I’m in Washington, DC, for the Special Libraries Association (SLA) annual conference (followed on Thursday by the Joint Transportation Knowledge Network (TKN) meeting). After having early meetings both Sunday and Monday, today I’m having a relaxing breakfast in my room. I’ve been eating out quite a bit, but my “breakfast” options have been quite limited and not too satisfying. Last night, I decided I’d just “eat in” from the stash of things I brought from home, so today’s morning meal is a bit unusual: almost done with a small can of tuna (yes, plain from the can, it’s how I’ve eaten it since childhood), will have some peanuts next, and then if I’m still hungry, I’ve got an apple from yesterday’s lunch meeting that’s still halfway decent. Best of all, I’m drinking my English toffee cappuccino from home — filled with hot water from the bathroom sink because when I tried to use the coffee maker last night for hot water, there was quite a spill, and I’ve given up on the damn thing.
So something about this trip, or this place, has me energized. Sunday night, I didn’t get to sleep until after 230am (i.e. Monday morning). Last night, I took a couple buses to get to the Adams Morgan neighborhood (and felt so proud of myself), and spent a good 90 minutes at Idle Time books. (And, I only bought two books, and had supper beforehand at Subway — all in all, a cheap evening.) I got back to my hotel around 10pm, and still felt wide awake. I muddled around for a while, had my coffee maker mishap, and read for a little while, and got to sleep probably close to midnight. I was up at seven, soon on the computer and forwarding the latest ENR e-mail to one of our bridge engineers, and deleting a couple article request e-mails I’d gotten from the Solos list. I wasn’t just barely conscious — I was already alert. After only five hours of sleep the night before last, I should be wiped out, but I’m not…at least not yet.
Today is busy: the first session I’m planning to go to is at 930am, and it’s about 820 now, so I gotta get in gear very soon. The Transportation Division has its business meeting luncheon from 1130am to 1pm, and then we have a session called “The Future of Transportation” from 130 to 3pm. After that, I’ll spend some serious time in the INFO-EXPO hall, have some supper somewhere, and the Transportation Division Open House is from 6-8pm in one of the rooms at TRB. A long day, but starting out leisurely here, and at least our Open House isn’t scheduled for 8-10pm. I’ll have some time to unwind (I hope I can unwind!), read, maybe go to the fitness center. It will be good.