Final day, this is good and sad.
The day started out more relaxed than the others. I slept in until 6:00am. The other days I got up closer to 5:00. I had hoped to stay for the closing ceremony, but got too nervous that I might miss my plane. So I headed to the airport. It takes at least an hour from the hotel with mass-transit.
First was the bus. The driver was so nice. He told me which bus I should catch. It wasn’t his, because, even though he goes to the station I needed, it was a longer trip. But when he looked at the schedule, he realized I had just missed that bus. It was going to be a while before the next one came up. So I got on his bus. Not a bad ride. there were parts of the city I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
On the expo, a kind of combination of sky train and subway, I stood most of the way. It felt good. I’d been sitting most of the weekend. Wow, lots of folks going places early on a Sunday morning. The sky train was much less crowded. Thanks to some folks I met along the way, I made the right transfers. I’ve learned not to be afraid to ask questions. I got there with time left lefto over. Not a lot, but enught to get better organized and make a few purchases.
Things were going along nicely. The plane from Vancouver to Portland was On time. As a matter of fact, we arrived in Portland early. It felt good, and gave me a chance to get something to eat. things were working out nicely. I was going to get home early enough to get organized and get work done on the submissions requested at Surrey. Right!
Over five hours later, at close to 11pm, my flight was boarded. It seems that the flight I was on didn’t have a crew. They had to fly in from San Jose. I could rant here, but I’ll save it for a later post.
I vented a little at the airport exit, to a nice young woman. Her real response defused my anger much better than the stony “I appologize”s that had been going around earlier.
Anyway I came straight home. My cats were waiting. Einsten is plumper than I remember him being when I left. I’m sure he got a fair amount of the other cat’s food while I was gone. He’s back on his diet now.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. I got to say hello to old friends, and make new ones. I have two submissions to work on.
Yes I am looking forward to next year’s conference.