cjsmith: (Default)
cjsmith ([personal profile] cjsmith) wrote2005-06-21 11:31 am

AACE in Louisville

What a relaxing trip!

As I had guessed, my feet didn't let me dance much at the square dance convention. So I slept late, sat on the sidelines frequently, and picked my favorite times to dance. I enjoyed the heck out of what I did do. (As luck would have it, [livejournal.com profile] rfrench's intermittent foot problem (dorsal bunion) was acting up as well, so at least we were well-matched.)

There was NOTHING else for us to do at this convention. Other fun activities were "within walking distance" which meant I didn't do them. Heck, just walking around in the hotel was daunting enough. I ventured out for food only twice. Even the hotel pool was closed for renovations! There was nothing, nothing, nothing to do.

As a result, I had the most relaxing vacation I've had in a long time. Neither [livejournal.com profile] rfrench nor I made any attempt to switch to East Coast time; we slept when we wanted to and didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it. After all, there was more dancing than we could do, so why not? When our feet gave out we sat and chatted with folks, or we went to visit [livejournal.com profile] rfrench's parents, or we caught up on sleep. After all the dancing was over for the evening we hung out in the bar with friends every night, gossiping and planning world domination. It was fantastic.

The flight home was not so fantastic. American decided to cancel our connecting flight to Chicago, no reason, no apology, no "we'll put you up for the night". With a large amount of effort [livejournal.com profile] rfrench managed to get us rebooked on Northwest to San Francisco. (Too bad that wasn't our destination.) This effort involved both of us running around the airport a bunch, definitely not my favorite way to build up foot pain. Of course the flight we got was the last thing out and was leaving in twenty minutes. Of course we were selected by security for the full search. Fortunately, a guy with a feepy-cart took us from security to the gate in record time. He was awesome. We then had a connection in Minneapolis, where they have an excellent feepy-cart system with designated waiting points and everything -- well, everything but actual carts, that is. We walked. I sat on the moving sidewalks. Finally at San Francisco we at least had a good cab driver for the long ride home.

My kitties were very, very happy to see me.

Now that I've been back at work for a day and a half I'm back to my pre-trip stress levels. Gotta do something about that. More square dance conventions, yeah, that's the ticket. :-)

[identity profile] quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Tsk. And you were only two hours south of us! ;-P

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Depending on where you wind up, I may be even closer on a regular basis! (My folks live in the Boston area.)

[identity profile] sunnydale47.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Feepy-cart?

Congratulations on the marvelous lemonade you made from the lemons of not being able to dance much, and having nothing else to do!

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, y'know, those electric things that feep as they move? EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE until you want to tear the electronics out with your bare hands? Those. :-)

Thanks! I didn't realize how wonderfully relaxing it was until at least halfway through. It was perfect.

[identity profile] dizzdvl.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
I was going to ask the same thing! That's an excllent name for those things!

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I love making up names! :)

I feel like I should tell you that the swim cap traveled to Louisville and back with me, although due to the pool work it didn't actually get wet.

[identity profile] dizzdvl.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Dang, that swimcap is travelling more than I am! *snerk*

I usually make up names for people, like "Computer Guy." He's the guy who works on our computer. (His real name is Doug. I finally admitted we didn't know his name and we called him Computer Guy.)

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-21 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that! I'd be all embarrassed admitting something like that, but I bet he just laughed. :-)

I make up names for coworkers if I post about them in LJ. In my previous job, I had a little comedy going between Talker (who dropped into people's offices from time to time and would take upwards of an hour to drop back out again) and Confused (who would come to us with weird bugs that usually turned out to be him not building his code cleanly). Teammate (a competent engineer) and Lunch Date (the person who stood me up most often for meals) made guest appearances.

[identity profile] dizzdvl.livejournal.com 2005-06-22 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
Currently I am sure I am Bitch in many a co-worker's journals. But I don't mind. I have a co-worker like Talker and I tend to not look up and keep working while she talks. I have perfected ignoring other human beings. It's kind of fun in a really mean kind of way!

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-22 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
I think every office has a Talker. That's sad, in a way, but also a little bit humorous.

[identity profile] just-cyd.livejournal.com 2005-06-22 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
sounds like you had a lovely, relaxing time. welcome home!

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-22 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
I sure did! Thanks!

I'm even caught up with my (personal) mail account now -- yowza. :-)

[identity profile] rampling.livejournal.com 2005-06-22 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad to hear your trip was fun and relaxing despite bits that could have been disappointing. And good for you getting feepy-cart rides! Too bad they weren't always there for you though.

Mira and I join your kitties in welcoming you home! =^..^=

[identity profile] cjsmith.livejournal.com 2005-06-23 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! 8-)