Oberon, you know you are welcome if you decide to come. The more the merrier I always say. Hope you decide to join us.

I'm looking into coming out for this, too. I'm thinking I would fly in on Wednesday or Thursday and leave Monday. Jesus & Shesus - is that room in your building still on the table? I could probably afford to split it with some TFPers on Friday & Saturday. Of course, this will all depend on whether or not Mr. I's sister will want to hang out with me and let me crash on her couch before Friday and again on Sunday. I'll know more soon.

/me crosses fingers

Sweet! We keep getting more people, this is going to be a lot of fun.

From what I know of, so far there is only one person confirmed who wants it (Toaster 126), if you would care to split the cost, that would bring it down to about 65 per night for each of you. We haven't reserved it yet because we want to get some confirmation on who wants it and who will make it out.

If you don't mind rooming with Toaster, we can go ahead and reserve it and if there are any others who would like to share, we can work that out as it arises.

I think my gf is going to come too, if she does then it will be three. I'll ask her tonight.

:) i'm glad you're thinking about coming...
life is funny... you have to reach out, to get somewhere. :)

/me hopes you can make it!

sweetpea

me and SC in the same room.... me and SC in the same room.....?!!

:D

i dearly hope you can make it :icare:

sweetpea

Supple Cow, that would be great if you could make it. From what I've seen of you, you bring fun everywhere you go.

Looking good, I can't wait. :)

Okay, my gf has committed to going also. Which is good because now I won't want to kill myself out of sheer boredom due to the driving.

I am still working on this. I am trying to make it in on Thursday night, and stay until Sunday night. shesus, I'm probably not going to go with your guest suite. I am making other arrangements for housing.

Okay,

with Toaster confirming that he and his girlfriend will be making it, I'm going to go ahead and reserve the guest suite.

If there are any others who wish to help defray the costs, let us know.

Flights booked:
DEN-ORD arriving 8:45pm Thursday March 16, 2006
ORD-DEN leaving 7:05pm Sunday March 19, 2006

Still working on the place-to-stay thing.

hahaha Im about to IM you for your info... Im going to RSVP you a room dammit.

oh and I might be going... the hyatt better have some fucking rooms

w00t! :) good for you, glad you decided to.

looking forward to meet ya!

sweetpea

come!! :) the more the merrier!! :D

i'm really surprised at how many about going to make it!! so awesome!!

sweetpea

Ive booked 2 employee rooms at the McCormick Place Hyatt, if anyone wants the 2nd room let me know.. its a double double. If I go I have agreed to split the cost with Oberon for the first one. The room is booked 16-19 meaning you can check in with me after 3pm Thursday and leave with me at 5am(or earlier) Sunday. They will probably let you stay because it all has to go against my card. You can e mail me, aim me or pm me if you want this room. I know its a bit far from JJ and Shesus but the rate is decent and even better when split.

if anyone knows of any awesome rates on airfare Fort Lauderdale, FL to Chicago let me know.. if it HAS to be Miami... Ill take it but I work literally 5 min driving from Ft Laderdale airport. So Id rather fly out of there.

you people like to sucker people in. Im coming. Shoot me

Well, after looking at my class schedule and the ticket prices, I might be able to go to this.

American Airlines has a few flights, leaving on the 16th returning on the 19th for under 150... there are a few that go thru Dallas, but there are a few that are direct...

yeah, I meant more awesome than that. Im 99% sure Im getting AA direct :-p

try www.airtran.com -- they fly into the shithole that's midway but they are dirt cheap..

airtran was $200 even vs the 175 I paid for AA. Id RATHER fly to MDW as the person picking me up is being all huffy puffy about it but she dont pay my bills. Our hotel is also supposedly closer to MDW.. but whatever... Ill get around.

Oh and Im coming... :-p

(burns)Excellent...(/burns)

/me rubs hands in glee

:D

Who else is coming and doesn't know where they're staying yet? PM me, por favor.

