Admin (griffin) away at BotCon until 30th April.
Just letting people here (members and guests) know that I will be away from Monday 21st April to the 30th, for BotCon in America. So behave while I'm gone
There will be periods where I will be unable to drop by (which is pretty standard for me I guess...), but I will try to post here with news and info postings if and when I can.
Until I return, I may not be able to do any administrative things (like activate new registrations), or any Moderator duties. But the rest of the Board Moderator Staff (dirge, Paulbot, 1orion2man, Tiby) will still be here, conducting business as usual.
Below is an *estimated* itinerary of what and where I will be, with Brisbane (East AUS) times, to give an idea of when I will most likely be posting info or news (unless I can't connect at all).
21/4 Mon
8am Leave home
11am Depart Bris to LA
22/4 Tue
Midnight BT - Arrive LA (7am Mon in LA)
4.35am BT - Depart LA to Nth Kentuky Airport (11.35am Mon in LA)
8.52am BT - Arrive at NtK Airport (6.52pm Mon in Cincinnati)
10am BT - Should be at Hotel (8pm Mon in Cin)
(sleep)
23/4 Wed
Midnight BT - Toy shopping in Cincinnati (10am Tues in Cin)
10.30pm BT - Pre-BotCon Tour 1 (8.30am Wed in Cin)
-Laser Tag at Lazer Kraze (www.lazerkraze.com)
-Food & Beer tasting at Jungle Jim's International Food Market (www.junglejims.com)
-Earth Collectable Toy Mall (www.theearthtoymall.com)
-Queen City Comics
24/4 Thu
7am BT - Return to Hotel (5pm Wed in Cin)
10am BT - ***Pre-reg pickup of toys**** (8pm Wed in Cin)
(sleep)
9.45pm BT - Pre-BotCon Tour 2 (7.45am Thurs in Cin)
-National Museum of the United States Air Force.
25/4 Fri
7.15am BT - Return to Hotel (5.15pm Thurs in Cin)
8am BT - ***Pre-reg purchase of toys*** (6pm Thurs in Cin)
(Saintly arrives)
(sleep)
11pm BT - Pre-reg Day (panels and Dealer Room) (9am Fri in Cin)
26/4 Sat
7am BT - Close of Dealer Room, end of daytime events (5pm Fri in Cin)
9am BT - Pre-reg evening events (7pm Fri in Cin)
1pm BT - End of evening events (11pm Fri in Cin)
(sleep)
10.30pm BT - Regular Day One begins (8.30am Sat in Cin)
27/4 Sun
7am BT - Close of Regular daytime events (5pm Sat in Cin)
9am BT - Casino Night and Awards Dinner (7pm Sat in Cin)
Noon BT - Charity Auction (10pm Sat in Cin)
(sleep)
11.30pm BT - Regular Day Two begins (9.30am Sun in Cin)
28/4 Mon
5.30am BT - Close of BotCon (3.30pm Sun in Cin)
(Saintly leaves)
(sleep)
11pm BT - Post office (9am Mon in Cin)
29/4 Tue
Midnight BT - Check out of Hotel and leave for Airport (10am Mon in Cin)
3.25am BT - Depart NtK airport (1.25pm Mon in Cin)
8.10am BT - Arrive at LA (3.10pm in LA)
4.20pm BT - Depart LA (11.20pm in LA) (yes, 8 hours at LAX airport)
30/4 Wed
6.05am BT - Arrive at Brisbane
8.30am BT - Should be home.
In case anyone is interested in what the different season is like, these are the conditions while I am there:
Weather forecast.
Cincinnati
21M - 12-24 sunny
22T - 14 27 mostly sunny
23W - 13-25 scattered storms
24T - 13-23 partly cloudy
25F - 9-21 scattered storms
26S - 6-16 storms
27S - 8-21 showers
28M - 8-19 showers
LA
21M - 11-19 sunny
28M - 13-23 sunny
I'm looking forward to the adventure as always, and the chance to catch up with people over there. Not too optimistic on buying much retail though this year, as I was having trouble finding anything near the Hotel and Convention Centre. The nearest Toy, comic or department store is about 3kms away, and most are 10-13kms away, and only one day free to use on retail shopping. It's probably a good thing, as I only have about half of what I was aiming to have saved up, to spend.
Ah well, they have a few fast food and grocery stores within walking distance, so I'll be able to fulfill my other objective - 'sampling' the native dishes.
Total costs so far (for anyone thinking of ever doing this)
Airfares - $3095
Travel Insurance - $142
Accomodation (7 nights, sharing 3 with Saintly) - $997
Pre-registration - $464
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Total without any spending here (stuff to take) or there - AU$4698.
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Go you! 
Originally Posted by iceburn
