Excitement

[rolanni]

Fire alarm roused the convention, the dancing girls, the junior baseball teams, and the wedding party and sent us all out onto the lawn at 1:00 a.m. We milled about on the grass until the fireman came and cleared us, which they did in remarkably short order.

This written on The Leewit from the lobby, as we wait for the entire population of the hotel to return to their rooms, via three elevators.

The three mundane sisters who set down next to us, are blaming the "science fiction people" for having set off the alarm. The firemen explained that an alarm went off in someone's room and that there could be a number of reasons why it had done so, including vapor from a shower. Nonetheless, the three ladies have it decided between them: it is the science fiction people who are to blame. They have demanded to speak to Hotel Management, their contention being that the entire hotel did not need to be evacuated, and they themselves, alone among us all, were Inconvenienced.

...back in the room now, having been escorted along Secret Ways and Dark, and soon, I hope, to sleep. Friends of Liad Breakfast in the hotel cafe at 8 a.m. There Will Be coffee.

Note to self: Next time, if you can only grab one thing to take with you, try the wallet with your ID and credit cards.

Comments

[spiritdancer]

Hah, I remembered the wallet (and room key!). The really fun part was getting the sleeping kids (ages 4 and nearly 3) awake enough to get them down the stairs. The 4 year old pretty much slept thru the whole thing, including standing the the hall for a few moments waiting for stair access before moving to another stairwell.

The upshot? I did get to spend some time with the filkers, which I haven't done for a while. The downside? The nearly 3 year old is not asleep yet, at 2:30 am ::sigh::

[isabellag.livejournal.com]

I would have taken the opportunity to tell the Mundane Sisters that one of the Science Fiction people did it with their psychic powers and that Aluminium Foil hats are good protection. It would have been moderately amusing to see them wearing them round the hotel. Also, "The Mundane Sisters" is a great name for a Band. Any takers?

[blitheringpooks.livejournal.com]

Yes, because the science fiction people were clearly the only ones in the hotel who were capable of having such hot, steamy sex, they would set off alarms. Poor, jealous mundanes. So sad.

[lagilman]

During the Great Disclave Uproar, Pete Heck grabbed two things when we evacuated: his guitar, and his copyedited manuscript. I admire that kind of thinking, myself (esp. since I was the editor on said manuscript). Thankfully, Jane remembered a) a wallet and b) the room keycard.


The Three Mundane Sisters were clearly looking to get their room comped by Management, to shut them up.

[robotech-master.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of a story I heard about one SF convention that was evacuated in the wee hours for a fire alarm due to an off-duty cop securing someone to a pipe with handcuffs as part of a bondage game—the pipe got pulled loose and happened to be part of the sprinkler system, which resulted in the fire alarm going off.

Sadly, I can't seem to find the story in googling—too many mundane articles share the same search terms.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

That would be the Great Disclave Uproar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclave), mentioned above by suricattus

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

I sat with two nice women from across the hall & a con security person. None of us could get done the stairs and as a plane had not flown into the building I chose not to bump down the stairs on my butt. The security person put wet towels at the door and we waited as he talked to central. Cami took pictures of the firetrucks. We all have our priorities.

[muehe.livejournal.com]

Not say people should ignore fire alarm – they do save lives.
But, in my experience they get set off way to easy. Many years ago I was a night shift supervisor of a fairly large computer room. The computer room was the only 24/7 department/room – I was told that if the fire alarm went off it was my job to find out where the fire was. At the time it seemed like that alarm was going off every few months. Usually a can of air sprayed into the alarm shut them up (dust, I guess).
The whole mentality kind of stuck, now when I hear a fire alarm I think — let’s go find it and take care of it.
I bet if I was on the third floor (or up) my mentality would be – I am not getting trap up here.

You never lived in the dorms, do you?

[(Anonymous)]

I got plenty of practise at this during college. How can one order a disgustingly greasy pizza in a warm cafe if one has no wallet?
(Note that I usually experienced these events on winter nights
in Boston - where warm pizza places were a necessity.)

Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

[romsfuulynn.livejournal.com]

You and Steve looked amazingly put together, calm and orderly sitting with your laptops in the immediate aftermath.

The 1997 Disclave flood, per Wikipedia, involved individuals not actually registered at the con, who were there to meet with other individuals who were.

Thank you both for lovely program elements - I enjoyed the weekend a great deal.