Signs that you might be thinking of Essen just a little too much

o Prior to the media day you are constantly checking boardgamegeek, boardgamenews, Frank's site and other places for the first snippets of information and complaining when there isn't any there

o Planning to SMS "Ready, Set, Go!" to people who are at Essen at the exact time the doors open to the public.

o Posting to blogs, BGG and mailing lists about Essen envy

o Knowing the airfare to Essen

o Knowing which hotels at Essen still have vacancies

o Know that if you take the child who has a passport that your luggage allowance will be doubled

o Searching out German rules for new games on the internet, emailing your partner/spouse/friend with access to a printer to print them out so you can determine whether or not to place an order with your Essen "personal shopper"

o Wanting to go to the airport and ask for a ticket "on the next flight to Germany"

o Being prepared to ditch a local community event that you have put at least 100 hours work into to go to Essen instead

o Knowing what time the doors at Essen close, factoring in time for the Essen correspondents to type up their reports and then you start checking

o Having Aldie say "You are jonesin' for some Essen"

o When ringing your spouse on the phone you say "I'm not at home, but I am not at the airport"

If many of the above apply to you then, to quote Aldie, "You are jonesin' for some Essen"

Fraser