My Health, physical and mental.

Being out of work has been nice, I had the supposed freedom to travel and make my schedule.

Since March of 2019 I have…

  • Went to CAPCon
  • Drove from Ohio to the Rocky Mountain National park, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and then to Mount Rushmore before coming back home.
  • Went to TeddyCon
  • Went to the Columbus Zoo several times
  • Shot tons of photos
  • Taken several road trips as well
  • Had the time to spend with my niece and nephew, brother and both parents.

Now it is late December and I need to catch up on what has been happening

In September my brother finally got a much needed heart valve replacement. Both of us have congenital heart defects, each are different. During the time in the waiting room word got out that I too had a heart defect, which I had not followed up with any of the cardiologists at Children’s Hospital in many years (like 20). So that set the wheels in motion for myself to get appointments with the cardiologist and get additional testing.

My first appointment I had a EKG and Echo in addition to meeting the doctor and going over some things. I was sent home with a 24 hour heart monitor along with future appointments.

Remember I said I was unemployed… well I had insurance through the end of 2019, so many of these appointments and testing are being done against that deadline.

The next test was 2 MRI’s with contrast of my head and heart. If you have ever had an MRI you know that they take forever, so 2 in a row takes even longer. Now I am on medication that is a diuretic, so in the mornings I have to pee about every 30 minutes… This is NOT going to be conducive to being stuck in a MRI machine for 3 hours while being pumped full of fluids.

I have a solution for this! Do you know what it is?

So the day of the test comes, I have laid out a plain white Babypants onsie (because it has plastic snaps) and a pair of Reebok pants. I diapered up to the inquiry of my mother “Why are you wearing those things to the hospital” (‘those things’ meaning my diapers). I told her flat out “Because I can, I’m an adult and can wear what I like”

That ended the conversation. I packed a diaper bag up, because i knew i would need a change. I walked around the hospital in just the above attire, I could hear my diaper crinkle, i know it looked like I had one on too. I just don’t care.

I was brave and didn’t cry when they stuck the needle in my arm, even though it really hurt. I made it about 3/4 of the way through the tests and just could not hold it anymore and wet my diaper.

I had to take my onsie off because they have to put all sorts of EKG leads on me, but she let me leave my pants on. I am not sure if she knew i was diapered or not. I am also not sure if this is now in my file that I may have incontinence issues. I guess if it ever comes up I plan on just saying that I have some issues, I am dealing with them the way I want to and don’t want to go further with it.

I had another appointment on December 18 for a stress test and appointment with the doctor. Wore jeans, onsie, t-shirt and diaper this time, but changed into my Reebok pants and just a t-shirt before the stress test. I had to do the stress test topless, so no clue if it was obvious that I was diapered or not. Still just don’t care. Was still in Reebok pants and t-shirt when the doctor came in too.

The doctor said that they may want to do more testing, invasive testing like a heart catheterization to check out the insides of my vessels and see if they may need to in the future revise the graft/patch that is on my aorta. I have already made the decision that if I have to have more testing or surgery done that I am going to wear diapers. Again, I just don’t care; my diapers keep me calm and mentally stable.

I have been tossing around the idea of wearing at my new job, but am unsure as I will have to wear dress pants and dress shirts. I am just not sure if I want the added hassle and stress of being in diapers while working a job that I cannot afford to loose. I have been wearing diapers pretty often since the first of December to the pizza place and practically 24/7… so I don’t know.

What do you want for Christmas….?

This was asked of me by my mom last night.

While my mom is aware of my ABDL side, she does not participate in any way.

So back to the question that was posed to me…..What do you want for Christmas?

Well I’d really love to get rid of the bed that i have that takes darn near my entire bedroom. I’d love to replace it with a crib with a twin sized mattress. I’d love to have a changing table where i can get changed without having my stuffies in the way and without having to get my dirty shoes on the sheets.

Honestly, my room is too small for the changing table, but I’d love to wake up in a crib. Just opening my eyes and looking through those bars.

I’d also like to paint my room a lighter shade of blue than it currently is.

At the end of the day those are simply wishes that may never come true for me, there’s the cost, then the logistics of getting something like that.

Have a Merry Christmas, and any other holiday that you celebrate.

Not going to CAPcon this year

If you have been reading my past few posts you would get the theme that I don’t have a job. Well that has changed twice since TeddyCon. At this exact moment I work for a pizza place doing delivery, but shortly after I got hired there, I got an interview for another call center job. Call center is what I have done basically since I left college in 1999… So it is kinda all I know.

