Back

I'm back from RWA. My head is still spinning with all of the sights, people, concepts.

Wow. 2000 women in one hotel. I missed men. Funny, that. But I work with mostly guys, in an engineering company that is mostly guys. They give off a different vibe.

I have lots of commentary on what I attended, what I learned, what horrified me, what scared me, what amused me. I will try to digest it and post in bits and pieces this next week.

I will start by summing it up with this: I am glad I went. I had a good time. I definitely think it is a step in the right direction for my career, and my writing.

And I have no intention of wearing high heels again for a really long time.

The final list

To Do before I leave Wednesday for the RWA National Convention:

• Get cash. I thought I had this one covered last night, but Target limits the amount you can withrdraw in a debit transaction. Not that I need hundreds of greenbacks, just enough to make me comfortable for a week of cabs, metro rides, and restaurants


• Streamline my wallet. Must remove all unnecessary cards. Don't think I'll be shopping Build A Bear, Hallmark, Sams Club, the paint-your-own-pottery place, etc while at nationals. I might keep my zoo card, though. That thing gets me discounts at other zoos, including the national zoo in DC. In case I get a few free minutes to sight-see :)


• Arrange for a cab to the airport. I did the math, and parking my car in the cheapest long-term lot at the airport will cost me about the same as taking cab both ways (I live fairly close). I like not having to keep track of keys while in another city. I could get someone to drop me off and pick me up, but my flight out leaves at 6:40 in the morning. I don't want my husband dragging the kids out of bed at 4:30, and I won't impose on friends at that time of day either. I arrive back home at a very civilized 11:30AM, though, so I may be calling for free transportation.


• Pack my carry-on. Which is really my totebag (originally purchased as a diaper bag, btw, a very sophisticated-looking diaper bag). It ought to hold my netbook, iPod, cell phone, travel papers, wallet, and quart-sized ziplock baggie of tiny cream, liquid, and paste products. Some of those items, like the case for my contact lenses, can't be packed until bedtime tonight. I'm NOT wearing contacts at 4:45AM, but I am taking them with me.


• Spruce up my website. No, I haven't published the url here yet. That's because the main page says "under construction" and my test ones have text like "Enter sidebar content here". I think the design and graphics part is OK for now, I just need to type some text. And add a link to the real content (this blog)! And upload the page to my server so that ya'll can see it. Gotta do that before I start handing out the business cards I printed with my website name on them...


• Paint my toenails. I'm packing lots of sandals, and my toes aren't in that bad shape. So they're getting painted the palest pink that almost looks flesh toned. Just enough to be "done" without screaming "look at my hairy prehensile feet!"


• Sleep. Yeah right. I never sleep well the night before an early flight. I get too anxious about missing it, and end up waking up every hour to check my alarm clock. I will probably snooze on the plane.

Just Breathe

I used to think that I was a pretty laid back kind of person.

I’m not. I’m a control freak.

When I was a kid, I could be laid back because I was never in the driver’s seat. I grew up in a big family—I am one of five sisters. Not the oldest. Not the baby. Not the loudest. I pretty much sat back, kept my mouth shut, and followed directions. It made life easier.

Once I went to live on my own, Whoa Nellie. I changed. Or maybe grew into my own personality.

So today, two days before leaving for DC and Nationals, I’m freaking. Travel doesn’t usually freak me out. I’ve done that for work, quite a bit. I really like it. The problem is the control.

It worries me to make my hotel reservations through a third party—RWA—instead of directly with the hotel. Then I buddied up with a chapter mate to room with at conference, and we’re in her room. So I’m a bit freaked about that.

And there is a whirlwind of discussions happening among my chaptermates via email about who’s going where, when, if we’re getting together, how, where, what kind of food, and on and on. And I can’t keep up. I’m not plugged into that email 24/7. I miss things. Lots of things. And I can’t help it. Some of us are on the same flight home. Shall we share a shuttle or cab or something? Maybe. I’m afraid I’ll miss the discussion, and the opportunity. Freaking here.

And text messaging. I don’t do that. I can accept them, sure, for a fee. And I’ve signed up with one e-publisher to receive a text message about the location of their presentation (because it’s not on the official roster of events). Will I end up being charged out the wazoo for text messages this week? Freaking.

And one of my friends is leaving today (this morning, probably). She’s driving. And one of my bags is going with her. Thanks! Yikes! What if it gets forgotten? What if my other bag gets lost in transit? What if they both get lost? I can’t fit a week’s worth of clothes in my carry-on.

Totally freaking OUT.

And I’m stuck at work for two days, attempting productivity. When really, my mind’s on the business cards that I haven’t printed yet, the website that needs finishing (it needs to not read “Enter Sidebar Content Here”, for example..). My MS that needs polishing. The other MS that needs an ending! And I’m pitching them both! Will I remember my power cords (netbook, iPod, CELL PHONE)? Will I forget my airline confirmation number? Will I forget to pack UNDERWEAR? Will my alarm go off at 4:15AM Wednesday so I can get to the airport well in advance of my 6:40 flight? Am I driving to the airport and paying for parking? Requesting that a friend drive me at the ungodly hour of predawn?