Well don't forget that a few more people can probably fit in the extra suite in JJ and shesus' building, and that would make it quite affordable for those staying there. :)

Well, that only works well if you're staying the same nights everyone else is...

I understand what you mean, but you can always stay there some of the nights :) It's up to you :)

Well, technically, with sleeping bags and all, we could probably get about 20 people in that suite. I somehow think the management office would frown on that, though. But, hey, it's worth a try, right?
:p

hehehehe yeah, but we only allow 4 per room

as long as your quiet though we dont care if there are 50 of you in there.

Okay, I think I can definitely come :) Unless someone doesn't want me to, which I would understand.

What day are most of yall planning on leaving? Sunday night?

I think most people are getting in friday and leaving sunday night... I however am getting in Thursday morning and leaving Sunday morning. Early. My friend is ready to choke me, but work calls.

of course everyone wants you to come Carn! :D

We're getting in friday at 1:30pm... leaving Sunday at 5:30pm.

Now i wish i had come for a little bit longer since everyone else seems to be doing that.. but oh well, i think it's going to be grand while we're there, everyone who is coming seems just really great! :)
Plus... who knows if J.J. and Shesus can put up with me longer than just those couple days ;) :lol: thanks again guys for your generosity! :icare:

sweetpea

This looks like the list of everyone, confirmed and doubtful, I think:

That looks like an orgy in the making. :D

Carn, I've already said I can't come...

No money :(

Oops, I must have missed that.. That's a bummer :(

Carn, I'm not sure about half those people. Thanks for the list, but these are the people I know for sure....

Spec
SecretMethod
Onodrim
JumpinJesus
Analog
Konichiwaneko
Sweetpea +1
Toaster with maybe a +1
Supplecow
Yellowchef
Oberon
Carno
and me of course

Possibles:
VitaminH (haven't heard from him in awhile)
UsTwo
NoSoup

If I left anyone off let me know. These are just the people that I have confirmed are coming. Although I do need a sorta exact number to make reservations at Rock Bottom for Saturday night. :)

Yeah that list looks more realistic. I just did a total list of everyone who said that they could come or wanted to come.

Hopefully people start confirming whether they are going or not so you can call the restaurant..

Two things:

1) Recently realized that St. Pat's is the 17th - the day I'll be driving up. Somebody better help me salvage the day once I get up there... with adult beverages.

2)There appears to be a front room with a folding bed. Thusly, Carno and SuppleCow are more than welcome to bunk with us as long as you guys contribute some money, scratch, paper, dolla' dolla' billz, or cash to the cause. Oh, and you two can't be murderous axe wielding zombies either.

Shit bitch, killing zombies is my life's calling! No danger there :p

But yeah, I'll definitely split the cost with you. And I'll for sure be putting some back when I get there on Friday :thumbsup:

Uh... you aren't 21...

*looks over shoulder*

He will be by then. Plus, I'll certainly be putting the booze away that day, so I don't think you'll be alone. :)

I can chip in my part for the lodgings, but do I really have to leave my axe at home?

I turn 21 on March 16.

Umm....bad news :( :(

Well, seems that out lovely management office (they've lost our rent check twice) double-booked the guest suite. Sooooo....I feel so bad, but we lost it since the other person booked before us. :|
I hope that you guys will still be able to make it. I'd offer some room at our place, but we're pretty full. Sorry again.

/me curses rental office and demands a full month's free rent for ruining the weekend. :lol:

Maybe the four of us can descend upon that extra room that yellowchef has reserved? Eh, yellowchef???

Your profile says Aug 19, 1985 was your b-day.

On topic: Oh fuck. :( Well, I'll do some scrounging around and we shall see if we are still able to come.

Oops, I was messing around with my settings and I forgot to put that back.

Yeah, I wish to apologize for this situation, as well. We went to the management office today to take care of a few things and they informed us that they had accidentally double-booked the guest suite.

I will help with the search for a room that is nearby and not too expensive and still close enough to be doable.