I made the choice when CAP tickets opened up right after TeddyCon that I most likely will not be going. Frankly I don’t have the funds built up at this time (it isn’t cheap going to these Cons.) and I have to be choosy with how I spend vacation time at my new job.

I wish everybody that will attend the best of times, and I will probably be back in 2021. Fingers crossed I will be at TC in 2020

TeddyCon 2019

When I attended TC 2018, I was in the midst of an important decision that would have me out of work for some time in 2019. I had taken a voluntary separation from my current (at that time) employer. I knew that if chosen I could be out of work right at christmas time, the end of march or end of june.

I was part of the group at the end of march… which meant that I worked 4 months knowing that my time would be ending at this employer. I had still remained committed to attending CAPCon and TeddyCon both.

While I was unemployed when I bought my ticket, I was hopeful that I would have found work by October. While I had some leads, they wouldn’t hire somebody who was going to need 4-5 days off work shortly after starting and I was not going to loose the money that i had to pay for the ticket, hotel room and miss the fun time with friends.

As the date got closer, my friends Will and Casper and I figured out what the room arrangements were, I had booked a room as had Will. The plan was for me to room with Will and Casper was going to find a roommate and take mine.

I loaded my vehicle up on Tuesday night the best i could, so that I could head out bright and early Wednesday morning. I wanted to leave around 5:00 am, being a 9 hour drive. I ended up leaving at 6:15 am, but I was on the road.

The entire trip was 500 miles one way, and probably 400 of it was some sort of rain, with 100 of them being heavy rain. By the time I got to the hotel I was done with driving. I met up with Will and Casper.

Casper then informed me that he was not able to find a roomate, and wasnt able to afford the room. He wanted to stay with another group. That was fine, but the hotel had already billed my credit card for the $500+ charge. Luckily we found two people who agreed to take the room and just pay me back for it.

Will and I went to the pre-con munch and saw many familiar faces there, when we came back the registration was open for us to get our badges.

I had a very great time at the campfire each night. I did some great arts and crafts that I intend to incorporate into our next OhioABDL party as well.

Best of all I got to meet friends that I only get to see one or two times a year. Great friends are hard to find.

The drive home was bittersweet. Casper flew out sunday morning and Will flew home (can’t recall if I took him to the airport this year or not). I think I was gone from the hotel by noon, as I had a 9 hour drive home.

On the way back I stopped at a travel plaza and got food from Roy Rogers – it was different and good. Talked to my ‘brother’ about the convention, and got calls and texts from others as they got home.

On a bright side, i did not fall and injure my ribs this time!

I think I will certainly be back again if they will have me.

What do I want from my Con or event experience…..?

I see this question posted for several different Ageplay events. People say they want to be able to feel truly little, have their diaper changed by somebody, meet a mommy, find some really cute outfits, being bottle fed, breastfed, eat baby food in a high chair, etc…

What I really want to experience and for other attendees to experience is the ability to attend the event, stop at a photography setup, get your photo taken and have the option to email, text or print that photo. So they have memories of their time at the event before it becomes a faint memory.

Right now there is a group of people who attended CapCon in March of 2018!! Who are still waiting on their photos. There is no excuse for this! I can see it taking a couple months after the debacle from 2017 when people who were ‘red bands’ having their photos sent out.

What’s a reasonable amount of time… Ideally most people want them by the time they get home from the event. If an event cannot do this then 1-2 months at the most, any longer and it is taking too long.

So what could or should be done to allow people to get those photos back sooner.

First off setup a photo area that is ONLY opened to just ‘ green bands’. This should be an area where you would need to purposely enter to have photos taken. This takes care of the need to sort through eliminating red bands. This eliminates the step of sorting through and finding any photos of red bands.

Set strict rules that if a red band attempts to get in a photo which they have opt’d out of, they do so at their own risk of their photo being released.

Only do candid walk around shots for the event’s internal use, and sending those to attendees should be secondary.. The candids and posed photos are kept totally separate, as getting the pre-vetted green band only files sorted will go quicker since every person should be a green band. Use the facial recognition feature of Lightroom if needed to speed the process.

How can you instantly deliver photos while protecting security so others cannot access the photos.

While I don’t mind having photos taken, I don’t want everybody to have access to them. I used a system at CapCon 2019 that worked well*. We were setup in a certain area all weekend that had a backdrop setup. I would have liked if we had access to say a rocking horse or trike, but i own neither nor did i have room for them in the van.

Basically we had a camera connected to a laptop. That laptop runs a tethered capture program that takes the file from the camera and gives it an eight character code, 5 letters and 3 numbers, guaranteed not to repeat in a long time. From here we have options…..

