Sylvia's Journal

The weekend was boring, except for a brief interlude on Sunday with a colleague from the Johns Hopkins project who rescued me from the hotel and took me to a nice sandwich place in another part of town.

I swam a little in the pool, read a little, and caught some typos in the documents we need for our work for next week. I also sent the wrong document to my colleague and kicked myself a few times for that after she spent much time on her Saturday off fixing what had already been fixed in another version. I caught up on emails and complied with requests from HR to prepare our annual performance reviews.

I now have a little gadget that plugs into my computer and allows me access the internet wherever I am. It has been a godsend and for the first time in two weeks I can count on being connected. But really, how much time cans I sit in front of a computer, connected or not.

Watching TV has not added to my enjoyment as all channels show the same misery. And so I read (about the 1918 Influenza), do jigsaw puzzles on my iPad and read parts of the New York Times I usually don’t have time for; all this interrupted by meals. It’s very much like a long plane ride.

But tomorrow things will pick up and next week will, no doubt, race by as we go from one event to another requiring much coaching and encouraging of my brand-new team here. They will have to sail onwards on their own after I leave next Saturday.

I checked out the conference room we will occupy tomorrow. The gentleman who showed me the room, and helped me re-arrange the furniture, told me when we were done that he wasn’t sure this would actually be the room we would use. Hmmm. When I tried to get back to my hotel room the elevator refused to take me up and I needed a new room key.

In short, the only thing going for the Novotel is its buffet breakfast. I imagine that once business picks up here (I heard today there are plans to renovate this part of town) they either have to bring in a new management team, drop a few stars or wither away. I am not coming back, not even for the breakfast.