It's flights like that one that I become most upset with my fellow travelers. I am not afraid of flying. I prefer a window seat when I can get one. I am blown away by this twentieth century miracle that has made the world a smaller place, and I do not take the fragility of the miracle of flight lightly.

But I resent people who choose to attempt to ignore the situation during moments of severe instability. I don't know what's going on in their minds, but I guess it has nothing to do with the almost overwhelming physics in play at any given moment. I can try to play it as calmly as everyone else: I am not as fatalistic as Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, but there are times when things are clearly not going optimally or even well, and now and then it would be nice for people to acknowledge the situation.

The second flight was uneventful, on a DC-10. I had an aisle seat next to a young woman who slept the whole way to Orlando. Tons of children on the plane. I should have guessed. When I've flown to other SCT Summit conferences in the past I've usually run into some other folks on their way to the same conference.

Once I landed I checked in with Jean, then proceeded to take the shuttle to the Caribe Royale. I arrived there shortly after 1 A.M. When I signed in, I was told that the hotel was out of the queen suites I'd reserved, so I was being bumped up to a villa (which is sort of a one-story townhouse). A young bellhop from Czechoslovakia drove me out to the shuttle. On the way we talked about Europe and Jean's love for language.

He dropped me off and I went to my villa, only to find that someone was already in it. I picked up the house phone on the balcony next to the elevator and called the hotel main desk. After fifteen minutes another bellhop was dispatched. The hotel was now completely out of rooms, so they were going to send me to The Peabody hotel. There were several of us getting bumped to the Peabody, but one particular man was irate. For ten minutes he yelled at the manager and front desk staff. Unsurprisingly, his yelling did not open up any previously undiscovered rooms.

The Caribe Royale paid for the room at the Peabody and took care of my transportation to and from the hotel. When I got to the Peabody, it was quickly evident that I'd been bumped to a nicer hotel. The angry man, who had stormed out of the Caribe and driven off too quickly, was just in front of me in line to check in at the Peabody.

Angry man continued to vent at the Peabody staff, who were diplomatic in their handling. They checked me in quickly and I proceeded to the 23rd floor to my room. I was happy that they didn't put me on the 7th floor, with Angry Man. He was a real jerk and I would be happy if I could avoid him for the rest of the conference. I made my way to my room on the 23rd floor. It was impressive. It was probably the largest suite I've ever had anywhere, and the accommodations were nice.

I didn't take any time to enjoy them, though. After leaving my bags next to the door and taking a quick look around, I immediately got ready and got into bed. It was 3:00 and the first session started at 9. I doubted whether I'd make the first session.

As expected, I was unable to get up before seven. Realizing that I'd missed my chance to make the Finance Opening Session, I took a little time getting ready. As I was getting dressed I noticed that I had a balcony outside my suite. I opened the curtains and discovered it was more of a deck than a balcony. There was a patio table and chairs out there, with enough plants scattered about to give the deck a garden feeling. I stepped outside and looked around. The first thing I spied was the biggest Teddy Bear I've ever seen. It had to be forty feet high, just sitting on the side of the FAO Schwartz store.

Once I was ready to face the world I called the Caribe, to request a ride back. I checked out of the Peabody and waited a few minutes for the car to show up. Nice limo.

When I arrived at the Caribe, they immediately checked my bags and directed me to the front desk, where I was immediately checked into room 1236. With my key and bags in hand, I finally made it to my room.

The remaining opening sessions were just about what you would expect them to be. The Trainer Track opening session was peppy, and the General Opening Session (the big one) was nice but overdone. Astronaut James Lovell of Apollo 13 fame gave the keynote address. His speech was a reminiscence of the ill-fated journey, and while not really dynamic, it was nonetheless interesting and somewhat inspiring.

After the opening session we were all bussed over to Universal Studios. SCT (the company holding the conference) had rented the entire park for us for the night. I stuck with some of my University friends as we watched the animal actors show, then rode on the E.T., King Kong, and Jaws rides before we were too pooped to go on.

I made it back to my hotel after midnight and collapsed. The first session Tuesday was scheduled to begin at 8 A.M.