Downtime in Vermont

Dancer and I bailed out of the house on Thursday and hit the road to Vermont - we're staying at a lovely motel just outside of Montpelier, with the puggies, and having a fine time.

Yes, we have the internet and a laptop, but no blackberry, cellphones don't get signal.

We've rented a room with a kitchenette that is pet friendly, the views from the front of the hotel are stunning. Unfortunately the weather isn't holding out yet, and it's been wet and gray, so no pictures or video. To be honest though, we're both having a huge amount of fun doing *nothing* for once. The TV is on, we've both got books and we're napping the evenings away.

Today we went into Montpelier itself, with the pugs in tow. It's a small town, and has the feel of a bit of a hippy town. Only 4 chain stores on the high street (2 banks, 1 grocery store, 1 pharmacy), but tons of little craft stores, second hand book stores, the New England Culinary Institute has a couple of restaurants, a bakery.

After that we headed over to Bragg Farm who produce their own maple produce, picking up a 1/2 gallon jug of medium grade A maple syrup for my parents, and some other touristy stuff.

We headed back to the motel, dropped off the exhausted boys in the room, then made a pilgrimage to the Green Mountain Coffee head store - we both love coffee (Dancer is a huge coffee snob!), and have a Keurig machine these days. We browsed their museum, then bought some fun things from their store, before sitting down and enjoying a nice cup in their cafe.

Dancer is going to a dance class and performance tomorrow, so I've got the boys all to myself. I'm going to head to either the Harpoon brewery head office, or to an event they are hosting at an Olde English style pub, which is closer. If the weather holds off, I think I'll head to some of the walks around here too.

Although high on my list of things to go and see, if I can get a break in the weather, is the Dog Chapel. Oh yes. Worship the dog.

I DID IT!

I had my first ever public performance tonight. It went pretty well. I forgot all of my choreography as soon as I walked out there, but just went with the music, smiled, and played with the crowd. I know I was the only one to use the whole stage and try to involve the audience and make them care. I didn't fall on my ass and the applause was more than the polite patter, so I must've done something right.

I'm just glad I got that first one out of the way. Geek was great!! He came along with me and took tons of pics of all the dancers. He was really great to have there for the moral support.

Mundane update

Obviously, I'm back from Vienna. The flights back were fairly uneventful, and being in the middle of the plane meant I didn't get as sick as I did going over. This week has been mostly playing catch-up at work.

I started a new Wednesday class, which I went to last night. However, life has intervened and I'm going to miss 3 of the 6. :( I'm going to miss 4 of my other class sessions. Work has suddenly exploded with speaking trips, both for me and my boss. We're going to spend most of October out of the office.

Next week, I'm in Rochester NY, then I get back for a few days, then we're taking a trip to Vermont for a dance workshop/anniversary outing. I get back for a day, then I'm in Rancho Cordova for a few days, then I'm back then off to Atlanta for two days. My frequent flyer card is certainly getting a workout. :)

November is looking busy on the dance front. I've got a couple of shows I'm going to, and there's rumors of a BellyDance Superstars workshop being offered that I'd like to go to. Hopefully work will be a bit more quiet. :)

Good Times

I did end up going for the social drinks, which was good, as I ran into the BIG boss and the company owner. So I was seen Tuesday. Wednesday I went out with a bunch of the work folks and had a great time. Thursday was the Gala Dinner.
The Gala Dinner was the best time. We all (with a few exceptions) dress up to the nines (as in total black tie is what most folks did. I did formal but not too formal. My wedding dress wouldn't have been out of place here) and had a really nice dinner. The food (at least for me) was really good. My only complaint was for the appetizer they sent out a salad with only olive oil, no vinegar, and the olive oil was off. The rest was great. Much alcohol was consumed. They had a full on Viennese waltz demo. Now what that is is think Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin style dancing. That's what they did. It was so beautiful. The women were dressed in such gorgeous white dresses that were all satin and simple and the guys were in gloves and full tuxes with tails.

There was much gambling. I traded dance lessons with a co-worker. He gave me a waltz lesson, I gave lessons on turns. He's a semi-pro ballroom dancer so that was hugely fun to get a lesson with him. None of us were ready for the party to stop even though it was 1:30. A bunch of us staggered to bed at 3:30 but believe me, they were still going.

Today was the conference close. I ate, and then went out for a wander with a bunch of random folks from the conference. Now, these were all industry big-wigs, and here I am hanging out with them as equals. We walked around for a bit, but then they went to a bar. I was desparate to see some of the city, so I left. I stumbled onto the horse and carriage depot, so I went around the city for 90 minutes in the horse and carriage while he showed me some of Vienna's landmarks. I saw the Imperial Palace, Parliament, the City Hall (which was amazing at night), some gorgeous architecture, churches and statues, the home of Mozart, the second restaruant ever, the first coffee house and other toursit stuff. I had a blast. I met up with some work folk to go out to the bars. Eventually I came back here to chill out. I brought up some wine, and have been taking some time for myself.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get to go to next year's in Ottawa.

