So, last week began with a bout of bacterial conjunctivitis..for those of you not in the sciences, that's pink eye which was thoughtfully passed on to me by a colleague who used the lab microscope. Now, I wear contacts since my vision is not fully up to par, and I think I look stupid in glasses, so the infection really kicked my ass.
As anyone who wears close contact visual enhancements may know, the eye is a bit more sensitive when you're constantly sticking your finger in it. This usually means that even and eyelash in the eye feels a bit like, well, a sharp glass shard. So my eyes were painfully swollen for most of the week (God bless antibiotics!!!!) through Thursday when we left for Atlanta. By that time, the infection had migrated into my sinuses.
So much fun to not be able to breathe!
Anyway, that's the back story, so where I left off was our leaving for Atlanta. The boss man declared the trip (by car, in the rain) would only take 4 to 5 hrs at the most. Well, 7 hrs (and one shady meal at a pizza hut in Alabama) and we pulled up to the hotel after1am. Thankfully, I didn't have to drive, as I spent most of the trip working up a lung. After a quick 4 hr nap, we caught a shuttle into town to spend the day listening to crystallography talks. Actually, I really liked some of the talks, but the afternoon was a big waste of my time. Seriously, why talk for an hour about telecommunications to a room full of crystallographers? WE DON'T CARE HOW THE DATA TRAVELS!!! I understand someone needs to be up on that, but that's their job, not ours.
Lunch was fun too, we spent it wandering around the most ghetto tastic part of the city...I had rather hoped Lain would've gone for the advertisement of hair braiding and gold teeth in less than 1hr! But, alas, no. (by the way, Lain is a post doc in my lab who's name was misspelled on the name tag, I quite like the new name, although I don't think he does....)
That night we were treated to a "banquet" of chicken wings and cookies, seriously CHEAP. But, we are a resourcefully bunch and found the stash of alcohol as well as managing to find a table to pop off the beer tops, highlight of that was Lain dropping a bottle;) We later meandered/stumbled back to the hotel bar and promptly drank until the boss couldn't walk...then proceeded to the mini bars in our room.
The next day wasn't nearly as interesting, since we spent a good 2hrs lost in the city, then headed back home. I drove, a bit fast I admit, but with good time. Really the only highlight of the day was Lain getting a foot stuck in the car...don't ask...
