I survived the work conference
Dec. 20th, 2024 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeIt went surprisingly well, I'm not as tired as I thought I would be. The conference was held in Manchester, NH, which I've never been to outside of this conference and I was so anxious the last time I went that I don't remember the city at all.
I arrived early on Monday because I had a 1pm meeting and I wanted to eat lunch before that. I found the Bridge Cafe, which was really cute and had fast soup which was delicious. They labeled the soups as gluten free on their menu which I appreciated a lot. I got turkey pot pie and it was so good if incredibly hot. I checked in early to the hotel and took my meeting there. After the meeting, I relaxed and took a nap. I placed a pickup order from a burger place that night and picked it up before crafting. A coworker invited me out but crafting is a much higher priority.
Tuesday the conference was in full swing. I wore a mask all three days of the conference since I really didn't want to get sick this close to the holidays. No one said anything but my sweet female coworker said someone said something weird to her about it. One of my other coworkers said she wished she had worn a mask but was afraid of people saying something. I did take mine off if I needed to eat a snack, but I found a not crowded place and ate and drank. I could feel the hotel air system working so I felt okay with that decision. I really ought to pick up a co2 monitor, it would help with these sorts of things.
This conference is excellent, it has five tracks with focused topics going simultaneously with 30 min presentations and you can swap from track to track if you'd like, unless you are trying to get pesticide credits. I went to the strawberry session first thing which was excellent. I usually try and take one or two things from each session, not writing down a ton of stuff. Although by the end of the conference I had quite a few notes. I also brought my crochet project and worked on that while I listened.
I did pickup lunch from the Bridge Cafe with coworker J because I wanted to get back for a farmer to farmer session that I was technically helping with, but turns out my definition of fast walking is not her definiton of fast walking so I ended up late but it was fine in the end. I got chicken and rice soup which was a vivid yellow green color since there was dill in there.
That afternoon I was mostly in the cucurbit session with one stop back to strawberries to listen to one of the best sprayer calibration instructors in the country, George Hamilton. Cucurbits are squash/pumpkins, melons and cucumbers plus a few other things. That night was a meetup hosted by NH Queer Farmers, so I placed a pickup order of gluten free pasta carbonara from Piccola Italian restaurant and it was so delicious. The queer farmer meetup was good if shorter than expected. I chatted with some folks and used my new name that I picked out which was a delight. It ended sooner than expected because a bunch of the folks left to get dinner and so only a few people stuck around and kept talking. I went back to the hotel afterwards and stopped by the Ben and Jerrys store for mint chocolate ice cream which was great.
Wednesday, I went to bramble sections which were good if not especially mind blowing. But good review and made me think about really getting into tissue testing our perennial crops. I went to a reduced tillage session which was not good, so I left early. I also attended a session about working with NRCS which was better than I expected.
J and I walked down to the Bridge Cafe again and a coworker joined up on the way. I got chicken chili which was tasty but way chunkier than my chili preferences. It was more of a tomato bean soup. Lovely conversation.
Afternoon was all specialty fruit production, so hazelnuts, elderberries, stuff like that. Weird stuff. Good and gave me some good ideas and I think the next new crop going in will be haskaps/honeyberries since they will match our production really well and the presenter brought some jam which was excellent.
That night after the evening farmer to farmer sessions, a bunch of the team went out to eat at The Foundry, which I was extremely pleased with. They were very local farm to table focused but when I ordered a sandwich with a gluten free bun, they asked if I would like gluten free bread as an appetizer since everyone else got it and they had a dedicated gluten free fryer for their fries. Heaven! I got a roasted turkey sandwich which was really tasty once I scraped all of the too-sweet cranberry sauce off it. It had cheese and bacon and an aioli. really really good. fries were okay, if a bit soft. It had started pouring while we were there and we walked back to the conference hotel in the rain and I tagged along to keep chatting before headed back to my hotel, with a pit stop at ben and jerrys for more ice cream, this time chocolate peanut butter swirl which was excellent if a bit odd with the rain. Turns out if ice cream gets rained on, it will form little ice bits in the ice cream. Funny.
Yesterday morning I was in the blueberry sessions most of the day, which covered a lot of useful things. I had to duck out of one session before lunch because I was so hungry I couldn't concentrate. I definitely wasn't eating enough breakfast and I had picked up pastries and mini apple cider donuts from Bishon which was a gluten free bakery but I just got hungry. So I ate snacks and went back in. Lunch was back to the Bridge Cafe and I got the turkey pot pie again. We kept going back to it because it was a 10 minute walk, which was a lovely get up and stretch break from sitting and it wasn't as packed as some of the closer restaurants.
I debated about leaving early from the conference so I wouldn't have to drive back in the dark, but I stayed to the bitter end so I could hear the latest updates on SWD control in fruit crops which was a good session. I feel like everyone who stays until the last session should get a prize. I hit the road immediately and swing slightly north and then west across New Hampshire. I didn't realize the road I would be on would be so desolate, there were very few towns and there was one gas station in an hour and a half of driving and it looked super sketchy. I stopped once I got to Vermont and found a non-sketchy gas station to get snacks and use the bathroom. But apparently the traffic into Massachusetts and on 90 was hideously bad so I lucked out even if me and 30 other drivers got stuck behind someone going 10 under the speed limit for at least 30 miles until I got past them.
I got home just after 8pm and went straight to bed. I'm spending today unpacking and repacking because I'm heading down to my parents tomorrow. I was really impressed with the food in Manchester and it was really the highlight of the whole conference. I didn't take a single photo of anything but my food and it was all delicious. I also finished sewing the pouch for my SIL's gift and got my sister's gift almost done and started a second little bag for her since I had the time. Good stuff all around.
