Monthly Archives:August 2006

tummy bug has subsided, so it is on with the story . . .

Day 3 was Thursday – I have to tell you that this is the first “real” conference I have attended for work purposes. Oh, I did the “newsletter” seminar at which the trainer simply wanted to sell books and books and more books – and I’ve been a typesetter/typist most of my adult life and I only picked up a couple of new ideas . . . so this one counts as my first real conference.

hence my excitement on being asked to attend. Also – hence my enjoyment of the speakers and such – I am not so blase or jaded that I could sit ’round and make snarky comments about the speakers or their topics. No – I mostly soaked it all up and enjoyed myself.

Day 3 began with a Resource Fair – each of the grantees had a table and were to have brought information to share with the others. I, of course, helped with the Alaska table. Went downstairs for breakfast and then over to help set up.

Have you ever been in a small space with two (TWO!) type A personalities?! Imagine PurpleMoose with a BEEEG smile here. I finally turned away from the carnage and went around the room to see what the other tables held. Picked up lots of information and chatted with folks from all around the country. Very interesting – very entertaining – and then I went back to the now completed booth and settled in?for a bit to chat with those coming by to ask us about our program.

We had a working lunch session and more sessions to attend. I went to an “Assistive Technology” session and find that I have?a LOT of work to do on our website at work to make it more accessible to people who have disabilities.

Later in the afternoon I discovered that there will be an Assistive Technology conference held at the end of this month – in Nashville, TN – and that I might get the chance to go to that!(becoming quite the traveler here of late, eh?) As of now I am on the alternates list as they only have so many openings. I may not find out until a week before I am to leave. Oy! The cost of THAT ticket!!!

After our last speaker of the event, a group of us decided to go to the Fremont end of the Strip. We wanted to see the Freemont Street Experience. It was pretty amazing! And, there was a live street band – dressed up to look like ZZ Top?- they were pretty good, too. RR went to stand among the crowd in front of the band stand. I stayed on the corner watching out for the two others who were going from casino to casino to gamble. RR was $50 ahead and I had given all the $ to the Vegas school district that I wanted, so I stayed put.

RR got stepped on by two guys fighting – he said THAT was an experience. 😉

He and I both had to be up quite early to get the shuttle to the airport in time for a 7 am flight so we had asked the others to come back by 10 so we could get to the hotel by 10:30. At 11:30 he finally went looking for them. Of course, they had all sorts of excuses – but they also had the luxury of sleeping in.

Like the kind folks that we are, (ahem!) RR and I shrugged it off and we went our separate ways.

By this time I am thinking that 3:30 wake up call is going to come awfully early – and the shower I took to get the casino smokey stank off me had woken me up somewhat – so I made the not-so-well-thought-out decision to stay up the rest of the night – thinking (incorrectly) that I could sleep on the flight home in the morning.

Ha! and again I say HA-HA!!!

day 4 – tomorrow – I promise!

yup – I was smiling through all of this – it was only that first night that caused the slight eye leakage.

life is too short, you know? All I could do was laugh during all of this – I mean, just how much can go wrong to one person on a trip like this?

You’re going to find out – stick with me.

So, I had my water and my Milano cookies . . . a wash-up and a bit of a rest. I had asked for a 6 am wake-up because the original hotel was sending the Town Car back for me at 7:30. I was down to the lobby in plenty of time and checked out and then I sat

and sat

and sat some more

waiting for said Town Car and nice bellman in neat blue uniform to show up.

I asked the desk clerk if he would call hotel number 1 to see if the car was on its way. He nicely did just that – and then he looked at me to say WHO said they would send a car? Erm – her name was Bethany, I think. She says Bethany she thinks. Ms. Moose, do you mean BETSY? Betsy! That’s it! Ummm, no, Ma’am they didn’t get that down, but they will send a car for you. Great – thanks!

So I sat and waited some more. FINALLY, the Town Car arrives with nice young bellman in nifty blue uniform. Are you here for Ms. Moose, I ask? No, Maam, I’m here for R___ R____. That’s me, I hear from behind me. Are you going to aforementioned hotel, I ask sweetly? Wait! Did you say R___ R____? We’ve been emailing back and forth – I’m Ms. Moose from Kenai! Mind if I share your car? Nope – hop in.

It turns out that RR had the very same difficulty I had the previous night – he arrived at the desk shortly after I had been taken to the other hotel. Same results – he was taken to the other hotel as well. As far as I know we were the only two.

We arrived back at hotel #1 and checked our luggage with the bell captain – were told we should both have rooms by lunch time – and then went around the corner to registration for the conference.

They don’t have a name tag for me – I am NOT on the list! (I know, I am thinking the same thing – can ANYthing else go wrong at this point? Stick with me . . . it gets even better!)

No problem, we’ll print you a name tag – here’s your lovely bag (and it is very nice, too!) with the conference materials inside – go on and have your continental breakfast and listen to the keynote speaker.

You betcha – I AM feeling a bit hungry – so I have some fresh fruit and bagel and find the rest of the entourage (including RR) from Alaska and he and I regale them with our last night’s excitement. Someone comes in and says “you need to go back out to the registration desk – they say they have given you the wrong bag!” Erm – just as soon as I finish my breakfast, okay? Okay!

Turns out the bag I was given was just fine – and by that time they had printed me off a name tag and I got a cute little holder for it – just like everyone else.

The rest of the day was great – the keynote speaker was awesome and inspiring. The breakout sessions were very good and the lunch . . . well, trust me when I tell you that hotel knows how to make your tummy happy!

And – I was even able to go to my room – my very own room!!! How happy was this moosie!!!

After the last session of the day another woman and I decided to catch a taxi to the Tropicana to see the Bodies Exhibit. Wow!!! That was just awesome. If you ever get a chance to see it, do so.

We had dinner at the buffet there before heading back to my very own room – well, she went to her own, of course. And, there I found a card from the manager of the hotel with his apologies for what had happened the night before – if there is anything we can do to make your stay better, please let me know.

And, next to the note were a can of fancy mixed nuts and a can of chocolate covered coffee beans! Holding the note up was one of the biggest bottles of water I have ever seen in my life! Water from Norway – VOSS water – the biggun pictured here. I so wanted to bring that bottle home with me – it would be a cool vase. But, it was very heavy even when empty (the water inside? it was okay – I’m not really sure it was worth as much as the website says, but okay). And, I had only taken a backpack – which by the end of the conference was PACKED with paperwork and cds and such – so I sadly had to leave the beautiful bottle behind. The nuts and choccies were good, though.

RR and I kept telling everyone that when an airlines oversells the flights they (sometimes) reward you with a RT flight at another time – or a first class ticket – we said the least the hotel could do would be to comp a night at one of their hotels around the country – OR – arrange for us to go to a show on the strip – sigh – neither happened.

But we had water! from Norway! and nuts and choccies – AND an apology note.

Not too bad . . . on to day 3 . . . I’ll tell you tomorrow.

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