First Day at SPE Orlando was a Bust

Friday, March 10th

It’s almost 5 am in Orlando where I’m attending SPE’s National Conference.

I made the 8 (8.5) hour drive from Anniston to Orlando on Wednesday and was proud of myself for not stopping at all during the first 4 hours of my drive. I thought I was going to have to pull over for a nap right after making it through Atlanta (that part of the drive is the worst) but I turned on a Star Wars audio book and it helped wake me up. I had dinner at a lovely little Japanese restaurant I happened upon called Sushi Kichi. It didn’t look like much from the outside but the inside was quite nice and the food was really good. I ordered Tonkotsu Ramen and Veggie Croquettes. The ramen is the best I’ve had in the states so far but still nothing like that I had in Japan. A quick grocery run to the Publix next door afterwards left me feeling like I was winning at adulting. I feel too lazy to run errands and shop most of the time.

My suite at The Fountains was every bit as nice as expected. I’m staying in building 7 on the very back of the property so I’m much further away from everything than I’d like. I took a shower and enjoyed a long soak in the jacuzzi tub. I wish Karl and I had one. It’s so relaxing and I’d really like to embrace the Japanese bathing practice of cleaning in a shower and then soaking in a hot bath. The bed was also super comfy. I feel spoiled but I also feel relaxed which is good. Well, rather I felt relaxed until I remembered I had to rework the AnniCon program for gotprint. My computer ran painfully slow and it took me four very frustrating hours of cursing, praying, and wanting to pull my hair out to get it done. I was so upset I finally decided to declare my resignation. I will miss working with the AnniCon group but I don’t have time for anything besides grad school right now. I feel a ton of relief now that I’ve declared my resignation. Every day I have to remind myself that I cannot do all the things.

I missed the first half of day’s events because I was up so late finishing the program which really pissed me off. When I did manage to crawl out of bed I took my time getting ready trying to reduce stress but I still managed to make it to the conference in time for the graduate presentations that I really wanted to see. It was great for me to see how other grad students and recent graduates present but I developed an overwhelming migraine by the end. Walking through the hall felt like walking through a tunnel of pulsing painful vibrations and bright lights. I felt like I was going to throw up any second. I went to an overpriced hotel restaurant to get something to eat hoping that would help but it didn’t. In fact I was barely able to eat any of my $16 salad. I’m not sure if that was because I wasn’t feeling well or if it was because the caesar salad was strangely sweet. It was probably a combination of both.

I gave up on the rest of the evening’s event and returned to The Fountains after a brief call to my mom to whine about how much pain I was in. I felt better after a few hours of sleep but once I woke up I couldn’t fall back asleep. My right calf, which has been hurting for the past three days, was painful and stiff, my migraine was attempting to make a comeback, and my heartrate felt up. Eventually I gave up on sleep and decided to make a supply run for pain pills, a leg wrap, and some snacks. Going out at 3:30am felt lovely. The temperature was perfect, a comfortable breeze was in the air, and it was mostly quiet except for the sound of water flowing in the fountains. If I didn’t have so much on my agenda for tomorrow (later today) and my leg wasn’t in pain I would’ve loved to walk around the small lake on the property.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow is a much more pleasant day.