I arrived early on Monday because I had a 1pm meeting and I wanted to eat lunch before that. I found the Bridge Cafe, which was really cute and had fast soup which was delicious. They labeled the soups as gluten free on their menu which I appreciated a lot. I got turkey pot pie and it was so good if incredibly hot. I checked in early to the hotel and took my meeting there. After the meeting, I relaxed and took a nap. I placed a pickup order from a burger place that night and picked it up before crafting. A coworker invited me out but crafting is a much higher priority.
Tuesday the conference was in full swing. I wore a mask all three days of the conference since I really didn't want to get sick this close to the holidays. No one said anything but my sweet female coworker said someone said something weird to her about it. One of my other coworkers said she wished she had worn a mask but was afraid of people saying something. I did take mine off if I needed to eat a snack, but I found a not crowded place and ate and drank. I could feel the hotel air system working so I felt okay with that decision. I really ought to pick up a co2 monitor, it would help with these sorts of things.
This conference is excellent, it has five tracks with focused topics going simultaneously with 30 min presentations and you can swap from track to track if you'd like, unless you are trying to get pesticide credits. I went to the strawberry session first thing which was excellent. I usually try and take one or two things from each session, not writing down a ton of stuff. Although by the end of the conference I had quite a few notes. I also brought my crochet project and worked on that while I listened.
I did pickup lunch from the Bridge Cafe with coworker J because I wanted to get back for a farmer to farmer session that I was technically helping with, but turns out my definition of fast walking is not her definiton of fast walking so I ended up late but it was fine in the end. I got chicken and rice soup which was a vivid yellow green color since there was dill in there.
That afternoon I was mostly in the cucurbit session with one stop back to strawberries to listen to one of the best sprayer calibration instructors in the country, George Hamilton. Cucurbits are squash/pumpkins, melons and cucumbers plus a few other things. That night was a meetup hosted by NH Queer Farmers, so I placed a pickup order of gluten free pasta carbonara from Piccola Italian restaurant and it was so delicious. The queer farmer meetup was good if shorter than expected. I chatted with some folks and used my new name that I picked out which was a delight. It ended sooner than expected because a bunch of the folks left to get dinner and so only a few people stuck around and kept talking. I went back to the hotel afterwards and stopped by the Ben and Jerrys store for mint chocolate ice cream which was great.
Wednesday, I went to bramble sections which were good if not especially mind blowing. But good review and made me think about really getting into tissue testing our perennial crops. I went to a reduced tillage session which was not good, so I left early. I also attended a session about working with NRCS which was better than I expected.
J and I walked down to the Bridge Cafe again and a coworker joined up on the way. I got chicken chili which was tasty but way chunkier than my chili preferences. It was more of a tomato bean soup. Lovely conversation.
Afternoon was all specialty fruit production, so hazelnuts, elderberries, stuff like that. Weird stuff. Good and gave me some good ideas and I think the next new crop going in will be haskaps/honeyberries since they will match our production really well and the presenter brought some jam which was excellent.
That night after the evening farmer to farmer sessions, a bunch of the team went out to eat at The Foundry, which I was extremely pleased with. They were very local farm to table focused but when I ordered a sandwich with a gluten free bun, they asked if I would like gluten free bread as an appetizer since everyone else got it and they had a dedicated gluten free fryer for their fries. Heaven! I got a roasted turkey sandwich which was really tasty once I scraped all of the too-sweet cranberry sauce off it. It had cheese and bacon and an aioli. really really good. fries were okay, if a bit soft. It had started pouring while we were there and we walked back to the conference hotel in the rain and I tagged along to keep chatting before headed back to my hotel, with a pit stop at ben and jerrys for more ice cream, this time chocolate peanut butter swirl which was excellent if a bit odd with the rain. Turns out if ice cream gets rained on, it will form little ice bits in the ice cream. Funny.
Yesterday morning I was in the blueberry sessions most of the day, which covered a lot of useful things. I had to duck out of one session before lunch because I was so hungry I couldn't concentrate. I definitely wasn't eating enough breakfast and I had picked up pastries and mini apple cider donuts from Bishon which was a gluten free bakery but I just got hungry. So I ate snacks and went back in. Lunch was back to the Bridge Cafe and I got the turkey pot pie again. We kept going back to it because it was a 10 minute walk, which was a lovely get up and stretch break from sitting and it wasn't as packed as some of the closer restaurants.
I debated about leaving early from the conference so I wouldn't have to drive back in the dark, but I stayed to the bitter end so I could hear the latest updates on SWD control in fruit crops which was a good session. I feel like everyone who stays until the last session should get a prize. I hit the road immediately and swing slightly north and then west across New Hampshire. I didn't realize the road I would be on would be so desolate, there were very few towns and there was one gas station in an hour and a half of driving and it looked super sketchy. I stopped once I got to Vermont and found a non-sketchy gas station to get snacks and use the bathroom. But apparently the traffic into Massachusetts and on 90 was hideously bad so I lucked out even if me and 30 other drivers got stuck behind someone going 10 under the speed limit for at least 30 miles until I got past them.
I got home just after 8pm and went straight to bed. I'm spending today unpacking and repacking because I'm heading down to my parents tomorrow. I was really impressed with the food in Manchester and it was really the highlight of the whole conference. I didn't take a single photo of anything but my food and it was all delicious. I also finished sewing the pouch for my SIL's gift and got my sister's gift almost done and started a second little bag for her since I had the time. Good stuff all around.
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Date: 2024-12-20 06:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-21 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-12-21 02:29 am (UTC)Yay new name!!!!