In which Our Heroine recounts the tale of where she was from Monday to Friday last week.
Where has the past week gone? Oh, right - it's been gobbled up by some horrible time-swallowing monster. Stupid monster!
Monday: I went to a training session at Cambrian College - it was one of those one-day course thingies. The instructor was a gent I'd met when I started up here - he's a hoot, and a huge proponent of Linux. It got me to thinking that now that I'm mostly using my laptop, I can use the old beastly desktop (love you, Big Momma!) to experiment with it.
Tuesday: Last week of conferences - finally! This week: the Northwest, in Thunder Bay. Our flight didn't leave until 1ish, but we had to be at the office, so Karen and I got rides in with Steve. Not too exciting a day - caught the shuttle, went to the airport, and flew out TBay. The three of us managed to get some pictures of the clouds and stuff. Supper was Pizza Hut, and then later, we played pool at the bar next door to the hotel. And went to the 24hr grocery store next door to that to get juice, pop, and bubble blowing kits. We're young at heart - really.
Oh! And my sock pal, Doris, got her package! Her son is adorable with the books in that picture!
Wednesday: First day of the conference. A lot of waiting - there wasn't anything major planned for that day, and there was only one scheduled event for which we had to be there. Later that evening, a few people went to the casino, but I had a nap.
Thursday: Things pick up. I convene first thing, then I present (technology planning). Interesting discussions, totally different from the discussions at the first conference. Lunch. Then! Then I got to convene the New and Emerging Technologies session, which was presented by Stephen Abram! He's every geeky librarian's guru! His presentation was fascinating, and I felt like that kid in the Far Side cartoon, who raises his hand and says to the teacher, "Can I go now? My brain is full!" Cool beans.
Closing banquet and more pool. Back to the hotel, packing, and going over my next presentation.
Friday: Second presentation (presentation skills - this one was done by another co-worker at the first conference, and I got to do it here). Helped pack up equipment and supplies to go back to the main office, then got changed out of my dress clothes and into jeans before lunch. Since we had time to spare before our flight, we took a trip out to the Terry Fox monument out on the highway, and took the scenic route along the waterfront back to the city. Quick shopping trip downtown - the under-35 crowd hit a used bookstore, and the 35+ crowd hit a home decor shop. I made out with a vogue Knitting pattern book; most of the patterns are pretty timeless, which, considering the book was published in 1999, is a good thing.
Caught the flight home, and arrived on my doorstep at 7:30pm. I mention this because it's important to part II, which is coming tomorrow.
