cry havoc

Sidenote: I think I got a stress fracture in my foot last monday. Foot's definitely reacting like it. I've been getting these off/on (in either foot) since 4th grade, so I'm pretty blase about it. It was a little more complicated by the fact that on Tues/Wed, my team at work had a major offsite team-building/innovation thing that I absolutely could not miss -- followed by four days in Philly for the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) conference that I absolutely refused to miss. I tried to minimize the walking on Tues/Wed, with minimal success, but there was no minimizing any walking between airports, hotel, going from panel to panel, and then going out to find things to eat. Only got to go to Chinatown once. If I hadn't been limping so much by that point, probably would've spent a lot more time in Philly's more-than-a-block Chinatown.

On the plus side, coming back, I somehow lucked out and got on TSA's pre-boarding. No more shoe removal! Which was both good and bad. Bad, because I really really wanted to take the boots off (I wore hiking boots in the possibly-false hope that some compression would help) and good -- because if I had taken the boots off, there was a good chance I'd simply not put them back on. My hiking boots have the least flex in the sole, which in this case is a good thing.

But enough about me. ( Some random observations about AAS. )

1. Last night someone must've been picking up the room service tray from outside my room -- around 3am -- but it sounded like someone was in the bathroom knocking stuff over. And then, pause, and knocking more stuff. Another pause, and more things hit the floor -- enough by that point I got up, put on my glasses, and went to see. Everything was fine. So I presume it was someone just being very clumy with the room service tray.

2. This morning around 6am, someone knocked on a door -- maybe across the hall, maybe next door. I recall distinctly waking up long enough to say, "unh-hunh, I'm getting up, sorry," and then realizing I wasn't home, CP wasn't reminding me it was 9am and an hour after I'd wanted to get up, but I didn't get back to sleep, not really. People kept knocking on doors all around me, I suppose delivering breakfast. Ended up getting up half-hour before alarm went off. Sigh.

3. zania has given me the long-distance fashion blessing on a single-breasted quasi-peacoat empire-banded knee-length black coat. It's one of those few times I wish I did have photography capability on the phone, just to take a picture and send to fashionista friends to say, "okay, does this look okay?" But at 40% off, it seems like a good investment... if I can figure out a way to squeeze it into my luggage. Hrm.

4. So tired. Ready to come home now.

also, #5: airplane rides can be cramped, uncomfortable, and generally annoying, but nothing makes them hell like being congested. My ears crackled with every swallow (once popping of their own accords, and I'd forgotton how painful that can be). I hate the crackling. Makes me feel like someone shoved a bundle of cellophane into each ear.