Furry Moon Creations

We get to the convention on time and meet up with our friend from the UK early. We find out he got an upgrade to a suite, so I canceled our 2nd room RSVP. In the Lobby of the Westin North Shore in Wheeling, Illinois, I met Lightpaws and Bear from Ohio, then mingled with other furs. I talked about various things and told a bit about Moonshards. I was asked if I could do a panel on it if need be and I said yes. One of the three laptops we brought was set up just to use for a demo if needed. I went up later to the room to grab it, deciding I want to take the stairs down to let the line for Pre Reg get smaller. I didn't get far into the stairwell and ... slip ... Knee gets twisted, I ungracefully land upright on my other leg, laptop falls in the worst possible spot, right down the center shaft, bouncing a few times before ending its seven-story flight in a mangled wreck. I hobble down the flights, adrenalin hiding the pain for the time, as I go to recover the poor Macbook Pro. I call my husband; he comforts me, letting me know he's on his way. I take some pictures of the heap of what used to be a computer.

I finally get to my room again and call my American Family Insurance claims number as I put ice on the knee. After an impressively short hold, the guy on the line was very nice and kind, asking me if I was OK over asking me my name or policy number. I felt relieved to know someone I didn't know really had my best interest at heart. He gave me a claim number and told me my claims agent, then read off his required disclaimer that I could tell he was only reading cause he was required to. He let me know to tell the Hotel staff of the incident.

After my leg recovered a bit, I headed down to talk to the staff. I requested a manager and got one fairly promptly, given the chaos of a convention starting. They got Security to take an incident report. They asked me about six times total if I needed ice for it, twice if I needed medical attention, and once if I wanted a wheelchair. I very stubbornly but politely turned them down, as I hate letting weakness or injury slow me down or get in the way of work or fun alike.

So I go to wait in line at Pre Reg on an injured leg, like an idiot, and eventually gave up in defeat and went back to my room to heal a bit more. My husband insisted I get a wheelchair, so I did a bit begrudgingly, but I knew he was right. Getting the wheelchair took no time at all compared to what I expected and then I was perplexed. It's not that I didn't know how to handle a wheelchair; unfortunately, I know how to very well. It's that I'm used to zipping through crowds of people at breakneck pace, ducking, slipping, and bouncing past people without them knowing I was there. Now I'm in the slow, large, fingernail-destroying contraption in a busy con in the lobby alone.

Three minutes it took in total to get from the little shop to the carpet to the main show rooms. The carpet was hard on my arms as I'm not a strong girl and wheelchairs don't do carpet. Fortunately fewer people in the way here, though more than once I had to halt for people not paying attention to where I was going. Including going from behind me past me and cutting in front of me to go into a room instead of going behind me as their face was in a guide book. I get to Pre Reg line now for the 3rd time tonight and after 15 minutes in the line one of the workers remembers me from before and whisks me to the front. I got my and my husband's badges, then faced the daunting task of getting back to my room.

Help came from behind me, I never saw her face clearly or caught her name. She told me last year she was in a wheelchair due to health issues. She barreled paths through people who got out of our way with a *BEEP BEEP* and before I knew it I was at the elevators and on. I got up to my room and unwound a bit before starting this blog. What sticks in my mind is how diverse furs are but how they are not any different then any other group really. They just like something that seems odd to outsiders and that makes a good target for the media. Knighty Night! Here is hoping the rest of the con goes better. Mina Kitsune at Midwest Fur Fest going to sleep.