sal_amanda | So much for relaxing at home

so i've been in Atlanta since Friday for a conference. just got back last night. i don't particularly like Atlanta because it's boring. there's nothing of any interest to me. it certainly doesn't feel very southern. it's just a big, anonymous, modern city. it's clean, the people are nice, the buildings are new and kinda funky looking. but there's not a lot to see. not even interesting people watching. and, gosh darn it, i couldn't find john any pralines.

and the conference wasn't of much interest to me, either. so i spent a lot of time reading. not warm enough to have the pool open, unfortunately, and they were doing work on the building so there was frequent drilling below my room's window. thus, the tiny balcony was not much of an option.

not a total loss, though, because i did a bit of sleeping in and was generally in a state of relaxation.

good thing because now i'm home. i took the day off today since i got stuck giving up my weekend to this conference. however, i spent most of the morning trying to figure out how exactly the dog got tar paper stuck to his paw and fighting with him to attempt to take it off (in the end, getting him to play in the hose seemed to help considerably).

and to make the day complete by 3:00, i got a call from chris at work telling me that my ongoing most difficult case just stapled her hand, and since they're unable to get it out, the assistant director of operations is on her way to the hospital with her. she apparently freaked out and had to be strongly coerced, which of course freaked out the kids that were there by then. talked to her briefly by cell phone before they got to the hospital and had to turn off the phone. she's still freaking out and may just bolt. apparently she hates needles even more than i do, and i also know there's more to it than just that.

i'm glad about two things in this. 1) she might be able to get some needed intervention that i couldn't provide to her in the club setting. 2) i am so glad i wasn't there so i didn't have to deal with it. terrible to say, but would be even worse to deny.