Errors, delight and delays

Friday: gave a talk to the HF group at Baxter. I gave an example of resilience (intentionally leaving night clothes in the safe with passport and other items to make sure that I would not leave passport etc.). This is a strategy I've used before. At the time of giving the talk, I was oblivious to the fact that I had left my handbag (containing passport, credit card, phone, car keys...: all those physically small things on which modern life and international travel depend) on the back of a chair in the reception area. Imagine the level of panic when, two hours later, I realised that, although I seemed to be carrying a ridiculous number of things, those things did not include said handbag. Too much to think about, too many physical objects in hands. Where had I left it? Reception? Seminar room? Ladies loo? Cafeteria? Of course, the last we checked was reception... but all's well that ends well (to quote someone famous). And apart from that panic, the meeting was great. I particularly liked the visit to their simulation lab (even if the mannequins were slightly spooky).

Friday evening: drove to Chicago downtown. All went fine (though I did resort to valet parking because I didn't have the emotional energy to do anything else). Dinner was wonderful, though I never cease to be amazed and appalled about how large the portions are.

Saturday morning: wonderful, but very cold, walk around Chicago, as it set out to confirm its reputation as the "windy city". The Naval Pier was impressive, but was completely overshadowed by my visit to the Bean. This looks quite innocuous until approached closely, but is just delightful on close encounter. We (and I quote Pat) "circumnavigated the bean" to savour it from all angles. If you look closely at the photo (left) you will see me facing both left and right in the image while I am in fact facing straight ahead taking the photo. Freaky!

The journey back to Baltimore was stressful in terms of both navigation and delays. You are on the freeway at an intersection, knowing that you want to turn North, but the options are East or West. Which to take (in the split second that you have to make the decision)? The wrong one, of course. Thank goodness for a reasonably detailed map of the city that made it possible to do a big loop around to the starting position and have a second go at it. Turned out I didn't need to worry about being late for the flight because it was a mere two hours late. Both of my neighbours on the plane had connecting flights; I do hope they made them...