My Birthday!

Providence, RI

Ah, Fall in New England. Though the rain is coming down today, the past couple of days have been spectacular. As we’ve been driving through New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the days have been crisp and cool. The trees are draped with leaves the color of perfectly toasted marshmallows.

Yesterday was my birthday and Drew (another PM who happened to be in Providence as well) and I went out for dinner. We had a few beers at Rick’s Roadhouse in town and were served the biggest plate of nachos I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a few plates of nachos.
My presenter this week is named Al Guenther. Al is 73 years old (with the energy of a 13 year old) and is a nutty physics teacher with intense OCD. His presentations are full of crazy science experiments that he shows to high school science teachers so they can use them in their class rooms. He has about eight tables of displays and exhibits that all fit very exactly into to two huge red suitcases. To help facilitate my packing of his exhibits, he has color-coded diagrams of how each wire, magnet or tube fits into its particular film canister, shoe box or tackle box. Then he has other color-coded diagrams that explain how each container fits into his suitcases. Basically, think of the way I organize my stuff and then picture the opposite.

It‘s a little trying figuring out how to pack up his stuff, but he makes up for it by being hilarious. He’s got some great stories, which is lucky since we’ve had a couple of three hour drives. He told me about how he had to flee Iran on Black Friday because he was working for the Shah. They had to sit on the runway for a couple of hours not knowing if they would be allowed to take off. Can you imagine what it must have felt like when they finally got in air?

What I learned today: Gloria (the woman who lives in my GPS) has absolutely no confidence in my sense of direction.