The Deadman's Cage Experience... (A Return Home)

[Mr. Dead]

As I'm sitting here going back over the thoughts, images, and experiences from the past 4 days... I find myself comparing this year to my only other previous experience at the Cage... And, I must say that the two times are night and day to each other... And by that, I mean that I didn't think it was possible for the amazing time I had before could be amplified by 1,000...!!! The great people, the excitement, everything...

Once I can get the jumbled blur of events into a cohesive timeline... I will post up a bit more on things... As well as what pics I had time to get... *LOL*

[shortstack]

Hey Deadman,
It was great to see you and I was glad you were able to make the trip. I still would have liked to hit up a music shop and tear up a few amps but
there's always next year.

Good luck getting the house back in order and getting a solid roof over your head again.

Talk to you soon Brother,

Jeremy

[D-NUTZ]

Nice seeing ya again MD. Hope you made it back in one piece.

[smoothballer]

Glad you could make it to the Cage Deadman

[Universal Rep]

Nice seeing ya again MD. Hope you made it back in one piece.

... pinata?

[Mr. Dead]

Hey Deadman,
It was great to see you and I was glad you were able to make the trip. I still would have liked to hit up a music shop and tear up a few amps but
there's always next year.

Good luck getting the house back in order and getting a solid roof over your head again.

Talk to you soon Brother,

Jeremy

Thank you...!!! And likewise...!!! If we ever get that opportunity, I don't think that music store will ever be the same... *LOL*

Nice seeing ya again MD. Hope you made it back in one piece.

Likewise...!!! One piece, yes... In a timely manner, no... But that's a story for another day...

Glad you could make it to the Cage Deadman

Likewise...!!! It was great to see ya...!!!

... pinata?

I would've had to ahve been standing still for that to happen... *LOL*

[Mr. Dead]

Got up at 3am, handled some last minute things, and was off to the airport... I knew Higa Monster and Seath308 were leaving just a little before me, so I made my way to their gate and chatted a bit before their flight left...

Boarded the plane at 9:15... Had the pleasure of sitting next to a lady and her 15 month old... (I seem to be a magnet for this... *LOL*) I can say, that those toddler shoes are rather uncomfortable, when they repeatedly kick you in the ribs... Also got to wear some smeared on Animal Crackers...

Plane touched down in Atlanta on schedule... Thought I had plenty of time to kill before my next flight... Was in line at Nathan's Famous Hotdogs, when I heard that my flight had changed gates... Across the airport... So I got out of line and scrambled over to the next gate... Started looking for food, when I overheard that the flight got moved again... Scrambled over to the next gate, and got ready to board...

Landed in Columbus about 8:24pm... Grabbed my bag, and called Phil80010... Him and Nix0r came and picked me up, and we headed to the hotel... We stopped off at Meijer, for me to grab some food items... And, then off to bed with visions of the Cage dancing in my head...

[J-Dawg]

MD, it was great talking/working/hanging out with you this weekend. You are a heck of a worker and really helped things run smoothly in The Shop and with a number of other events. Thanks for your help brother.

[Phil800101]

Great seeing you again bro, glad you were able to make it, and I'm glad we were able to help facilitate things for ya.

[Chase "BIG COUNTRY" Browning]

Pleasure working with ya MD.

[Mr. Dead]

MD, it was great talking/working/hanging out with you this weekend. You are a heck of a worker and really helped things run smoothly in The Shop and with a number of other events. Thanks for your help brother.

Likewise...!!! When I say I have a passion for the Company, those aren't just empty words...

Great seeing you again bro, glad you were able to make it, and I'm glad we were able to help facilitate things for ya.

You too...!!! And, thank you for everything and making my trip the awesome time that it was...!!!

Pleasure working with ya MD.

Likewise...!!! Hopefully, we can do it again somewhere down the line...

[Razor]

It was awesome hanging with you again bro! Can't wait till the next time!

[Mr. Dead]

It was awesome hanging with you again bro! Can't wait till the next time!

Definitely was great...!!! And, I enjoyed talking shop with ya, big time...!!!

[Mr. Dead]

It was twoheadedboy, not Nix0r, that was with Phil to pick me up... (Hey... I'm old, okay...???)

[Mr. Dead]

Got up at o'dark-thirty... Did the 3 S's... And we made our way to the Expo... I have to admit... I hadn't been this excited since... Well, we won't go there... *LOL* Anyhow... We parked and made our way to the expo center... Some sites seemed familiar and some foreign... It had been 2 years, since I made this trek... And to think... Not only was I on my way to the Cage... But... I was going to work the freakin' Shop...!!!

