Campus- Being on the Cleveland Clinic
campus was kind of like going into the future. Very Big Science. There were giant
green glasss medical buildings interspersed with century old stone
churches. They had an awesome acrylic fountain in front of one of
the buildings that I'm still not sure how it works. There were
glass bridges going over the streets between most of the buildings.
Our hotel was connected to the surgery center so people could just
come straight from outpatient procedures.
I kept thinking that if someone were
creating the Matrix it would be in one of those buildings. Kept
checking for people in matching jumpsuits coming to strap me to a
gurney, whisk me off to a lab and plug me into a pod or something.
Venue- The Intercontinental hotel and conference center
were very nice. I stayed in the satellite suites and my room was
spacious and very well appointed. The shuttle bus service was
divine, and all the staff were very accomodating. It was especially nice after having my brain scrambled by all the bells and sirens in Vegas. I did not like
that my hotel wifi access did not work in the conference center though.
Narcolepsy Network- The NN people did
a lot of work scheduling and coordinating everything. They did a
hell of a lot of pile management and traffic control. I have major
issues with the food and information that were supplied, but the
logistics were better than one would expect from a bunch of cranky
narcoleptics herding a bigger bunch of cranky narcoleptics. It was
kind of amazing that it worked at all.
(*Major problems with food. Yeah- I
really can't stop other people from eating free dessert all day every
day, but that buffet lunch did not have one gluten free item. I
kinda expected that. However there was not even any coffee.
Complete fail. Special kudos to the hotel restaurant staff who comped me a couple cups from their coffee bar. I must have looked desperate.)
People- Special thanks to Christina
for keeping me social and engaged.
We got to meet some of the presenters
and tried to talk to as many narcos as possible. There were a
couple of other GFPWN there, but we didn't have a meetup. It seemed
more important to find new people. I think I heard there were 320
attendees.
I find it hard to talk to people, so I
just go with my gut and look for nerds. I found a few people in
lecture sessions and some of them were interested when I mentioned
using diet instead of drugs.
Christina makes friends with everyone
and Saturday night we went out on one of the dinner busses with a
whole group of people. It was great fun, and one of the guys even
pulled up my video on his phone. He didn't believe I was crazy. Ha.
No really, for once it was kind of fun to be a zombie.
Coventry street was really cool and
there were lots of great shops. I found my childhood thermos in the
vintage toy store.
I met a narco dental hygienist, and a
GF girl from Seattle! Yay- I really hope she will help me start a
local group. I can't seem to do it on my own. People actually took
our advice and attended some of the sessions we recommended. The
diet ones, of course. Thanks you guys, I hope it was useful.
Since it was a hospital, there was a bus to smoke in. I went in there and gave a little talk on e-cigarrettes to a few ladies. Someday maybe I can offer a "reality based nicotine therapy" lecture.
Since it was a hospital, there was a bus to smoke in. I went in there and gave a little talk on e-cigarrettes to a few ladies. Someday maybe I can offer a "reality based nicotine therapy" lecture.
And the zombie guy, the one with the
half closed eyelids, yeah he's totally on board already.
Despite the fact that I'm antisocial
and found it exhausting, I really do wish I would have had more time so I could have talked to everyone. That's kind of incredible.
pics coming soon.