It turned out to be a good trip. I've met some great people, folks who are industry leaders. They know who I am and seemed to like me and all said hope to see me next year.

Tomorrow, I get to go home.

Team Fortress 2

I don't get excited about games very often, but if I'm reading this review right, Team Fortress 2 is coming to the xBox 360.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=83375&page=1

Team Fortress Classic is a game I played the hell out of. I loved that game. Sitting up late at night playing on a modem link, then playing in a friends living room at an impromptu LAN party with my keyboard on my knees.

It was because of TFC that I started a LAN party publicly, I just couldn't wait. The game rocked.

But I eventually grew out of it, and gaming. I stopped playing PC games a few years ago, with the exception of World of Warcraft.

Now Team Fortress 2 is coming. It looks great (not at all "gritty" or "realistic", which has been a huge turn off for me). Reviews sound like it's going to be fun to play, fun to learn, and, more importantly, I may be able to rocket jump again!

Can't wait!

Is it Saturday yet?

Ok, I'm so ready to leave. I'm sick to death of being here, having to hide in the hotel room due to pain and having to watch out for more glutening. This sucks more than you can imagine. The "best" bit is knowing I get to repeat the joy of the excruciating 9 hour flight back home. Yippee fucking do.

I met up with my coworkers for lunch. I thought we'd be going just downstairs, but it turns out they wanted to go to the cheaper end of town for food. Which meant I couldn't go. I felt like the kid sister where all the older siblings get to go out and I have to stay home. I did eat (alone) at the hotel restaurant. I had rack of lamb with a balsamic reduction with a side of sauted veggies. The veggies were *swimming* in oil. Ew. But other than that, the meal was tasty, but still. I'm fucking sick of this albatross around my neck. Food is about sustenance but what happens when it's a prison? Try this experiment. Now, my allergies are as follows: No grain (bread, wheat, semolina, rye, etc), corn, rice, soy, eggs, dairy, tree nuts, and peanuts.

Now, think of a place you usually go to eat. You don't usually put a lot of thought into where you go, right? You just go. So, think of a place. Got it? Now...

Italian is ruled out completely. Most places are either pasta based (semolina/wheat based) or have brick ovens for pizza (I'm in the 5% with the airbourne aspect)

Chinese? Nope. Soy sauce has both wheat and soy in it. And rice. So that tends to rule out Japanese/sushi as well. Thai? You might have a snowball's chance there, but they are still a bit tough to come by.

Obviously, all fast food is out, as well as delis. WHy delis? Many cold cuts are cured with wheat or milk based products. So you have to watch out for those.

Mexican? Nope. No corn.

Vegetarian, right? Nope. Soy.

Steakhouse. Yep, if you can find one that understands cross-contamination, and will pan fry the steak or cover the grill in foil to keep it safe for you. Oh and no fries, because the fryers aren't dedicated to just french fries, but usually do multitasking for all fried foods.

See how it works? The next time you go out, really look at the menu. Would you be able to eat there if you were me? I end up on trips having usually two choices - eat at the high end, but safe place, or live on chocolate and gluten-free cookies til I get home again. Sound fun?

I honestly think the worst part is the social aspect. Like today, I couldn't go with them. Cheaper places usually simply can't accommodate me. Cooks don't know about allergen safety or cross-contamination. They just bang out whatever they've been told from corporate on their menus. No thought, no room for change. A few places have been revolutionary by offering gluten free menus, but it's still not widespread.

I read several gluten free blogs, and while I love how they say how freeing it's been to be healthy and eat well, I just don't see it. I see prison bars. To be fair, they don't have the list I do. They only have to avoid gluten.

I'm off, but needed to get this rant off my chest.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Have I mentioned how strange it is to be in a place where English is not a primary language? Signs are in German, the language you hear is primarily German. It's very odd. Now I'm not saying that as "They should speaks English, dammit!!" Just simply voicing some regret that I can't speak their language. I was sitting at breakfast watching people stream past the windows going about their daily lives and wondering what they were doing/thinking/saying. What was their story? And mostly, why weren't they at work. ;)

No idea what I want to do today. I'm still very cranky and ouchie from yesterday's poisoning and it's grey and gloomy here. I'd say I'd curl up with a good book, but I didn't bring any. Usually I don't read, but I also didn't take into account getting ill. I have DVDs to sustain me though. :)

I also learned that Nescafe Gold instant "coffee" is NOT gluten free over here. Won't do that again. Fortunately I didn't drink much, as to me, instant is not coffee.