A Postcard from the Atlanta IPMS Nationals 2005 Part One by Brett Green

Postcard from the
2005 IPMS Nationals - Part One
Arrival

by Brett Green

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IPMS Nationals 2005

The 2005 IPMS Nationals will open tomorrow at the Galleria Convention Center in Atlanta Georgia.

My long journey from Sydney started on Monday night. After delays before take-off, the Qantas 747 delivered me to a cool, grey-veiled Los Angeles evening 20 hours later. Thanks to the International Date Line, I was actually in the USA several hours before I had left Sydney - at least according to my watch.

My Delta flight to Atlanta departed LA at 9:30 the following morning. Even before we had left the tarmac there was another delay. Our 767 was taxiing to the end of the runway when, bang! The plane skidded to a sudden dead stop, accompanied by the sound of baggage in overhead lockers colliding with bulkheads and the short but startled cries of passengers as we lurched forward in our seats. "This is your Captain speaking", came the smooth explanation a few moments later, "You might have noticed that American (an American Airlines 767) just crossed in front of us. We thought it would be better to stop than to...". The skipper apparently decided that we could figure out what the alternative was ourselves. Most of the passengers looked around and laughed, some nervously, and we were on our way.

More than 36 hours after stepping onto the Qantas Jumbo in Sydney, I was finally ensconced in my Atlanta hotel room.

Preparation for the journey, though, had not been without its hiccups. Late Sunday night, while readying my notebook computer for the trip, the screen died. Just the faintest black on black impression remained on display. After juggling various possibilities - taking the computer for emergency repair, renting a computer for the trip, burning all data onto a DVD and begging for something to work on once I got to the show - I eventually decided to pack a 15" flat screen monitor and hope that it would survive the tender mercies of international baggage handlers. Remarkably, it did. Now, if it can endure my driving on the wrong side of the road for a few days after the Nats, I will have a reasonable chance of continuing to post a daily online report!

HyperScale's Atlanta branch office, complete with a well-traveled TFT monitor!

Once I had dropped my bags in the room, I took a walk to get a feel for the lie of the land. The early evening air was warm and heavy. Cicadas chirruped noisily, hidden in strips of trees that had escaped the concrete here and there. Their song was briefly drowned out by a grey C-130J Hercules banking low in the grey sky.

The Galleria is set off the side of a highway, near widely spaced carparks, a spate of hotels and retail outlets. The forecourt and the building are empty now, with only a single small sign behind locked glass doors showing the way to the venue. Tomorrow it will be a different story.

I wrapped up my travels for the day by exploring the shopping mall located behind my hotel. Curiously, the mall seems to have around ten shoe stores. The car might be king here in the USA, but that is clearly no reason for their drivers not to be well shod.

Along with many others, I look forward to stepping into the busy Galleria Convention Centre tomorrow at the opening of the IPMS USA 2005 Nationals.

HyperScale will bring you daily reports from the Atlanta Nationals, with a special emphasis on new and forthcoming releases.

Keep in touch with news at the Nationals via daily updates on HyperScale.

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