Seminars and Summer Solstice

You know the routine by now. Let’s chat over drinks about the week that was.

This week was a long, busy one as Sunday through late Wednesday was spent at a work conference.

I picked up the car on Saturday, being given a minivan, which I was fine driving. On Sunday, I made the trip and immediately had to get used to something called adaptive cruise control. At first I thought it was some kind of sorcery and then realized it would help me keep pace with the car in front of me, and I ended up loving it by the end of the trip.

There was one part of the drive where I just felt that I needed to get off the road and I looked at the gas tank and thought “you know this would be a good time to get gas” so I pulled off at Sheetz, pulled under the covered awning, and no sooner had I done that than the bottom dropped out in torrential rain.

So I got gas and then just pulled forward and sat in a parking space for 20 minutes while the storm passed.

I also called the rental agency because pulling under the awning made me notice a chip in the windshield and I wasn’t about to get charged for it. They did assure me that that would not be the case and they would mark it as a pre-existing condition which they did.

On Monday I picked up my conference badge and saw that a someone on the conference team had noticed my title change (which only happened in May; I registered in December) and updated my attendee badge.

There were also many fun ribbons to choose from, including pronoun ones!

We were in meetings and structured networking events from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm and so I also made the most of the evening social plans.

I should also say that on the first day the fire alarm went off just as they were about to serve lunch. That was an impromptu networking event.

The first night was to an indoor putt putt palace, called – coincidentally enough – The Puttery.

I didn’t want to go alone, and so I made a post about it in the conference app. I got a response, and then wondered how the evening would actually go.

When we met, she said

Oh you have they/them pronouns? So does my kid!

Gina and I got along great.

I even faced my old nemesis: a revolving door

We played three rounds of nine-hole mini golf; Gina won the first and then we tied before I won the third round but who’s keeping score?

We were, on electronic scoreboards, lol.

The second day started with a brass band.

Literally.

The second night we were in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In addition to the exhibits, there was a live band (The Party Feels) and the simulators were staffed as well. I came in first in our race, following the bold strategy of “try not to crash”. I spent the evening with Pete and Libba and we all agreed the Cheerwine braised brisket wrapped around a jalapeño pepper was better than it had any right to be.

The Party Feels played “Zombie” for the first time at a corporate event.

We loved it.

The second morning began with breakfast on the 21st story of a nearby hotel. The view was great but the weather was too hot.

Then it was back home in the evening.

Thursday and Friday were spent recovering from the trip and preparing for weekend midsummer events.

I made Guinness and Raspberry Cheesecake Chocolate Chunk Brownies – a happy accident from ruining my first batch of brownies and incorporating the bits into the second batch.

And here I am. It’s Sunday afternoon. I’ve texted my father in law for Father’s Day.

What have you been up to?