As you’ve probably seen me post here and elsewhere many times in the past, insomnia sucks. Something caused me to wake up at 2:45am, but who knows what. It was quiet as the Friday night rave ended at 1am. I toss and turn the rest of the night giving it up at 5. After doing the, um, bodily functions that must be done first thing in the morning, I went down to the lobby for coffee (free for guests) and headed back up to my room and had oatmeal I had brought with me and that muffin from the day before as the other option was that long hike downhill. Becky’s was good, but I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on breakfast two mornings in a row. I’m a frugal squirrel.

I get down to a panel room for 8am for Saturday morning cartoons, which I get to watch for 45 minutes (it would run until 9:30 or so). Back down in the lobby to check-in with the Vol desk and be at registration by 9am. We only had a small handful of people waiting. And then people trickled in by ones and twos. My shift ended early at 11:30am so that I could snag a quick lunch. Vol desk hands me a meal voucher good for two meals in the staff kitchen (presidential suite). The hours? 1:30 to 3pm for lunch or 6 to 7:30pm for dinner. Well, I have to be back down and in the Maine Events (New Hampshire and Vermont combined in that brochure I linked earlier) by 12:15pm to assist with the fursuit photo and parade and won’t be off that until 2pm and I’m already famished. So, thanks! But not of any use for me for lunch. I again take the stairs to get to my room (and avoid elevator con), grab a very quick bite (pre-made Italian/sub sandwich) and get back down to the ballroom on time.

At FCL, they hand-out a 3D printed unique, numbered fursuiter badge to each fursuitor who participates in the photo and parade. We have two staffers ready to hand out badges. Another has a clicker counter for the head count. Me? I’m pulling batches of badges (all mixed-up on the numbering) out of a box and hand them as needed to the two staffers. At some point one of the staffers gets pulled away. Soon after, ditto for the other. Now I’m handing them out all alone and asking fursuiters to please move to the edges of the room and not jam up near the entrance. Eventually, the second staffer returns, but instead of taking over again, he takes my old place and hands me batches of badges as needed. The ballroom is CRAMMED. We keep asking suitors to please move to the sides and away from the door so more can come in. Final count: 523 fursuitors! They take photos and like last year, my “human mech” face successfully photobombs in it thanks to a camera stand next to the entrance (far back, dead center, photo credit: Sven Fennic).

Unlike last year, it’s sunny and breezy rather than snowing. So, the parade is on! It starts and fursuitors file out of the room. The route will take them out of the hotel and up three blocks to Monument Square downtown where they have a permit until 3:30pm. I was scheduled to help with the photo shoot until 2pm. It’s now only 1:15pm. A staffer tells me: Aldin, head to Monument Square and assist there. Good thing I figured that would be the case and I already had my jacket with me. So, I jog along one side of the line of fursuiters, doing my best to duck under lines of site of those filming. I make my way outside by a different door, cross the street and parallel the parade. I get to Monument Square nearly at the same time as the front of the parade. I find a staff member who gives me the instructions I figured I’d get: Hang around the edges and answer questions from the public. I spent the next 45 minutes or so doing just that, both to locals and tourists. Yes, please feel free to walk-up and interact. Don’t touch them without permission. Most will be glad to pose for you to take pictures. We’re part of Furcationland. Ever heard of a comic con or a Star Trek convention. It’s like that but for people who are fans of andromorphic animals such as cartoon characters. We have a permit until 3:30. Yes, every one of those is custom made to fit the wearer and each one is their own unique character. You’re looking at two to three grand for just a head, paw gloves and a tail. Full suits can run north of ten grand (to jaw dropping awe by the listener). At 3:30 we’re all moving over to the parking lot on Fore Street near the art museum for a block party with live music, car show, and street fair and you’re welcome to check it out. And so on.

When 2pm hits, I find a staff member to let them know I’m heading back. Oh, and parade participants are still arriving at that point. I arrive back at Vol desk and check out at 2:20pm, giving me a brief break until I need to do badge checks on the second floor starting at 3pm and ending at 6pm. I spend a lot of that time directing people to were each of the panel rooms are. As the fair/block party go until 7pm, that means I’d still have time to check it out, especially after last year’s was cancelled due to the snow. Or so I thought. My relief doesn’t show up. I snag a couple of passing staff members who relay this down to the volunteer desk, as they’re aware I’m a luddite with an antiquated flip phone and as such can’t log into whatever app they’re using to communicate. Eventually, the staff member from the volunteer desk comes up to relieve me just after 6:30 telling me I could have left my post at 6pm. I point out that wouldn’t be right ‘cause this is one of the areas a badge check is needed. He thanked me for sticking around and said I would be credited an extra whole hour instead of the 30 minutes I’m over.

So, let’s do the math. 1.5 hours in reg. 1.75 hrs for parade and Monument Square. 3.5 hrs round up to 4 hours for badge checks. Saturday total: 7.25 hours. Add my previous 9.5 and I’ve now put in 16.75 hours. Unless they also counted my hike time back from Monument Square at which Saturday’s total would be 7.5 hrs and as such, 17 hours overall.

By this time, it’s about 6:40, not really enough time to go check-out the block party/fair and car show, (sigh) despite having held onto my jacket anticipating going out there. Instead, I catch the elevator up to the eleventh (top floor) and claim one of my reward meals. Dinner is lasagna with garlic bread. Woot. Alas, by the time I was done eating, I was late to one of the few panels I was interested in, Rick the Fox’s Cutting Room Floor panel. He presents on behind the scenes content in video games that the programmers hadn’t bothered to remove not thinking anyone would find it. He also demoed early unfinished prototypes. How unfinished? He’d start a game, go into the programmer’s testing menu, jump to a specific screen/scene and the characters fall and die ‘cause the scene hasn’t been created yet. So there is now ground for the characters to stand on. I can’t describe it better than that.

That wrapped up at 8:30pm and sitting there, I realized just how tired I was from such a long day of volunteering, running around, and basically relying on caffeine to stay awake that long after the lack of sleep the previous night. So, no Furry Improv panel (started at 8 going to 10) for me. Up to my room, shower and bed by 9:30. Again, I can hear the rave but fall asleep anyway.