Not too busy outside the Westin as I made my way to the opening ceremony. Perhaps the word had spread that the convention was coming.

Following a breakfast of Eggs Benedict, tackled with a set of magnetic cutlery (not a joke; the end of my knife had become magnetised at some point!), Soba and I made our way to the Westin for the opening ceremony, and moved our luggage from the Strathcona hotel to the Harbour Castle, in the process. While he made his way to the supersponsors' line, I stayed in the regular attendee line, and was soon joined by Knaw before we headed into the ceremony. It was very enjoyable, with this year's charity, 'Happily Ever Esther' animal sanctuary making a short presentation, and the room clearly anticipating a very fun weekend of living it large! Upon exiting, Knaw and I parted ways, and I realised that I had left my phone in the hall. I made my way back against the flow to where I had been sat, to find my phone gone. Oh dear.

As such, my original plan of reacquainting myself with some of the dealers had to be delayed, as I pestered Con Ops and the Volunteer stand to see if anyone had handed in my cellular device. I wasn't worried, since I had never had a bad experience at FE with any of the attendees, and so I chose not to panic, and to wait to see if it turned up. Meanwhile, I headed for the Dealers' Den, and reacquainted myself with several familiar faces; , , (from whom I had commissioned a wonderful badge to commemorate the event!), , and to name but a few of the exceptionally talented, wonderfully welcoming, and unwaveringly kind folks in the dealers' den. Lunch was had at around 2pm, in the form of a Tim Horton's tea and doughnut (you spell it your way, I'll spell it my way, clear? ), and it was on my return that I ran into with her sister, and directed them to registration after a brief catch-up. After that, I was sent to find my roommate, and to shepherd him downstairs to make himself known, and then spotted a wild , whose insight on linguistics never ceases to interest me!

At some point around 4, I headed back to Con Ops to inquire about my phone, and just as I was leaving, a certain from con security approached to hand in a lost phone. After the most humble thanks I could muster, we spent a good while chatting about political issues and our interests, before I parted with another thanks, and headed to meet Knaw for dinner. We headed for the Fox, where I would order my first ever poutine dish with a cider. So good did it look (and taste!), that the gentlemen at the table next to ours decided to get the same, which got us into a light-hearted conversation. These gentlemen turned out to be none other than and , both of whom were incredibly nice, and a pleasure to meet. After darkness had fallen, Knaw and I returned to the Westin, and after parting ways I happened upon Salvestro in the lobby, who subsequently joined me for drinks in the Westin bar. We spoke about the fandom, politics, and religion well until after 11pm, at which point I excused myself due to the jetlag. Again, I did not need a great deal of encouragement to get to bed, this night.

Hope you enjoy!