My new roommate just told me that she used to work at a hotel in the Midwest and she is friendly with a manager somewhere who can get rooms for only $30 (+ taxes) at a few different hotels. This includes the Hiltons, which I think would be really luxurious and fun for a crazy weekend trip like this. I'm going to ask her about getting a room for myself for Thursday-Sunday nights. Is anybody interested in sharing this room with me or possibly using a second room (if she can get it)?

Of course, this will be subject to availability. I'll ask her about all of these possibilities and report back when we have some more information.

if anyone needs a room contact me, I have 2 rooms at the hyatt mccormick place, a bit out of the way but its reasonably priced and damn affordable when split. one room is sort of taken but Ill make Oberon suck it up and share our room if you guys should need it. If you want to e mail me or pm me or whatever, Ive got 2 rooms to share...checking in on the 16th and leaving the 19th.

Im going to hr tomorrow to confirm these rooms but the lady on the phone said they had room.. hr needs to hurry up.

supple, Id reply to your pms but I cant?

The "edit" link is your friend ;)

Chances are you can't respond to SuppleCow's PMs because her box is full. SuppleCow, take a look and see how many sent PMs are filling up space - those count too, so unless you've been deleting them occasionally you can easily end up with a full PM box.

If you truely can get this great discount, I'd love to partake. We only need a room for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights though.

Yeah if you can get the rooms, I'd like to do that as well. I am only going to be there Friday and Saturday nights.

My roommate told me her friend usually takes about a week to get back to her about this kind of thing, so she's going to go ahead and call to find out about it this Friday while he's at work. If they're available, I'll get the room for myself Thurs-Sun (which Carno can share on Fri-Sat) and another one for Fri-Sun for Toaster & Toastette. If the hotels are all booked, I guess we'll all have to figure out how to share yellowchef's two rooms? Chef, I will let you know the second I hear about the rooms so that you can cancel your reservation for the second room if necessary. I know you need to give them 1-week notice (right?).

Oh yeah, and my PM box is/was far from full. Not sure why there was trouble replying to my PMs...

What I'm noticing also is that the price for a room seems to drop the closer to the check-in date it gets. I'm guessing this is because they're in a hurry to book as many rooms as possible and will lower their prices in order to do this?

Last night I was looking for rooms. If you were checking in this weekend, the nightly rate for some hotels was $89/night. For the same room at the same hotel, booking for next weekend suddenly jumped to $149/night.

Of course, it could also be because it's St. Patrick's Day weekend. I hope all of you coming realize that Saturday morning is the morning they dye the river green. Well, it's always green, it's just a brighter green that particular morning.

I really do hope you're all able to find rooms.

i don't know how i've missed this for the last 6 months, but I live right in chicago so i'll be there assuming i don't have to kill someone for their car.

also we can sleep a couple people if need be. and people in chicago there will be a killer crazy party at my place on march 25th, keg o guinness keg o harp tons of booze and tons of wine so come one come all.

ok heres the skinny on my rooms... I have 2 rooms(one of which is taken by Oberon and I but if someone needs to share.. we will) they are both double, double. This means there is 2 beds per room at the McCormick Place Hyatt. They are 71.70/night plus taxes and fees.. probably rounding out to 80ish a night. Rollaways are available too so we can put more than 2 people in a room. I can get some other rooms at a discount but they will be more than 71.70 a night as I cant book anymore at the employee rate.

I will be in town Thurs, Fri and Sat. Im leaving EARLY(and by early my plane leaves at 6am) Sunday. I have to put all this against my credit card so all payments will be due up front. I cant do the employee thing any other way. Since Im paying with my card it wont matter when you guys leave(I dont think) Im not going to allow any room charges so if you choose to bother room service thats all on you. Im also going to ask that the mini bars be emptied because theyre outrageously expensive and temptation is evil($5 for a 12 oz can of soda is illegal I think).

and Im not trying to be mean, Im just not in the mood to screw the hotel over. I deal with this kind of shit on a regular basis and the stupidity of people amazes me.

