded west. Soon I was in Ohio and then on into Columbus. The hotel was exceptionally easy to find, just south of the top of the beltway. I was grabbing the cart to move my luggage upstairs when the main desk motioned for me. It was Linda, checking up on me! :-)

Within a half hour of getting in the room, I had found the data hookup in the phone, the proper combination of numbers to dial, downloaded mIRC, ensured auto acceptance of DCC sends was not turned on, and had reached #wenn. Mike "MrBoynton" Waters was there and we chatted for a couple of hours about my journey and his 7 hour power outage.

The blinking light on my phone indicated there was a message waiting so I called the phone number where a recording told me to contact the hotel operator for a message. I did so and she instructed me to dial the number that had directed me to her. Aieeee! She wasn't aware of a message so she reset the blinking light. Don't know if there was ever a message or not (though I believe Linda mentioned leaving one for me in her report). Since I had already made contact with Linda, I didn't worry.

Saturday Morning

The next morning I managed to get bits of cantaloupe, melon, and peach from the continental breakfast. I spotted a young woman and her mother there. I thought it might have been Rita and her mom. But I knew if I went over and introduced myself it wouldn't be them. <g>

We were all going to meet shortly at 11 anyway. So I went back upstairs to shower and try to iron out those goldurned wrinkles in my shirts. Then I was trying to make sure my digital camera connection was working okay when Linda called...it was 3 past 11.

I went down the end of the hallway I hadn't explored yet. I discovered this was where the ice and vending were. From my room's door, I had also seen there was a stairway there and I used it to pop up one story. Linda was at the door of the con suite, looking in the direction of the elevators/other stairway. So I approached her from behind.

"Looking for me?" :)

Once in, introductions were made. James and Linda "LindaY" "LindaGA" Young had treated me to a fine spaghetti dinner at their home in February, 1998. Dana "JuliasMommy" "Almacks" Sherman I recognized from her picture, but Michelle "Bizarra" Savage was shorter than I thought: "Oh, you're Michelle." Biz's friend Lisa Fournier and her little one, Honor, were new to me. Dani "DaniCalderwood" "DicieLady" Calderwood was there: "Why haven't we seen you in the chat room, recently?" And then a unexpected surprise; Diane "MartineHilare" "ElizaMarlo" Valancy had decided to join us at the last minute.

So, off to the elevators (we were on the 5th floor) we went to begin our journeys. But, with so many people, it was quite crowded. I was about to be the last to enter when I said, "I'll see you downstairs." The doors shut and when they reopened on the 1st floor, I was there, leaning on a post looking bored.

"So, who's riding with whom?"

"I'll...<pant>...ride with...<gasp>...whomever," I replied.

Saturday Afternoon

We visited the James Thurber house, filled with books, of course. I popped open the lid on the Victrola for a look-see at an early pre-recorded music player. I suspect the piano across the room saw more action, though. Had a nice discussion about Isaac Asimov upstairs (2 of my fellow WENNers had actually met the man).

Rita "lovewenn" Widmer and her mother, Alyce, joined us at the Thurber house and they were the two I spotted at breakfast.

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After a food inhaling session at the historical, original, but heavily remodeled, Wendy's Hamburgers, we took a winding road to Mott's Military Museum. It was everything that's been said and the knowledgeable host brought many of the items alive with the stories behind them. Also, discovered some more Young Indiana Jones Chronicles fans among us. I pointed out a military recruitment poster from WWII that seemed to have been modeled on WWI's Lt. Henri Defense of the Belgian Army (Indy under an alias since he was underage and America had not entered the war yet).

I took no photos at Mott's Military Museum following the request on a sign at the entrance. But don't let this dissuade you; it's a worthwhile visit.

We went back to the hotel and I drove off to get some blank tapes in case I wanted to do any duping of the video treasure trove I knew we all had. Then I checked to make sure the pictures I had snapped were viewable. A simple change of clothes and dinner time had arrived.

Saturday Dinner

Joe Mackey joined up with us there in his yellow swing outfit. (Only later did I realize he was the same wild looking man who had shown up the Mott's Military Museum. Crazy, man, crazy!)

Diane was made up and decked out so glamorously that she could be mistaken for a classic torch song performer of the WENN era.

The weekend had been rainy and reports indicated this pattern would continue. However, there was somewhat of a break in the clouds. The sun would be going down, however, so I made the suggestion that we should make the most of this before we left for dinner. (Digital cameras, at least mine, are only as sensitive as ASA 100 and I usually use 400 speed. I knew I needed as much light as I could get as my shaky picture at the trolley the next day confirmed.)

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We got several good group shots of us looking pretty darned swell and then it was to dine. I had an excellent dinner (as Rita can confirm since she had the identical order bar the "Aviation Coffee").

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Gamma enhanced because underlit

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