The Hottest State

I had to go to Sackville, NB this weekend for a business conference. It's a beautiful little town, but not all that much to do.

The highlights and lowlights of my trip:

>> Getting lost in a town of 5,000. I blame faulty maps and bad directions from the townspeople, but the fact remains that I was completely, hopelessly unable to find the Tantramar Wetlands.
>> Faking a British accent. I didn't do it on purpose, but whenever I talk to someone with an accent I unconsciously start to mimic it. I realized what I was doing when I said "oh, quite!!" ... I never say quite. I don't think he noticed -- or he was too polite to comment.
>> Walking up to a Dean of Science, and chatting away about my program. He interrupted me to ask if I was Meaghan, to which I replied of course I was (I was wearing a name tag for goodness sake) .... He said: "Oh, that's what I thought. But why does your nametag say Nancy Fournier??" Yes, I put on the wrong name tag. Way to look professional.
>> Visiting a bar with the worst beer in the world. Not sure exactly what the problem was, but we tried both bottled and draught, and both were subpar. The bar was pretty crowded though, so apparently beer quantity, not quality is the important thing in Sackville.
>> FREE BEER. Leaving the above mentioned bar to find something a little tastier, we succeeded in finding ONE other open establishment. The bartender was too drunk to remember serving us, so she only charged us for two of our four drinks -- then she refused to pick up the payment we had left on the table. After a half hour of waiting, we picked up the money and left again. Although as a server I felt some guilt at this dine and dash (drink and dash?), we were the ONLY people in the bar and there was no reason for her to not come take our money. And if she is too drunk to do her job, then that isn't our problem.

Overall, the trip went quite well compared to the last conference I attended.

Next up, a chemistry conference in St. John's ... Do I know anyone taking Chemistry?

posted by pixiesparkle @ 2:09 PM