Wednesday, about 6:45 AM, central time, I’ll feel better. Because I’ll be enroute, with or without all of my baggage. There won’t be a darned thing I can change at that point about what I forgot or remembered or had time to do.

I like that part of the planning best. The part where my inner control freak has to sit down, shut up, and follow directions.

Notes on the netbook

I really like my new little toy. My husband finds it amusing, since I scoffed at the idea when I first saw them. In my defense, the first one I saw had a 7 or 8” screen and cost over $300. The screen was microscopic, as was the keyboard, and it had very limited storage and usability. The one I bought has a 10” screen, a keyboard that’s almost as wide as my regular laptop keyboard, and cost $250 on sale. The processor is almost the same speed as my laptop, and the hard drive is actually bigger. And it’s about the size of a trade-paperback novel. Price vs features, I was willing to drop $250 (and work an extra day or two to pay for it).

One of the complaints that I heard about this model was that the up arrow and the right shift-key were in awkward spots, so that when typing you frequently scroll up instead of capitalizing. Yep, it was an issue. And totally fixable. I tried finding the exact Windows Registry settings to just manually swap it, but after about twenty minutes of surfing gave up and downloaded a freeware program called SharpKeys. It took longer to download than to swap the two keys around. I haven’t swapped the plastic key tops, so others might get a little confused if they typed on my keyboard. Tough.

After briefly playing with a copy of OpenOffice that my husband had on his memory stick, I went ahead and downloaded it. The word processor reads and writes MS Word documents just fine. So I can transfer back and forth between my laptop and the netbook. And its free :) I like free.

I bought a small case for it at BestBuy. Target (where I bought the computer) had none in the correct size. Office Max (or Depot—I never remember which is which) had exactly one netbook-sized case. Not even one style, but one physical case. And it looked like a mini-briefcase with a strap and everything. I just wanted something that would protect the thing in my totebag. I bought a cute gray one with yellow flowers. The downside: its not big enough to hold a 10” netbook and the power cord. But, the power cord is small, and can tuck elsewhere into the purse.

My biggest gripe so far is with Yahoo mail. If I check it at work, the crazy security settings on our network force me to use the fancier “new” Yahoo Mail site. But when I login from the netbook, it tells me that my screen resolution is too small, and that I have to use “Yahoo Mail Classic”. Very annoying. And there’s no fix for it, unless I give up on checking Yahoo from one side or the other.

My second biggest gripe is that external DVD drives are kind of pricey—I keep finding them around $80 and up. I was hoping for a much less expensive one that I could pack to turn my netbook into a mini portable DVD player for travel. Something around $40-50 max. Not in time for Nationals, I guess. Who needs movies, anyway, when I’ll be around so many books :)

They make a longer-lasting battery for my netbook—like 9 or 10 hours per charge. Definitely something to think about for later. This one lasts 2.5 to 3.5 which is totally fine for now.

The other thing on my wishlist is a mobile broadband card, so I could surf from anywhere through a cell phone line. I actually looked into these, and they’re expensive. Not the cards—they’re frequently free after rebate. But the plans run $40-60 and up per month. My husband and I only pay $50 a month total for 2 cell phones right now. I don’t think that I’d use $60 a month in mobile broadband services when I’m more likely to be working at home (on our wireless), or at Starbucks or B&N (where I can use the AT&T Uverse account we already pay for). *sigh* If money were no object….

Getting Ready for Nationals

Flying is so much easier without formalwear.

I’ve been trying to decide how I’m going to pack for next week’s conference. I’m usually a pretty good packer. Not that I can live for a month with one t-shirt and a single pair of underpants. But that packing doesn’t stress me, and I’m quite comfortable fitting stuff into a single carry-on suitcase. I even own a teeny-tiny roller bag that is absolutely perfect for a 1-2 day trip (assuming I don’t need extra shoes). For my first job out of college, I travelled a decent amount—usually for a whole week at a time, and kept things to one rolling suitcase, one carry-on (usually just toiletries), and my laptop bag. But I never needed a cocktail dress for work.

And, the airlines never charged for checking a single, normal-weight bag. No matter how I re-arrange the puzzle pieces, I’m going to be paying $15 each way on this trip.

I have a nice Samsonite garment bag that used to suffice for flying with suits (back in the day when I wore such things for work). I had even bought the longer “coat length” bag, knowing that women’s suits and coats aren’t as short as men’s when hung. But its not long enough for my two below-the-knee black dresses. I checked last night. I either get to fold up the bottom 12” of each dress and hope that a good hang and ironing fix the damage, or find another solution. Bah. I don’t want to buy a new suitcase, assuming I can even find a reasonably priced one that would hold a dress

At least I’m all set on my carry-on. My new toy (the netbook) will fit nicely into the totebag I’ve been using as a purse, along with power cords, phone, camera, iPod, and ziplog bag of 3-oz or smaller toiletries (gee I just love airline security—there’s no fear of being attacked by a fellow passenger wielding 4oz of lotion!). My roller suitcase should easily hold the rest of my clothes and things.

What I’m trying to say is that I normally don’t’ stress about packing. But I am anyway. Darnit.