As we entered the expo area, we made our way to the the place to pick up our coveted exhibitor badges... I pretty much felt like Wayne and Garth, in "Wayne's World", when they got the backstage passes... I saw some familiar faces as we went along... Hidetada Yamagishi, Mark Dugdale, Steve Kuclo... But, seeing G Diesel there, near the entrance... Now that's when it struck me as being real.... I had finally made a return Home...!!! We made our way to the Cage area, stashed our stuff in a "secure" area, and went about saying hi to those that were there... But... More importantly... Getting our assignments...!!! Now, I've worked trade shows before... I've done the Emerald Cup with Rage and Higa Monster... But let me tell ya... The Cage... That's the friggin' "Big Leagues"... Working this, was like a "Badge of Honor" for me... You have no idea how elated I felt...!!!

We were divvied up, and given our instructions... And then... "Oh my freakin' gosh..!!!" The hounds had been set loose...!!! The Cage "Concert" shirts were flying as fast as people could move...!!! Everyone settled into a pretty quick cohesive pattern... I just went into "Trade Show Mode", and away I went...!!! (I was so into it... I forgot to take my lunch... *LOL*) Gear and supps were flying off the racks at a pretty good pace... I was fueled by copious amounts of Atomic 7... But was also introduced to a new love... Proteon Bars... OMFG...!!! Heaven in a bar form... I'd never had one before... Won't be the last time I have some... Got to watch Rage's HRT Seminar, and throw a few questions out... After all was said and done, we hurried out and made our way to Metro... Trebin was getting a walk-through of a HRT session... I wasn't able to lift, but was able to train others... So away we went... It felt really good in that role, and something I will be gravitating towards... He did awesome, and we went over some finer points as well as some tips and tricks... Then we went to one of the happiest places on earth...!!! BD's Mongolian Grill... Let me tell you... I'm addicted...!!! I just wish I would've had more time there to eat... (There was also some discrepancies regarding plate sizes, between those that had been talking about the food "competition" between Nix0r and myself... Even though they weren't in my section... But it's all good... *LOL*) Then off to bed... Day 3 to be posted later...

[C.Coronato]

Great having you there MD. It was a blast my man!

[twoheadedboy]

Proteon bars are the bomb! Great meeting you, even if you forgot about me on the ride from the airport! j/k those long flights are killer I understand.

[naturalguy]

Thanks for all the help Mr. Dead and it was great seeing you again

[Mr. Dead]

Great having you there MD. It was a blast my man!

Thank you... And, thanks for being there with the change and taking the large bills...!!! (And the Proteon bar for the trip home...)

Proteon bars are the bomb! Great meeting you, even if you forgot about me on the ride from the airport! j/k those long flights are killer I understand.

Great meeting you, as well...!!! And, my apologies for the sonic snoring, at night...

Thanks for all the help Mr. Dead and it was great seeing you again

No... Thank you... It was an honor and a privilege...

[Mr. Dead]

Holy crap, what a crazy day...!!! Got up and made our way back to the Expo... NG tasked me out to find the guys that were doing our wi-fi for the video stream... Nobody was there, so I borrowed a card from another booth, and wrote for them to come to the Cage... Well... That didn't work out so well... Some well-meaning individual took the card over to the booth that I had gotten the card from... So... Of course the wrong person showed up... So... As the expo opened up, I had to make my way to the back corner, again, and try to retrieve the right individual... Well, in the brief time that I went from point A to point B... All of the remaining Cage "concert" shirts were gone... (In under 5 minutes...)

Now, I've worked a couple of trade shows before... But it was nothing like the onslaught that occurred Saturday... Shirts and supps were flying off the shelves at "break neck" speed... I felt sorry for Oscar, J-Dawg, CB_3, NG, and C. Coronato... I had to constantly ask for change or drop off the "big bills"... Later in the day, I got the chance to go help Rage over at the bb.com booth... Replenishing his sample pile, pics, and Sharpies... He was doing an autograph session over there... It was pretty cool over there... I met Ryan DeLuca and Dean Donlan from bb.com Corp office... And, Jamie Eason... I won't comment on that or the tight spaces everyone was trying to shuffle through... *LOL*

At the end of the day, it was time to head over towards Metro for the National ABC... More on that, later...