Brush with greatness

I'm back at work after attending our annual IT conference. It's a fun activity with a vendor expo (free goodies), lots of speaker presentations (boring), free lunch (usually good, but not this year) and a big party with hospitality suites that serve all kinds of food and drinks. I enjoy going every year. Last year's conference was cancelled due to Katrina, so everyone was looking forward to attending this year.
It was nice to see all my friends from my last job there. I was able to sit with them during lunch and during some of the presentations.
The hospitality suites were fun as usual. I didn't stay too long b/c it was a work night and I wanted to get home and watch my TV shows, lame I know. These suites are usually scattered all over the hotel, so it's kind of an adventure to find them all. Usually a group of us will wander around to each suite, check out the spread, eat some food, get a beer, talk some sh*t with the vendor, get any freebies available and move on to the next room on the next floor. There are normally only 5 or 6 suites to visit, but this year there were closer to 11. One room had the Chris LeBlanc band, a local blues group that is very good. They also had gambling (not with money) in that suite.
My brush with greatness came on the second afternoon of the conference. The governor, Kathlene Blanco, spoke at the conference and finished up. I had to pee, so I went to the bathroom. When I came out of the bathroom, the governor was being interviewed by the news media. So, I and several others waited while we watched what was going on. When the governor finished her interview, she came our way. Now, I have a problem when things like this happen. I don't know how to seize the moment like others do. I also overthink things. I was hoping to shake the governors hand, but didn't want the secret service guys to think I was trying to jump her or anything (and example of overthinking), so when she came by I was late getting my hand out there and she passed me by. Everyone else got a handshake. My coworker, Leslie, not only got a handshake, but also got a hug and a picture with the governor. I was disappointed. It was still exciting. She did look my way and say hello. I guess I just didn't look like I wanted to talk to her. Oh well, maybe she'll speak again next year.
I really think this problem I have with seizing the moment is my biggest problem. It has been with me my whole life and I think it's why I have no significant other. I remember as a child going to a fair. Some young couple came by and asked me if I wanted one of the stuffed animals that they had won. I said I'd have to ask my mom and went to find her. Of course, they were gone when I got back. I was very upset. It appears that I am still the indecisive shy person I was when I was a kid. I really thought I was better than that. I'm not sure how to fix it.

Fun.

Well the weekend was fun for the most part. Susie and I attended the Chinese Moon celebration at the Shaw Center LSU MOA. It was $8 and they were supposed to have food from PF changs. Well, we got there 30 minutes after the thing started, paid our $8 and went upstairs to where the celebration was taking place. The food had already been picked over and was gone. We waited and waited, but no food came. Later I asked about the food and they said they had replenished it, but it was obvious that the planning for the event was poor. I certainly wasn't expecting a full meal, but when you advertise an event and emphasize the food by putting it first on the list of activities, you should at least make sure there is enough food for everyone to get a little.
So, we decided to go ahead and eat some sushi at Tsunami, the restaurant in the Shaw Center. It was great as usual. We had a tuna roll, crunchy roll, a beef roll and a crab leg roll with the legs sticking out like a spider.
Saturday we decided to go to pf changs, since we didn't get what were craving the night before. If you have never been there or even if you have I highly recommend getting the lemon pepper shrimp and the mongolian beef. Order both. They complement each other well. And the lemon pepper shrimp are more like fried shrimp than I would have thought.
Sunday was another Saints game. Susie invited me to use one of her tickets Rob and Jenn gave her. Travis (her brother in law and my frat brother) also had tickets and we rode with him and his son Chris. It was a very easy trip. We got free parking immediately. The saints won and leaving was a piece of cake once we got past the huge crowd leaving the building. They really need some crowd control at the SuperDome. One thing bad happened at the Dome. Some guy a section over from us had a heart attack. The paramedics rushed to perform cpr on him. They also had to shock his heart. The worked on him for 30 minutes and then carted him out on a stretcher. He looked dead. I can't find any info on what happened to him. I hope he made it. At least if he died, it was doing something he liked. And he would have been ushered out of the building with the crowd cheering (for the team, but he wouldn't know that).
Oh well, at least the Saints won.

Saints again

Not too much to report this post. I have gotten an unexpected invitation to another Saints game. My friend Susie invited me to go see them play the Tampa Bay Bucs this weekend. I also am scheduled to see them play the Ravens at the end of October, but my boss said I have to be here to help them change the time on our mainframe that weekend. They wanted to do it on Sunday, when my game is, but I've requested they move it to Saturday. It all depends on our operator who will be here with us that weekend. If they can't come on Saturday, I guess I'll have to give away my Saints tickets. That sucks!!
At least I'm going to the game this weekend. I also may go to our Baton Rouge Shaw Center for the arts to attend a Chinese Moon celebration. It's a display of Chinese jade and is really just an excuse to party downtown. There will be food from PF Changs, which I love. Although I hate their specialty, the lettuce wraps. I really like the spicy ground chicken with eggplant, the Mongolian beef and the crab wontons. Mmmmmmm, now I'm hungry. Good thing it's lunch time. Today is chicken day in the cafeteria. I'm too obsessed with food.
I'm kinda in a somber mood today. I've been kinda depressed thinking about things I can't control, like my mom and granny are old and when they die they will be gone forever. Plus two of my friends lost a parent this week. My friend and former co-worker Dianne, who got laid off at the same time as me, but got her job back; well, her mom had been sick and she died. She was 84. Then, my friend Tim, whose dad fell off the stairs while visiting Tims house and bumped his head, his dad died this morning. I feel real sorry for both of them. But at least they have other family to fall back on. I have a very small family. My mom is an only child and so am I. My dad only has a brother and a sister. His brother had kids, two of them. One is a lesbian and the other is a hetero male with only one kid. Doesn't look like my family will be getting any bigger. So, I'll just have to rely on my family of friends when I get older I guess. Or find a nice lesbian couple who want to have a kid and donate my, well, you know.