As I write, it is Saturday morning at GenCon. Updating the blog has proven a bit more difficult than I’d like. The hotel doesn’t have free wifi and I’m entirely too cheap to spend $13/day for access. Strange that other hotels in the chain provide interwebs, but not Indy? Suck it, Embassy Suites!

So updates have been coming via my 3G handheld rather than my laptop. Hate that. Not as efficient an interface and chews up the battery’s charge.

Whining mode off.

Friday, I went over to the convention center early wanting an opportunity to walk the building and review the programming schedule. Completing my survey of the venue, I sat down at a cafe table. Alone, I read through the program guide paying particular attention to the booth assignments on the dealer room map…

“Hi!” this guy says pulling up a chair to sit with me.

“Hello…” I looked about. Chairs were available everywhere but this guy sits with me?

He proceeded to engage me in conversation about games and the con. And how his friends would be meeting him soon. I considered disabusing him of his presumption that me reading a book was not meant as a cry for conversation.

I found it within me to restrain myself.

He made a call, nattering on loudly with the other party. Apparently, the other guy couldn’t find the table invader. My unwelcome companion rose, walking out of sight to go find his buddy.

Leaving his bag and other gear with me at the table.

What the f…?!?

First he squats at my table and now he’s got me watching his bag. I didn’t do that on prom night, I sure as hell wasn’t gonna do it for this guy. Though to be fair, he had a much bigger rack than my prom date.

I rose to leave the table and found I couldn’t do it. How suck ass would this guy’s GenCon be if all his crap was lost or stolen? I hadn’t entered into the social contract of the shared table with him. Nothing I had done could have been construed as welcoming.

Yet we shared a deeper bond.

Not just of geek.

Not just of gamer.

But the bond of tabletop role playing gamer.

It is an unbreakable bond, stronger than Mithril, more powerful than Stormbringer. The kinship we share trancends mere familial ties. It is the stuff of…

Wait.

Scrutinizing his bag and other gear, I observed the two cases of collectible card games. CCG?!?

Fuck this guy.

I left.

Friday was a good day. I prowled the dealer room securing a copy of Jihad for Burning Wheel and even met BW creator Luke Crane. I sat on my very first panel with other podcasters. Visited with friends. Played Dogs in the Vineyard, Do You Worship Cthulhu?, and Action Castle.

I also spent a portion of the evening being intensely jealous of Rob from The Bear Swarm podcast and frequent IoM contributoe who got to play Housea of the Blooded with game creator John Wick.

Die in a fire, Rob.

Starting Saturday now. More later.