Cool, yellow, that's a pretty good deal.

I guess Supple is still waiting for her friend to get back to her about the rooms.

I really don't care where I stay.

ok so toaster and his girl got my 2nd room.. if anyone needs a room oberon and I will share. We're checking in the 16th and leaving the 19th.

Supple and Carno, if you need a room, dont worry... we can squeeze you in...

I finally booked my flight! Thankfully, I had enough frequent flyer miles to do the job. I'll be arriving at O'Hare on Thursday 3/16 at 10am and leaving on Monday 3/20 at 5:30pm.

Yellowchef, I much appreciate the share offer. It's pretty likely that I'll take you up on it because I hear the hotels are pretty full that weekend, but I do still have to wait on my roommate's efforts because she's already done a lot of asking around for me. In the event that I do get a room, I'll gladly take our friend Carno off your hands. :p (I'd have an extra bed anyway.)

Shit... this is going to be huge.

I so want to be there...

Yes, it is going to be huge. I'm glad I'm going to be here. :) but now for the planning.....

I'm going to be making reservations this week for Rock Bottom so I'll post the time when I get it. It's going to be Saturday night. I was thinking of meeting around 5 there. If this time doesn't work, let me know.

Also, I believe that on Friday, March 17, we're going to dinner at Giordano's on the corner of Rush and Superior. This will probably be around 7 and I'll try to make a reservation there but would need to know a general number.

I know that jj and I, spec, secretmethod, onodrim, sweetpea and her husband, and konichwaneko. I know that Supplecow and Toaster and yellowchef and others will be in town. You can send me a pm if you want to meet us for dinner. :)

Awesome group we have. This is going to be a lot of fun.

Shame you can't be here Char, would've been cool to meet you.

Is there any possible way for you to make it because - and I mean this in the most heterosexual manner possible - you're one of the TFPers I look forward to meeting.

Maybe it's because we're meteorological siblings.... :p

I was hoping for a BATTLE ROYALE.

There can be only ONE!!!

Ok SC, Oberon and I will share with you..

Toaster, the rooms are reserved, you may or may not have a king, but you have a ROOM to sleep in lol. Checking in sometime on the 17th..... preferably after 3pm. I will NEED TO KNOW when you plan to arrive because I have to check you in.... otherwise youre payin $179.99 a night lol

When it gets closer hit me up via pm and Ill get you my number.

Okay, thanks sweetie.

I'm going to have to second spec. here... this is indeed going to be a lot of fun :) what a fantastic group of people!!

And i am also disappointed about not going to meet you Char :/ Always a next time though :icare:

sweetpea

Yeah, you got a king.. you little devil toaster...

I am so jealous I could cry!

But at least *I* have met Charlatan. *looks smug* I want a phone call sometime during this whole extravaganza, I mean it!!

Of course I did. God loves me.

yeah yeah... im putting you in the basement...

Okay, so that hotel thing is out of the question for me now because Ty has other things to worry about and they were looking all booked up anyway. I'm going to need to crowd your room, yellowchef. :D

Don't mind me. I'm just a guy.

and carn?

Hey, least we get to share a bed now Oberon ;)

dont mind me, i snore loud enough to wake the dead.

I promised you i would Sultana :icare:

it wouldn't be the same without you via phone babe :D

sweetpea

okay.. did i mention how damn excited i am??? :)
What a FANTASTIC group of people i will get to meet!!

I can't believe it's only in a few days.....

:D :D

sweetpea

Hehe... didn't mean to leave you out, buddy.

Don't mind me, I'm a toss-and-turner. (I had to jump on the bandwagon.) ;)

Oh, just wanted to mention... I broke up with my gf (we are still coming and remain friends), so unless you want to rub the salt in her wounds, you prolly shouldn't bring that up. :)

good to know. i won't bring it up. Glad you're bringing your friend :)

sweetpea

SC does carn need a room?

what about your other days? like I dont know if I can do anything for you on the 19th and 20th.. if Toaster is willing to share, I think hes checking out monday morning and you can get a rollaway..

pm me.. and we'll swap numbers :)

While I don't have a problem with sharing rooms, I can guarantee the friend I'm bringing will have a huge problem with that. :)

I can always book you a room a $179.99 or she can get over it.

its just SC on Sunday night.

