IPMS Phoenix

Tomorrow I'm going to the IPMS-USA National Convention in Phoenix. I'd like to be all high-minded and say I'm going there to see great models, to witness a great contest, to attend great seminars and learn great stuff... But let's be serious, it's really all about the stuff.

I do what I can to support my local hobby shop (http://andyshobbyhq.blogspot.com/) but after four rounds of chemo, three bone marrow biopsies, two bone marrow transplants and a round of radiation therapy, well, there's only so much money left, and there's only so much time left. (I'd complain about the problems of building models in a garage in Arizona - today's temperature, 114 degrees F - but nobody likes a whiner.)

Anyway, I like Andy's hobby shop. But the vendor room at IPMS is all about the stuff. Rare stuff. Weird stuff. Stuff that Andy can't afford to stock, or can't get from his distributors. Not that I have a tremendously large list. But I'm quite sure that I'll stumble upon things that I simply have to have, and the question isn't really "How long are you going to stay" but "How long can you afford to stay".

A while, hopefully. Wish me luck.