PDA

View Full Version : One man's Origins - Day 1



Guntruck
06-05-2012, 06:40
Drive to Heathrow very early in the morning. I know it’s very early because Mrs Guntruck (who is not a morning person) does not fail to appraise me of this fact every 10 minutes or so. Arrive and park, treat Mrs G to tea and stickies as a reward for her acting as transport officer of the day. Gatwick has delays because of fog, Heathrow - which is just up the road - is fortunately clear.

10 minute queue for check-in, hand over case that contains 90% gaming equipment and 10% clothes. Having given myself the recommended 4 hours to check-in and get through security, sail through security in 5 minutes – typical! Carry-on bag contains several suspicious looking items so I watch my bag going back and forth under the X-Ray machine while operator tries to decide if the object of his attention really is a Zeppelin or something more sinister. Glances at me, decides I’m harmless and sends the bag through. Resist temptation to say “do I win then?”

Get on United Boeing with lots of 7’s in its name. Spend 6 hours being force-fed gin and tonic and chicken and pasta (I think it was chicken....), and playing Mah Jong on the entertainment thingy set in the back of the seat in front of me.

Arrive Newark with over 90 minutes layover, head for bar, buy drink, lose credit card. Get on Embraer 170, a small commuter jet of a type I’ve not been on before, so spend journey looking round and asking steward tecchie questions about it. Most of answers along lines of “Gee, I don’t know Sir”. Jeez, it wasn’t as if I was asking him what the maximum bomb-load was, or what the defensive armament was or what manoeuvre deck it used - you just can’t get the staff these days!

Arrive Columbus airport, hook up with Keith (Oberst Hajj) at baggage reclaim, share cab with another Origins attendee to hotel, which is conveniently right next to the convention centre. Dump kit in our quarters, exchange bits and pieces (dice, calendars and RAF badge in Keith’s direction, 3 new Ares bombers in mine) and head to the hall where Buckeye gamers are located. Origins is spread over the whole of the convention centre, so for those Brits who go to Salute, think Excel Centre x3 and you get an idea how big the event is.

Having been introduced to some of the Buckeye gamers we decide on grabbing a bite to eat and head over the road for grub and a beer. Discover the brew pub of choice has a very passable wheat beer of 7.6 ABV. (Later in week discover they also do a wheat beer infused with blood oranges which is even better). We all get stuck into burgers or chicken wings of choice, at which point I find I am short of one credit card. This is not a major disaster as far as I am concerned, having managed to hold on to my pre-paid debit card and lots of folding beer vouchers. However, this is by now 9.00 p.m. local time, but 2.00 a.m. Mrs Guntruck time, who receives a call from her best beloved asking for the number for the card company. Mrs G not best pleased for the second time in 24 hours and tells me so – I momentarily consider claiming asylum in the U.S. on the grounds of potential torture in the home country on return.

Cancel card, pleased to find nobody has tried to buy a Porsche 911 with it (or even more expensively, a Red Baron Fokker Dr1 on Ebay). We have time for a Wings of Glory game before turning in, and I think this was about the only time I was marginally successful, as I seem to spend the next couple of days exploding or going down in flames.

And so to bed.

Edit: I've also started putting the pics taken at the USAF Museum here (http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1460)

Flying Officer Kyte
06-05-2012, 07:17
Thanks for the inflight entertainment Steve.
Glad you had a good time, and thanks for the pictures in your album. Most instructive.
Rob.

bsmith13
06-05-2012, 08:13
Sounds like you had a good time, travel inconveniences not withstanding. Wish I could have been there.

Willi Von Klugermann
06-05-2012, 08:31
Thnaks for sharing Steve. Sounds like you had a blast. Looking forward to the next report.

Baldrick62
06-05-2012, 08:36
Nice pics, particularly liked the Halberstadt CL.IV and inverted Fokker Dr.I. Do you happen to remember the name of the blood orange-infused wheat beer?

Guntruck
06-05-2012, 09:50
Nice pics, particularly liked the Halberstadt CL.IV and inverted Fokker Dr.I. Do you happen to remember the name of the blood orange-infused wheat beer?

Barley's Blood Thirst Wheat

flash
06-05-2012, 10:52
Have you found out how many it takes to forget what it's called yet ?! Have a great time & keep the reports coming ! :pint:

Jager
06-05-2012, 13:14
It was very good to see you here at Origins; sorry for the 2 explosions in the game I ran :o .
Glad you had a good time; and yes, I've found the Barley House's stock to be quite good.
Karl

Tommy Z
06-05-2012, 19:17
Barley's Blood Thirst Wheat

That's my favorite as well.

Oberst Hajj
06-06-2012, 00:15
Jeez, it wasn’t as if I was asking him what the maximum bomb-load was, or what the defensive armament was or what manoeuvre deck it used - you just can’t get the staff these days!


I've found it best not to ask about bombs and loading them on commercial flights these days! I'm looking forward to the other days of your trip as well!

Marechallannes
06-11-2012, 00:29
Nice report, Steve.:)

I'll check the next days, now.

BobP
06-13-2012, 16:14
Not a bad first day. At least there was beer involved.