Tales of Last Week - Wednesday
The only thing worse than sitting through training would be writing about sitting through training. So it ain’t going to happen.
Lunch time was interesting in that the folks who organized the conference thought it would be a good idea to have a scavenger hunt in the inner harbor over an hour-and-a-half lunch. I disagreed, and wandered off on my own to have Chinese food. I fired up the iPod and walked around town, listening to an album I’d never listened to before — Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter. Obscure 70’s folk-pop, complete with appearances by pretentious string section and chorus of background singers. Cool and a bit distant, it worked as the soundtrack for walking around an unfamiliar city. I’ve listened to it several times since then, enjoying the pleasant rush of new musical discovery.
I was presenting at the conference in the first after-lunch session, which had to be delayed because there was no audience — people were still straggling in late due to the scavenger hunt. Women in particular were complaining because there was no warning about the activity and they hadn’t worn appropriate shoes. I finally got to talk about my topic and got a coffee mug for my trouble.
The evening activity was an Orioles game, $35 to sit on the second level in “all-you-can-eat” seats. That sounded like a good idea, but they managed to screw it up. The menu was hot dogs, nachos, cokes, and bagged peanuts. All I wanted of cold hot dogs, nachos with salsa that tasted like the inside of a tin can, and tasteless peanuts. And bad service. I stood waiting for a diet coke for almost a full minute while the girl behind the counter chatted with the boy behind the counter. I’d forgotten just how poor the quality of life can be on the east coast.
At 7:30, I got a call from my wife. RJH had just broken his arm and she was taking him to the hospital. The other boys were with a sitter. The baseball game went from uninteresting to unbearable. I went back to the hotel to wait for updates. At 10:00, she told me he was being admitted because there were no orthopedists available. Fortunately, I had asked for permission to leave the conference early before leaving the game. I changed the flight from Friday to Monday and set the alarm for 5am.