Okay, I realize I'm on my own on Sunday night... I figure that I can at least crash with my buddy if I have no other place to go. But Ty just said that something else came up and I might be able to get a room at the downtown hilton for $100 a night. If I can do that, I'll probably get one for Saturday and Sunday.

I think Carno was planning on staying wherever he can (a.k.a. with yellowchef and oberon), but once again, If I get the room, he can use the other bed in my room on Saturday if he needs to. So, chef and oberon, I don't think we'll be too overcrowded on Thursday night. Friday, I might be able to stay with my friend - especially if four people feels like too many.

Lastly, if anybody who already lives in the area wants to do something with me on Thursday during the day (brunch/lunch, the art institute, the zoo, walking around cool parts of the city and bonding with me... :)) please send me a PM so we can hook up! I don't really have anything specific planned until the late dinner with chef (+ friend) & oberon, but I have a list of things I want to see and I would love any company to be had.

EDIT: And Monday, too! If anybody wants to hang out Monday before I leave, let me know!

Okay I sent a PM to yellowchef and she said it's cool for me to crash with yall in her room. I hope yall don't mind.

I'm not sharing my bed with you. ;)

Finally! I have a hotel room on Saturday and Sunday nights. Anyone (a) in a crowded room, (b) who lives farther away than my hotel and needs a place to crash drunk, or (c) who just wants to hang out with me so I don't get lonely is welcome to come stay with me on either of those nights. :) In fact, I encourage it.

As I told SecretMethod yesterday in a PM, I've been lurking this thread for a while now, but I won't be able to make it to the gettogether. I've got a 4-week-old at home and wife that wouldn't hesitate to use the nightstick if she caught me sneeking out to go drinking on a Saturday night. Put that with the fact that I don't think that it's physically possible for me to stay away past about 10:30, and I'm officially out. I hope everyone has a great time. If any of the other hosts are too busy, I'd be happy to share tourists ideas and good places to eat/drink/see cool stuff (hint - the surgical museum on the Inner Drive is pretty gross).

Have fun, and if you get arrested, remember that mentioning the 1968 Democratic National Convention is usually viewed as poor manners by the CPD.

Just fyi for everyone, they're expecting snow tomorrow, and it should be in the mid 30s this weekend.

Goddammit :|

I hate the cold.

*jumps in glee* :D

Supple, does this mean you aren't going to be staying in the Hyatt with us Saturday night?

OK, so dinner is set up...a little bit earlier than what I thought, but we can hang out there for a bit...as long as people are drinking, they won't kick us out...unless we're obnoxious...that's happened to a friend of ours. But anyway....

Rock Bottom at 4:30. They don't do separate bills so for dinner we'll have to split it ourselves. So, cash will be needed.

The website with the address is here: http://www.rockbottom.com/RockBottom...e&SiteID=10000

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone. :D
Hope everyone has a safe trip in.

I LOVE THE COLD... but hell will be had if my flight is delayed. I WANT TO BE ON TIME

and 4 is not too many really...

I know nobody will read this but SC my friend and I will be hitting greektown and Debevics as well as from 3-dinner Im all alone :(

If I have to drive through snow, I'm going to be pissed. :(

Hey hey, I happen to be doing a 2 month work gig in Chicago so I'll be here representing San Francisco! Has a location been decided yet? A time? A specific day? Can I come?

I was staying in Lincoln Park until this morning. Landlord turned out to be a lunatic. So, now I'll be staying at this dumpy airport hotel until my apartment in Gold Coast opens up.

The meetup is this Saturday, March 18...location and time are in post #196 on this page :)