This was when I started feeling like crap. I attributed it to the muscle relaxers I was taking for a back injury, so I stopped taking them, which, of course, made me feel even more uncomfortable. Still, I got up at 5:30 so that I could go stand in line for the "Lost" panel. The "Heroes" panel was right before it and I saw that all of the stars were going to be there. They don't clear out the rooms between panels, so you kind of need to get into the panel before it if you really want a chance to be there. I like "Heroes," so I didn't mind, but it meant that I needed to get there early. The room seats 6,500 people, but you are competing with 200,000.

I got there at 7:30. This was about three hours before the "Heroes" panel. Turned out that wasn't early enough. This is what I saw:

(many thanks to the rooftop security guards for taking this picture for me- they were super nice)

To give you an idea of the ridiculousness of this, the San Diego convention center is large enough to need two train station stops. This line went along the last eighth of this in the front. Not so bad, right? Well the snakey line in my picture looped around about 15 times. THEN, the line ran along the ENTIRE LENGTH of the back of the convention center, and ended at Seaport Village... at the ocean! Holy s*%t!!  Later, I heard that the line was estimated to be two and a half miles long!

Now, I'm a fan of the show, sure. But to stand in a line like this for over two hours with a bum back and the beginnings of a fever and maybe not even get into the panel seemed a little crazy to me. Particularly when I knew perfectly well that I wouldn't get a good seat and that the entire thing would be thrown up all over the internets within a matter of minutes. I decided to give the Dharma testing booth a chance. While there was a line to get to the exhibition floor, it wasn't nearly as long. I stood in line for about an hour and a half before the hall opened... and STILL I was too late to get a test! With one day left in the convention, I was beginning to think that it wouldn't happen.