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vanillafluffyJ collected me shortly after noon on Thrusday, and we drove over to Orlando, both quite excited about the scheduled Cesar appearance. We got there well before the event, scheduled at 3:30, and hit a Chili's on I-Drive for lunch. Chicken, bacon and ranch quesadillas, yum!
The AARP event was...well, put it this way, Cesar Millan is awesome, and it probably would've been even more so if we'd gotten there BEFORE his presentation started. We lingered a little too long over lunch, then hit every light on I-Drive and *then* we got to the convention center.
May I just say (not for the first time) that whoever designed the Orange County Convention Center is/was a fucking moron?! And the AARP geniuses aren't that bright either. I mean, what dingleberry puts handicaped parking on the opposite side of the far end of the freaking building? And sets it up so that you have to take an elevator up a story from the parking lot, walk a quarter of a mile or so, take another elevator down and walk another quarter of a mile to registration?
And then, Cesar was appearing in the Valencia ballroom on the fouth floor, but not all elevators GO to the fourth floor...like I said, MORON. Oh, and they're all SMALL elevators that barely had room for scooters/wheelchairs, of which there were a helluva lot.
So we joined our program already in progress, and it was NOT the cozy little gathering of a few dozen people that I envisioned---no, try several hundred. Big enough that they had screens on either side of the stage doing a simulcast (with captioning, which was *quite* entertaining, as when they kept typing what the dog was sniffing as 'pea'...).
Cesar was very energetic. A lot of what he had to say was more or less verbatim from what he's said on the show or in his book, but his energy in person is incredible. Alas, there was no meet-and-greet afterward, but seeing him was still very cool. And the fact that it was free with our food donation was, you'll excuse the expression, gravy.
We investigated the exhibit hall for the remaining half-hour---a lot of it was to do with finance and investments, although I did see the chest-deep bathtub I'm going to install as soon as I hit the jackpot.
Getting out of the building was a challenge, at least for J. I just said "Follow me!" and kept going. She was in a motorized wheelchair, I'm the one who was hiking leagues! She'd be going, "I don't think this is it...oh, wait, I recognize that now...I'm sure glad I'm with you. This is why I don't travel alone."
Likewise, getting back to the highway, I'm the one who spotted the sign of 528 East in time for us to make a major lane change. It's like I told J, I loathe driving in Orlando traffic, but I *do* make a pretty good navagatrix.
We collected her service dog from his sitter, dropped him off at her place, then she took me to Steak'n'Shake as payback for me picking up the tolls. Note: Their butter pecan milk shakes are freakin' orgasmic.
Got home and was so beat that I crawled into bed and was asleep by 11 PM, which is unheard of for me. Woke before &, but napped a bit midafternoon. Despite the hiking and abbreviated presentation and everything, I'd still give it an 8 out of 10.
.
The AARP event was...well, put it this way, Cesar Millan is awesome, and it probably would've been even more so if we'd gotten there BEFORE his presentation started. We lingered a little too long over lunch, then hit every light on I-Drive and *then* we got to the convention center.
May I just say (not for the first time) that whoever designed the Orange County Convention Center is/was a fucking moron?! And the AARP geniuses aren't that bright either. I mean, what dingleberry puts handicaped parking on the opposite side of the far end of the freaking building? And sets it up so that you have to take an elevator up a story from the parking lot, walk a quarter of a mile or so, take another elevator down and walk another quarter of a mile to registration?
And then, Cesar was appearing in the Valencia ballroom on the fouth floor, but not all elevators GO to the fourth floor...like I said, MORON. Oh, and they're all SMALL elevators that barely had room for scooters/wheelchairs, of which there were a helluva lot.
So we joined our program already in progress, and it was NOT the cozy little gathering of a few dozen people that I envisioned---no, try several hundred. Big enough that they had screens on either side of the stage doing a simulcast (with captioning, which was *quite* entertaining, as when they kept typing what the dog was sniffing as 'pea'...).
Cesar was very energetic. A lot of what he had to say was more or less verbatim from what he's said on the show or in his book, but his energy in person is incredible. Alas, there was no meet-and-greet afterward, but seeing him was still very cool. And the fact that it was free with our food donation was, you'll excuse the expression, gravy.
We investigated the exhibit hall for the remaining half-hour---a lot of it was to do with finance and investments, although I did see the chest-deep bathtub I'm going to install as soon as I hit the jackpot.
Getting out of the building was a challenge, at least for J. I just said "Follow me!" and kept going. She was in a motorized wheelchair, I'm the one who was hiking leagues! She'd be going, "I don't think this is it...oh, wait, I recognize that now...I'm sure glad I'm with you. This is why I don't travel alone."
Likewise, getting back to the highway, I'm the one who spotted the sign of 528 East in time for us to make a major lane change. It's like I told J, I loathe driving in Orlando traffic, but I *do* make a pretty good navagatrix.
We collected her service dog from his sitter, dropped him off at her place, then she took me to Steak'n'Shake as payback for me picking up the tolls. Note: Their butter pecan milk shakes are freakin' orgasmic.
Got home and was so beat that I crawled into bed and was asleep by 11 PM, which is unheard of for me. Woke before &, but napped a bit midafternoon. Despite the hiking and abbreviated presentation and everything, I'd still give it an 8 out of 10.
.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 09:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 03:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 01:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 03:11 pm (UTC)To me, it all depends on the crowd. I used to love going to rock concerts and people-watching.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 03:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 03:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-02 09:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-04 11:01 pm (UTC)I am not surprised at the designers of these events...sort of the same guys who designed the parking lots at the special olympics...Try finding a normal spot.