  1. Apply artwork/logos and resize and print the file automatically. The photo has the image code on it where the guest can enter it in a sharing kiosk to email or text (or print another copy if a group pic)
  2. Apply artwork//logos, resize file and save it. Then print a claim slip
  3. Do both

Once the guest has their file # they can either print the photo, email or text it. The kiosks are set so that they don’t display any photo unless the code is entered, and the complexity of the code would keep somebody from guessing one of the codes.

This method takes the task of sorting and later emailing the guests off the shoulders of the event organizers, so they can focus on their event. Also through strict data controls, the photographer permanently deletes all files after the event ends**.

If an event even wanted to, an online gallery could be setup to keep the photos online, which I use when i do Santa and Easter Bunny photos. This system can be utilized for all sorts of event photography.

Keep in mind this service is not done free of charge, due to the costs associated with the photo paper, time and investment of the software. I always try to keep the pricing as low as possible to cover my expenses, and time. I was open 16+ hours during CapCon, plus the time it took to setup and tear down daily.

Now you saw a couple statements starred, let me explain.

* the system we used at CapCon worked well enough… it did its job. The problem was i tested the windows tablets with a small number of photos that it had to look through, when we got towards Sunday there were a couple hundred photos that the underpowered cheap tablets had to look through. This caused it to take sometimes 15-30 seconds to retrieve the photo and display on screen. This is easily fixed by using an actual laptop, which has more processor power.

** I actually kept the photos on that laptop for about 7 days after i came home, because there were people who did not receive their photos via email due to hotmail.com/live.com/outlook.com bouncing the emails. Since the codes are not possible to guess there is very little chance of somebody getting somebody else’s photos (they’d have to find their claim slip and even then would have no clue who’s photo it was)

Hot time summer in the city

How’s everybody been?

What have I been up to since march? A lot, but not much.

From the feedback I received at CAPCon, the photobooth was a hit. People loved how they could get their photos either printed, emailed, or texted to them right away. I wish other Con’s would adopt a system to do this.

Granted all the photos are posed, but then again that is what people like to have.

For those stat lovers….

  • Through the 20 some hours of time i was available. There were 345 emails sent with less than 1% bounced or undeliverable (wrong email address or provider (outlook/hotmail) blocking the message)
  • There were 173 outbound texts
  • For prints the numbers are uncertain to an extent…
    I had a roll of paper already loaded with an unknown number of prints remaining, but I changed paper on Saturday afternoon and of that roll of 330 prints, 287 were used.
  • So I will say at least 500 prints were made.

If your event needs an event photographer who can shoot photos, and give your guests instant delivery of the image…. Contact me

I took a vacation road trip end of may / first half of June. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone, and then Mount Rushmore. Those who know me, know that I took tons of photos all along the way.

Best of all I was able to remain diapered 99% of the time we were gone.

At the time of this post TeddyCon is only 3 months away. Still I’ve yet to see hid not hair of the photos from 2018’s TeddyCon.

I am beginning the process of seriously looking for a new job at this time. Also I am tossing around the idea of doing a large ABDL party. My big hope would be, to be able to host a ABDL Con in Ohio, but that would be a big undertaking with much help needed.

Where have you been!!

Holy cow I have not blogged in some time.  Tons of stuff has happened.

In September before TeddyCon my company of 12 1/2 years announced that they were going to offer voluntary separation packages to those who would like to take the exit.

The wording was in a ways that said “If you want to get out, get while the getting’s good, because if we do forced reductions you won’t get this good an offer”

I decided to volunteer.  I had until November to decide that I wanted to do it.  It was announced in December that I was picked and my end date is fast approaching early spring 2019.

With the package that I am getting I will have the funds to take a longer vacation than I normally would have.  I also have benefits to last me for the rest of the year as well.

I plan to use this time to grow my photography business and to try to re-build my DJ and photobooth business as well.

I am going to CapCon 2019 as a vendor – stop over to the photobooth where you can take a photo and have it ready immediately.

I have decided to shut down the forums on my website, there were way underused; which is probably due to the fact that all posts were moderated for new users, and I was not that good at approving posts.  Plus there are so many more places that people congregate at these days, like Fetlife.com, Instagram, and more.

Teddycon 2018

I attended Teddycon in October 2018.

First things first, TeddyCon is not like other cons.  Bigness is not their thing, they keep it small and it works well for them; you are a family at TeddyCon.

Leaving out on Wednesday morning and coming back Sunday was the plan, 500 miles each way in a rental car.

