Oakland

I really don't like business trips, and THIS is a business trip, which means that I get to spend the whole day, from 9am until 4pm in a meeting room. In this case, I am in lovely downtown Oakland, CA, and while I've been in worse places in the world...I've also been in better.

Equally sad, there is nobody at this conference who seems to be willing to giggle like a 12 year old at unintended double entendres like I do...For example, when the presenter, in talking about the sole male conference attendee in the room, mentioned that he likes to be "stimulated," I completely had to stifle a giggle... I looked around to make eye contact with ANYONE else in the room who has a freekin' sense of humor..don't think anyone else even noticed...GAH!

I'm staying at a relatively dumpy little motel near Jack London Square (you know Jack, the one who wrote Call of the Wild, which you read in probably the 8th grade, and which is about a dog that becomes a wolf, or something like that...or the short story "To Build a Fire" which is about some guy who is in the Yukon and who freezes to death because he can't build a fire... The "Inn" looked OK on the website, but hell, I often look OK in the pictures I post on this blog, so I should know how selective website photos can be.

So...here are some highlights from the week thus far. Don't expect to read much having to do with running or working out, because there isn't much to report.

Oakland - Day 1 - Monday

• Had to get up waaaaaaay too early to catch a plane to get up here. I usually only wake up at 4:30 am if I'm running a race...
• Who knew that Monday at 6 am is one of the freekin' busiest times at the airport...I almost didn't make it through the security checkpoint in time as the line was a freekin' mile long!
• As one of the last people to board the flight, I had to sit next to two men who both insisted on using BOTH arm rests...which left me with nada. Assholes.
• Conference is one long-ass boring day.
• A colleague (I'll call her M) and I decided to walk back to hotel from conference site at the end of the day. Now a taxi had dropped me off at the Inn before the conference, then drove me over to the conference site, so I didn't really know how to get back, but she had a map that said it should have been about a mile.
• So....you know how I'm a little bit of a control freak (thus, I'm always driving, and making all these race plans) For once, I didn't plan, I followed M who had a map. In fact, I followed her the wrong FREEKIN' WAY, FOR 2 FREEKIN' MILES, THROUGH FREEKIN' OAKLAND...GAH! (Yes, this is why I always drive...this one time, I follow, and look at what happens).
• I finally notice that the street numbers are going up, and they should be going down as the Oakland hills are getting nearer...and I know that we should be getting closer to the FREEKIN' BAY!.
• A nice stranger stops to ask us if we're lost (because of course we are now looking at a map, which is a sure-fire way to announce to the world that "we are not local, please rob us." When we tell him where Jack London Square is, he tells us that we should take the bus back to Jack London Square.
• So, we get on a city bus.
• The bus driver tells us that bus drops off at Jack London Square, which is at the end of the street we are on!
• I notice that city bus makes left turn, and I inform M that we need to get off the bus because we don't want to go to Alameda.
• M and I get off the bus, walk to Inn, and decide we need wine.
• Send emails and text messages to JoLynn and RBR. JoLynn and I made plans to meet up on Wednesday (today!). Unfortunately, RBR is out of town...one more time we are ships that pass in the night.
• JoLynn informed me via text that I shouldn't be walking through Oakland.
• M and I drank too much wine. I drunk text-message friends about walking through Oakland.
• Stumble back to Inn and sleep.
• Light in bathroom won't turn off, so I close door.
• No workouts to report...but I did walk almost 2.5 miles through Oakland while carrying a laptop bag. Does that count?

Oakland - Day 2 - Tuesday

• Dumpy motel vending machines were out of bottled water...and I don't drink tap water, so I downed a diet Coke before 9am...don't think I've done THAT since my single days.
• Attended conference with slight hangover.
• Which made it another long-ass conference day.
• Walked back to dumpy motel room after conference. M and I went the correct way this time.
• Changed into workout clothes.
• Never went to workout. Went bed early after playing on FB for most of the night (too tired to write blog though).

Oakland - Day 3 - Wednesday

• Woke up feeling much better.
• Needed to iron pants. Ironing board is missing one leg, so I leaned it against the dresser.
• Did PT strength training and stretching exercises in corner of postage-stamp size room.

This is where I'm doing squats and lunges

• Another long-ass conference day, which ends 15 minutes later than it's supposed to.
• Best part of week so far...I got to have a fabulous dinner with JoLynn! Who is as wonderful and fabulous in person as she is on her blog.
• Did JoLynn ever mention that she enjoys dessert?

Me and JoLynn

• I'm currently stuffed due to fabulous dinner and dessert.
• I will wake up early to workout in postage stamp size fitness room.
• That is, if I ever get to sleep tonight. Someone upstairs seems to be running laps from one end of their room to the other.
• I haven't run since Saturday. Both knee and PF are being kinda tweeky...I think it's all the walking while carrying my computer bag on my shoulder.

OK...If you've read this far, you deserve a medal because this is the most boring post I've ever done.