Well, I'm just back from my trip to Salt Lake City. I missed the snow storm on the East coast, which has me pissed off, but oh well. Also, I left my door open a crack and the temperature had a high of about 20 degrees Fahrenheit today so I am freckin freezin.

Other than a twenty minute ride for this fall, this was the first time I have been on a plane since 1988. It was ok, but at first the accelerations and decelerations made me slightly ill. By the second neck of the flight, I was more used to it, and I actually managed to sleep. On the way home, I wasn't bothered at all. I suspect that if I were to make regular flights I might have to concentrate even to realize that there were accelerations and decelerations.

My reaction reminded me of the first time I was an elevator. Believe it or not I was around seventeen. And the reason I remember that ride in a hospital elevator was because I was surprised at that slight acceleration.

So in any case, this all brought to mind the wiener tickle hills. When I was a kid, there were these back roads that went over steep hills near where I lived. In some places they would dip down sharply and then go back up, or they would reach a peak and descend rapidly. At some point a bunch of us were in the car and we were riding up and down when my brother 3 of 12 said, "These hills make my wiener tickle." And they did. It's hard to explain, but for some reason going up and down these hills would make our tiny little boy wieners feel strange. As a result these hills and hills like them everywhere became, in the secret vernacular of our large family, "The Weiner Tickle Hills"

What else. Well the conference gave me a fresh perspective that has recharged my batteries a bit. And I did need that. I spend so much time in the trenches that it helps to take a step or two back and look at the larger picture. So, I'm glad I went.

Hmm. Just some impressions. The elevation in SLC is 4,000 feet and I really didn't think much of it until I woke in the middle of the night and found myself a bit short of breath. Actually, I didn't know what the elevation was exactly until just now when I looked it up. I remember thinking though, "Hmm. I'm short of breath. I wonder if I'm ill.", then later thinking, "I wonder if SLC is higher in elevation and if that has something to do with it." The Mormon tabernacle where the Mormon tabernacle choir perform was much smaller than I would have expected. It was interesting listening to a very Native American looking Mormon from Peru talk about how her family converted from Catholicism. Her perpetual smile and devotion reminded me of the way my sister the nun acts. Had a cab driver who was a retired lawyer, which isn't that strange when we have a part time attorney at work whose husband is a former vice president of a telecommunications company but now works as a tile layer. Weird circular fields in the Midwest that I'm guessing are that shape because of irrigation? I'll have to check. Fractal patterns of river tributaries covered in snow.

That about covers it. Didn't miss not having internet access at all.

Oh wait. We ate one meal at a fancy restaurant that was $62.00 per person that we will be able to get reimbursement from the Federal government. I feel sort of guilty. Most of my clients spend about $60.00 for food in two weeks. If you multiply 14 days by 3 meals you get 52, which means for what we spent on one meal, my clients could have had 52 meals. I guess I wouldn't much care if we were going to be reimbursed by a private employer, but I don't feel comfortable wasting Uncle Sam's money that way.

Also, seven of us took a limo up and back for the hour and a half trip to the local airport. I did the math though and it works out to be about the same cost as if we went individually and then left our cars at the paid lot.