In early November, 2011, I had a meeting in Ithaca, NY, at Cornell. It was the Northeast Regional Life Sciences Core Directors Meeting, or
NRLSCD meeting. I have a friend who lives up there so I had emailed him in advance to let him know I was coming. The drive up was a bit long, and there were 5 of us in the minivan. There really isn't much to see on the way up either, between Delaware and upstate NY, there is nothing but trees and hills, and in November, it is all brown. The funny thing is when you come up on Ithaca, you can tell, because suddenly, there is a town. We had a good evening once we got there. Nice comfy beds and warm showers. :) The opening gala had some good foods, although not a ton for vegetarians. But I'm used to that by now. There was also a "green cheese" item that no one touched. The sessions were great, and I learned a great deal. I wish I could have implemented them, or tried to cover some of the items I learned. Life goes on. I got to tour some facilities, learn some awesome techniques, and see things that I would love to do. I even tried to establish a few connections. One of those things where I wish I could have done more. You know. I learned a lot in those few days. And then one of my nights I went out with my friend, we had dinner at a lovely fusion restaurant downtown. I can't recall the name of the place, but it had great vegetarian dishes! We talked a lot, we caught up on life and he gave me a driving tour of the campus. And then I said good bye, headed back inside to the center and went to sleep. The next morning we drove the long drive back to Delaware. I crotcheted a scarf, and we all chatted, past the brown countryside that is upstate NY. Overall, it was a good learning experience in many ways, and I was very glad to see my friend. I took away a great deal of education, depth and ideas. I don't know how it might translate into my future at this point, but education is always beneficial.
