(no subject)
It has been a RIDICULOUS day. I got up at 6:30 so I could leave for my conference at 8, since google maps told me it'd be a 3 3/4 hr drive. and i wanted to be there an hour before lunch, which the online sched said was at 12:45. So first i can't get my gps to find any satellites (as usual: i think it's the crazy hilly terrain in athens). then when it did, it wanted me to go in another direction than i had thought i was going to--in fact, i seemed to be going the opposite direction of pittsburgh. i had an inkling that it was going to take me the way i originally came to athens when i moved in: 40 miles of NO HOUSES, NO PEOPLE, NO CELL PHONE RECEPTION, AND NO STRAIGHT ROADS. So when i called my dad to tell him that i was headed out and mentioned this to him, he looked it up, and confirmed that the gps seemed to be heading toward "the most godforsaken landscape [he'd] ever SEEN". So he got some maps online and figured out if i went back to athens and took the other way out of town, 50 to 77 to 70, i'd make it. so i did that. the gps kept trying to get me to turn around, but i kept going and eventually the gps caught on. of course, i had forgotten that the gps's maps are out of date and there is an entire section of highway between athens and WV that it doesn't realize is there and it gets REALLY CONFUSED. but i made it into western PA--after going into WV, then OH again, then WV again. Then the fun REALLY started--because the GPS's maps also have the wrong exit names for highways inside pittsburgh. so i ended up literally going in a circle and went through the Ft. Pitt tunnel twice (both times going the same direction). by the time i finally got to the hotel i was literally shaking, and thank god they have very nice valets, b/c if i'd had to figure out a parking garage on top of all that, i'd have lost my mind.
i arrived at the hotel an hour later than i had planned to, but that was plenty of time for lunch--which i learned was actually NOT being seen to by the conference, but was a do your own thing. not being able to face the prospect of going back into the city again, on foot or not (I was still shaking at this point), i simply went to the pricey hotel restaurant--and felt so sick (maybe partly the stress and partly the mocha frappe i had gotten on the ride in?) that i only ate MAYBE half of a BLT wrap and about 3 potato chips.
by the time i had finished i had finally gotten my limbs back under control, and i went to a couple of panels. i really wanted to go to the third panel of the afternoon, but halfway through the second panel i started feeling rather faint--after all, all i'd had to eat besides the lunch was a thing of fries i got with the frappe, and two pieces of toast for breakfast. so i headed out into the refreshingly cold city on foot and located a wendy's about a block away. just finished eating in my room (which was exciting, since they'd forgotten to give me a fork for my baked potato).
there's a "reception" this evening (which sounds like it doesn't involve more than finger food), so i'm going to do some mingling. then i can relax a little before tomorrow--meg o from Wilson is going to be here tomorrow, and she and i are both presenting, so hopefully that goes well. i should really rehearse my paper, but i'm feeling so jittery i don't have the nerves to do it at the mo'. hopefully i'll be better tomorrow. should've packed some tums.
i arrived at the hotel an hour later than i had planned to, but that was plenty of time for lunch--which i learned was actually NOT being seen to by the conference, but was a do your own thing. not being able to face the prospect of going back into the city again, on foot or not (I was still shaking at this point), i simply went to the pricey hotel restaurant--and felt so sick (maybe partly the stress and partly the mocha frappe i had gotten on the ride in?) that i only ate MAYBE half of a BLT wrap and about 3 potato chips.
by the time i had finished i had finally gotten my limbs back under control, and i went to a couple of panels. i really wanted to go to the third panel of the afternoon, but halfway through the second panel i started feeling rather faint--after all, all i'd had to eat besides the lunch was a thing of fries i got with the frappe, and two pieces of toast for breakfast. so i headed out into the refreshingly cold city on foot and located a wendy's about a block away. just finished eating in my room (which was exciting, since they'd forgotten to give me a fork for my baked potato).
there's a "reception" this evening (which sounds like it doesn't involve more than finger food), so i'm going to do some mingling. then i can relax a little before tomorrow--meg o from Wilson is going to be here tomorrow, and she and i are both presenting, so hopefully that goes well. i should really rehearse my paper, but i'm feeling so jittery i don't have the nerves to do it at the mo'. hopefully i'll be better tomorrow. should've packed some tums.