En route
Well, I am sitting in the Madison airport, travel zen having firmly taken hold. Because I am occasionally remarkably absentminded, I printed a bunch of travel documents at work yesterday and… left them at my desk when I went home. No worries; my flight isn’t until late morning, so I just hopped a bus to work with my luggage, picked up the stuff, hopped another couple of buses to the airport, and here I am.
Of course, as I got onto the first bus I realized I’d forgotten my power converter. Hey-ho. This is what airport concessions were made for. I think there’s a Law of Compensatory Cleverness lurking out there somewhere in the world. I thought I was being very clever by packing two bags, checking one, and making sure I have a full outfit in my carry-on in case of lost luggage. I’m guessing my luggage will get through just fine now, seeing as how I stupidly forgot my power converter.
I do have my passport. Does that help?
To add insult to injury, my presenter’s mouse is dead as the proverbial doornail. I’ll try to acquire another one, but if I don’t, I’ll manage… just without some of my regular peripatetic panache. (Though I should probably be careful about wandering too much. I’ve packed heels for the keynote, despite my not-quite-healed ankle.)
(Later…)
There being about a three-hour layover in Newark, I’m springing for some internets while I wait. Road-warrior mini-power-strip duly plugged into the wall, I am multitasking merrily, picking up Flickr photos for a last-minute slideshow for the Fringe, reading my work email, avoiding reading my Gmail because I just can’t cope with DSpace squabbles at the moment, and getting in a few moves in my journal games.
I used to pride myself on being a bare-bones road warrior. No longer. Creature comforts all the way. I’ll never take a lengthy flight without noise-cancelling headphones ever again; they reduce a headache-inducing propeller roar to a tolerable murmur. Right now, my fleece cape is keeping me from freezing to death underneath hyperactive air-conditioning vents, and I’ve a neck pillow and eyeshade in my bag.
Did a mental dry-run through the keynote in the airport in Madison. Adjusted some builds, added some tidbits, the usual last-minute stuff. Deep breath… because I want to be worth people’s time and attention.