Wednesday, July 15, 2009

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.

15 comments:

  1. Oakland sounds lovely. I bet you were really glad to be back home. :)

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  2. That is a great pic of you! It's always cool to see people out of their running gear! Grrrrrr to boring conferences, but yay to you writing a funny post about it. I woulda giggled with you over the "stimulator"...

    Recent blog:=- Wanted: Unemployed Running Buddy

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  3. Nice pic of the two of you!! How fun.

    I hate business trips too. bleh!

    Recent undefined:=- Oh no! Comluv had an error with your feed, see message below!

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  4. Lisa Slow & SteadyJuly 16, 2009 at 5:23 AM

    sigh - i always have problems commenting on your posts. :'(

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  5. Ain't that part of Oakland wonderful? Jack London Square? Over by the Adult theater? What a great part of town. The only reason I *ever* stop in Oakland is Southwest used to fly from Orange County to Oakland and not SF. Now that we have Virgin America, I never have to stop in Oakland again!

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  6. Dear God, you were walking through Oakland? I don't like driving within a 10 mile radius of Oakland. I would call it a dangerous, vermin infested shithole, but that would be insulting to the dangerous vermin-infested, shitholes everywhere.

    Funny, I thought all the humorless people were here in Sacramento at my conference. Good to know they are sharing the love.

    Recent blog:=- Mark this day

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  7. Sounds like a "fun" week!

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  8. i would have been with you giggling at the back of the class for sure! Awesome that you got to meet JoLynn!

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  9. What kind of people are they? I'll bet anything that guy threw in the stimulated comment just to see who would react!

    Walking through Oakland with a laptop counts as a workout in my book! I would have needed wine or some other form of alcohol after that...

    How wonderful that you met Jo Lynn!



    Recent blog:=- Generous Return

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  10. ZOMG, sister, if I were there for that "stimlated" line I would have had to raise my hand and ask: "Do you like having your b@lls cupped while you're being stimulated? Because I do?"

    Would that've been considered unprofessional?

    Recent blog:=- All That AND Teh Kitchen Sink

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  11. humorless folks - not good esp. at boring conf. you should have tweeted the funnies.

    Recent blog:=- weekend plans

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  12. One more night and then you can go home to where you are happiest. When I come down to San Diego, I hope you will meet me for dinner. ;)
    ~Jo Lynn

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  13. How great that you got to hang with JoLynn! You guys look kinda like sisters, actually. Guess it's all that great CA weather, gives you the nice 'glow.'

    Beware of that hotel carpet...blech, at least wear shoes. I'm a little freaky like that, hotels give me the creeps.

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  14. Crossing Oakland off places to visit.
    ;)

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