March 27, 2004
Homesick, now Home... and sickentry,
I'm back from BrainShare, and sleeping in my own bed. It's really good to be back. I pushed myself a little too hard right there at the end, however, and am now sick. Bleah.
It was like this... Thursday was scheduled with meetings from 7:30am through 10:30pm, with very little down-time. I was flagging at around 8:00pm during the grueling, three-hour "Meet the Experts" session (in which helpless Novell employees answer questions for conference delegates in a free-for-all that includes free beer-for-all) so I lubricated my talk-box with a couple of Diet Cokes. It worked. I managed to get through it without losing my voice or toppling over.
Unfortunately, I got enough caffeine in me that I couldn't fall asleep. So back in the hotel I packed my luggage and watched TV movies until 2am.
Friday morning began bright and early at 6:45, with a brisk walk in the rain -- cold, early-spring rain -- over to yet another meeting. Between the sleep deprivation and the wet, I pretty much did myself in. I'm sporting a delightful headcold now.
The good news is that the show went well. I reviewed the online feedback for my sessions, and was delighted to find that most folks were pretty happy with them. Under the "What could be improved in this session" I found two actual requests for improvements, and a bunch of nice comments like "You can't," and "Howard Taylor rocks!"
All I need to do is get these folks to spell my last name right and I'll have it made.