Today was not such a great day. A number of issues spilled over from yesterday that have caught me by suprise, and most of those who know me, know that this is not my favorite position to be in. Add to this, the following problems. Problem 1: I loaned the laptop I use for a workshop session (with power cable), and when I got the laptop back (with a almost completely dead battery – you know where this is going), the power cable was no-where to be found! It seems the group packed it. No worries I thought, I'll just find the school that was presenting and camp outside their room door, leave messages, etc to get it back. Problem 2: the presenters were from off site. Thankfully they were local (Austin based) and were able to locate my power cord and let me know that they were able to return it. Problem 3: The “earliest” they could return it would be late tonight, or tomorrow. Problem 4: The hard drive had the minutes, agendas, and resolutions for the meeting I was running at 5PM. Solution: Starbucks.
It's funny, but I think Starbucks fixes everything. I got on my trusty (but new) flip flops, shorts, and sunglasses, grabbed one of the other delegates and headed to the comforting green glow of the coffee shop that provides the elixir of life. All right, the walk and the Brazos Avenue traffic ingested air might have helped a little as well. Upon returning, I had a whole new outlook on the problems. The hard drive had enough “juice” to let me transfer files to my thumb drive (life is so different with one of these), there was a Kinkos two streets away, and I got more outside time – inside time – outside time. With agenda, minutes and resolutions in hand, I returned to my room, washed the Austin streets off me, got dressed and headed to my meeting — EARLY!
Now I'm waiting until dinner (at 7PM) and our next speaker. The first full day is almost over, and the world is a better place.