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I am in one of my patented blue funks right now, despite the fact that my wiki presentation actually went off pretty well. Today, I managed to get set up on time despite the previous speaker overrunning his time. In the end, I delivered my point, did a demonstration, answered questions, and finished pretty much on the money, timewise. (One secret of any presentation is that you can never be faulted for renting too small a room or for having to cut short your spiel... obviously within limits, but that's another story.)
I was awakened in the middle of the night by what seemed to be explosions on the street below. Three of them. WTF? I had trouble falling asleep and snoozed my way through about an hour of daylight when my alarm finally did go off. I managed to get checked out okay, and even found a place to park next to the Sheraton for $6 for the day, which was pretty nice.
Right now, I'm waiting for the SLD annual division meeting to convene (in about three hours) and I've pretty much abandoned the idea of going out with friends tonight and hold our own impromptu "farewell banquet."
The reason is my foul mood. Right now, I am completely Association-ed out. I look around and wonder, "Why am I here?" It seems half my time is spent giving presentations or worrying about giving presentations, and although some of the other presentations have been a source of interesting information, the key word is "interesting," and not "essential."
I have also not met any new clients at one of these shindigs in three years, and I wonder now if I ever will again. The exhibitor area has turned into a homogeneous mass of booths wanting to sell me products that I generally already have or which don't interest me at all, or to collect my resume -- and then never call me. I've done this a few times, and it's starting to feel old.
Yesterday for lunch, a bunch of us gathered to eat at the "Bistro on Two" at the Sheraton. The food was okay, but something the waiter said just came back to me, and juxtaposed with the service we got at the restaurant yesterday, it's quite telling.
At one point, someone said something that sounded like it might create a problem for the waiter. Without missing a beat, he replied, "I'm here to accommodate, not complicate!" and went off to fulfill the request. I get the feeling the guy wouldn't stand a chance working for the restaurant we attended last night, which would appear to have the exact opposite philosophy, or at least one that begins, "I'm not here to accommodate..."
On the other hand, dwelling on this is not a good idea. We'll just leave it like this: as a banquet organizer, I'm a pretty good translator.
The more I think of it, the more I am tempted to make Buffalo tonight and bed down there instead of staying up here in Canada. I checked out a motel not far from the Sheraton that advertises rooms for $49 per night. It turns out the price is correct, but one must put up with accommodations that have no private bathroom. If I were feeling more adventurous, I might pop for it, but I'm not.
Cheers...
I was awakened in the middle of the night by what seemed to be explosions on the street below. Three of them. WTF? I had trouble falling asleep and snoozed my way through about an hour of daylight when my alarm finally did go off. I managed to get checked out okay, and even found a place to park next to the Sheraton for $6 for the day, which was pretty nice.
Right now, I'm waiting for the SLD annual division meeting to convene (in about three hours) and I've pretty much abandoned the idea of going out with friends tonight and hold our own impromptu "farewell banquet."
The reason is my foul mood. Right now, I am completely Association-ed out. I look around and wonder, "Why am I here?" It seems half my time is spent giving presentations or worrying about giving presentations, and although some of the other presentations have been a source of interesting information, the key word is "interesting," and not "essential."
I have also not met any new clients at one of these shindigs in three years, and I wonder now if I ever will again. The exhibitor area has turned into a homogeneous mass of booths wanting to sell me products that I generally already have or which don't interest me at all, or to collect my resume -- and then never call me. I've done this a few times, and it's starting to feel old.
Yesterday for lunch, a bunch of us gathered to eat at the "Bistro on Two" at the Sheraton. The food was okay, but something the waiter said just came back to me, and juxtaposed with the service we got at the restaurant yesterday, it's quite telling.
At one point, someone said something that sounded like it might create a problem for the waiter. Without missing a beat, he replied, "I'm here to accommodate, not complicate!" and went off to fulfill the request. I get the feeling the guy wouldn't stand a chance working for the restaurant we attended last night, which would appear to have the exact opposite philosophy, or at least one that begins, "I'm not here to accommodate..."
On the other hand, dwelling on this is not a good idea. We'll just leave it like this: as a banquet organizer, I'm a pretty good translator.
The more I think of it, the more I am tempted to make Buffalo tonight and bed down there instead of staying up here in Canada. I checked out a motel not far from the Sheraton that advertises rooms for $49 per night. It turns out the price is correct, but one must put up with accommodations that have no private bathroom. If I were feeling more adventurous, I might pop for it, but I'm not.
Cheers...