With TC, since it is so far away being an 8 hour trip clear across Pennsylvania; I leave on Wednesday, this way I am at the hotel the night before, well rested and ready to have fun.  Plus if I wanted to get there by the time it started, I’d have to drive overnight, which just is not going to happen with me.

I was a little later coming in than I had planned, and am sorry that my friend William had to wait in the lobby of the hotel since the room was in only my name.  After arriving we ended up eating at Applebee’s before going to Target to get some toiletries that I thought I forgot (I found them later).

We headed back to the hotel to rest as we both had did enough traveling that day.

Thursday morning – the fun begins

Convention registration opens up pretty much right after the hotel has ensured that all the “nilla” guests have departed.  Will and I got in line to get our badges.  As always I find a helper to write my name on my badge because I’m just a little kid with horrible handwriting.

We checked out the space, waited in line for our Build a Buddies,

We attended the crafts, classes and fun events before going off to dinner, I think we did Moe’s Southwest grill that night.

Friday – Day 2 of the fun that is TeddyCon

As if Thursday was not enough, there’s Friday.

I know I slipped into Dr. Rhoda’s class, checked out the swings outside, maybe colored a picture. Did more socializing and visited the vendors.

Saturday – Day 3

I made Oobleck which was so neat. Then I went to the Lil Tykes Swim class…. That was so much fun.

Unfortunately after the swim class I slipped while walking around the pool area and suffered contusions to my ribs.  It did not hurt that bad at the time, but the next morning I went to urgent care.  I honestly am not sure what we did for dinner, because I most likely was sore and did not want to go out.

I must state that when I fell the TC staff took great concern for my safety and health.  I was urged to go to urgent care that night, but deferred going till the next morning.

Sunday – not fun day

I awoke early and drove myself to the urgent care up the road.  Since I was a bit early, I ended up getting Dunkin’ and gassing up the rental van for the ride back home.  After getting x-rays and checked out to find nothing was broken and there was no imminent danger; I was given prescriptions for pain relief and muscle relaxers.  I got my stuff packed up with the help of William and dropped him off at the airport and headed home.

I basically drove until I reached the half-way point right before getting off the turnpike, I got out, went to the bathroom, got food and got back in and rolling on.  I stopped again outside Columbus Ohio to get gas.

After the con….

Honestly I felt ok, just a little sore when I got home.  My mom helped me get the stuff out of the van that night and I got changed for bed.

I had Monday off work, which I always do for the Cons.  I was a bit more sore but thought I would make it for work on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning I got up again sore even more.  By the time I got ready and into my van – I had hit critical mass on my pain.  As soon as I ducked down to get my big head in the door pain shot through me like I had never felt.  Luckily I was now in the vehicle. After waiting for the pain to lessen I called my mom from the driveway and told her I was going to my doctor’s walk-in so he could write me off work possibly and take a look at the x-rays from urgent care.

My doctor was worried about what he saw on the films and had me go to the hospital for further x-rays and made me an appointment THAT DAY with a general surgeon to review the x-rays.

The further x-rays did not find anything else. I was wrote off from work until the next week and was on FMLA.

There was no way that I was able to wear diapers, as every time I lay on my back, my chest muscles and back would start to spasm.

When I fell I put my spine out of alignment but could not go to the chiropractor for over 3 weeks because my chest was still too sore to lay flat on it.

Regrets….

I really wished that I had went to much more of the activities and classes.  Looking back I really did not attend many of them.

I also wish I would have left my pool/aqua shoes on even though they hurt my feet…. This is why I fell because I took them off and was walking barefoot.

 

Overall

I had a great time and I will be back again, as I’ve already bought my ticket and have a room.  Anybody coming from the central ohio area that won’t annoy me to death for that 8 hour drive?

CAPCon 2018

Let me first state that I was apprehensive about attending this event with all the issues leading up to it.

First let me say that this is my second capcon, but not my first convention or large function fetish or not.

I’m going to be fair and honest with you of how I felt about CAPcon.

The annoying stuff

Hotel related stuff – I find it utter bull that rooms needed to be paid up front, not to mention through a shady system like PayPal. Any other convention I have attended the hotel booking was totally handled by the hotel itself and rooms were secured with a credit card (even if the room was non refundable within 7-14 days would be better). What the organizers fail to fully comprehend is that some people truly live paycheck to paycheck so floating an extra $300+ 7 to 10 months out is extremely hard.

The room rates increased because breakfast was not included in the package.

