Back to Posts HLS Recap Part 4
Continued from Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Sometime between Saturday and Sunday, I came down with The Germs. I woke up Saturday morning with not only a monster case of second day soreness (from Crossfit), but also the hoarseness of chest congestion that would likely become Bronchitis soon. (I get this about once a year.)
I still got dressed for the 5K but decided to hang back with the walkers instead of pushing my immune system too hard. It was a beautiful morning, and I had the pleasure of meeting a few more new friends, including another former Orlandian.
Afterwards, I showered and packed my stuff up before heading down to breakfast; meanwhile, everyone else had headed straight for breakfast. Oops. There were cards set up on each table, designed to start "roundtable discussions" about different blogging topics, but I missed out on all that. I grabbed some oatmeal and coffee and sat with Aundra and Johanna. At this point, I was pretty pooped.
This egg souffle also happened:
I really have to give a huge shoutout to Meghann, Heather, and Julie for planning the food at this conference. Coming from the tech conference scene, where it has not been unheard of to have pot pies three days in a row, I was super appreciative of all the healthy options that they had available. I heard later that they just asked the hotel to customize the catering menus, substituting a few ingredients and dishes here and there, and the hotel was more than accommodating. Do this, other conferences!
Mary, Meghann, and Me
Following breakfast, I grabbed one last photo with my new homies:
Hannah, Johanna, me, Grace, and Aundra
Aundra and I decided to take the T to the airport together since our flights were leaving around the same time. I'd like to say I was a pro at this by now and could've totally handled it on my own, but truthfully, I was grateful to have a buddy to help me not get lost. Getting to the airport involved taking the hotel shuttle to the Red Line, taking the Red Line to South Station, and then connecting to the Silver Line to the airport. I was surprised to find out that the Silver Line wasn't actually a rail transit line, but rather a bus that ran partially underground on a dedicated electric bus lane. Once we came out of the tunnel to above ground, the bus transitioned from electric to diesel and continued on to the airport. I'm really fascinated by how all this works. We need a public transit system in Orlando so badly.
I spent the next few hours on the plane building up a fever, trying desperately to sleep on my tray table, and concealing my cough from the guy next to me so he wouldn' t kill me with his eyes. By the time we landed, I had no voice whatsoever, and of course I ended up in the wrong baggage claim trying to ask an airport employee for help using hand signals.
I ended up being out of work for the next two days with a case of acute bronchitis and sinusitis (I hate it when I'm right), but I am feeling much, much better now thanks to my friend, Mr. Z-Pack. The irony of getting sick at a health conference is not lost on me. :)
If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing! So long, Boston, and thanks for all the new friends!
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