Meals – while it is freaking awesome that you all decided to do meals, the idea of prepaying, then having an 18% gratuity slapped on there on top of the high amount for food turned people off.  From what I heard from others, the food was not truly worth the cost.  It also sucked that you could not just buy a general Lunch or Dinner ticket and use it for whatever day you wanted…. which meant if you missed lunch on Friday, they were not able to be used for Saturday.  Again most travelers expect a breakfast included in the cost of their accommodations it is as simple as that.

The pre-con dinner – frankly being required to repurchase a ticket for an onsite buffet just so you could socialize with people before the con stinks.

Why am I harping on food? – Some people don’t like or do buffets, some people have special dietary restrictions and need to stay away from certain foods, or cannot eat enough to get the value out of the meal.

The schedule – First off the con did not start on Thursday in my opinion.  Other cons that state they start on Thursday actually have activities and con space open on that first day. The only activities were an opening ceremony, which I was not arrived for, and a pre con dinner which as I stated above could have been done different so those who don’t care to eat could at least socialize.  This just seemed to be a ploy to make people think that the con was longer than it was.

Next your schedule was hard to read, not that it mattered as you didn’t keep to it. Class location changes, events added, events moved, etc… in the future you should post a daily board with what is happening, when and where….. or do something like a daily newsletter like a cruise does.  Also have a break in the schedule for dinner and lunch; I mean how are people supposed to eat the overpriced hotel buffet that they had to prepay and preplan for when there is no time to get food.

Digital Devices – This was a big joke.  One there is no way you can see if those stickers had been tripped by just a casual glance.  Two nobody was checking them.  Three, they take away from the convention in a way.  I work for a wireless carrier, i hae a phone in my hand every day all day.  For me it was so nice to NOT bring my phone with me to the con space.  My phone and iPad were in my room unless I was leaving the hotel for dinner.

Photography – I decided to go red band this year due to the debacle last year.  While it will be sad that I will not be in any photos or receiving any photos from the con, it is what it is.  Personally I did not see the official con photographer very often.

A cool idea would be to have an area or “scene” setup for people to get a posed photo (like you have at an amusement park, or attraction).  I think that the spacecraft rocker that Tykeables brought with a space backdrop behind it would have been a great photo opportunity for the attendees to have something that has the convention name and if needed names of the sponsors on it.  The key being that it is something that they can take with them immediately either as a hard print or emailed to themselves.

Just because I am red band, does not mean I don’t want photos…. I just want control over who has my photos.

 

 

Now What I Loved.

The vendors.  I bought pin-on buttons from a vendor upstairs, a pacifier and clip from Little Kink.

I loved the classes that I attended, babiedboi’s  classes always bring the warmth and love of the community out.

I loved the presentation by Cwis  from Abysitter.com and look forward to the results of the survey that he conducted being posted along with the video (update here is the video)  – I want to know that there are others out there like me, those who got their start in diapers at a very very early age.  I want to know what makes up this community, how we all got started, and hopefully find out if there is a common thread in all our lives… so far I really don’t think there is anything that draws us all to diapers and being little other than we just like wearing diapers and being little

Shout out to Zach (Mid America Little) and Andy (The Padded Puppy) for their session on positive social media for the ABDL community.  It has made me get closer to going over the fence and starting to vlog about my life of being an ABDL.  What holds me back now is the fear of my family, friends, etc finding the content and finding out about me.  Also if I can handle the negative aspect of the comments that could ensue, and if I am stable enough to put me out there.  Plus I need to find a place to be able to video at…. those who truly know me know my house is a mess and packed to the gills with stuff.

Last but not least I cannot forget being able to see so many wonderful friends that I have made over the years.  People I follow on instagram and people I have chatted with over the past 22 years that  have been on the internet.  Without the encouragement of many of these people over the years, many of us ABDL’s would not have what we have today.  It is so cute to see AB’s that were not even born when I got back into diapers, many of them still have that youthful exuberance in them as I watched them tear up and down the play space on the big wheels and trikes.  Oh to have that level of physical youth again to go with the youthful mindset.  For me I am happy just snuggling with my Pooh bear, drinking my bottle and relaxing in a quiet place.

I am shy at first and then I will open up and you’ll wish I was too shy to speak.

Some closing thoughts:

If you are an ABDL, Little, AgePlayer, Diaper Lover, Adult Toddler…. whatever you consider yourself.  You are truly NOT ALONE.  I know it can be scary to meet others, but rest assured that we all thought we were alone in this at one time or another.  Look up a nearby munch if going to a full blown party or convention is just too much for you at this point in your life; but get out there and be yourself.

If you are on the fence about going to a convention or party, and it is within driving distance…..GO FOR IT!!!  You will not regret it.  If it gets to be too much, find a quiet place or go back to your room.