What Now

Well, it's over. The Davidson Center for Space Exploration Gala Opening was a success!

I still hate wearing a flight suit. :)

I spent yesterday morning finishing up last minute signage and helping set up the tables. If nothing else, I know what side the forks and spoons go on now, as well as knowing the dessert fork goes above the plate and sideways. It's amazing the skills that one can learn when they are considered a lackey. I did get to go home for a brief nap before having to be back for the party, thank goodness.

I got there a bit earlier than I really had to because I didn't want to be late. If I had tried to be there on time, I probably wouldn't have ever made it. Employees had to park in the Marriott overflow lot, which is a big grassy area, and a bus was supposed to pick us up. There was no bus, so I started walking. I finally spotted the busses, which were parked in the SpRocket parking lot, and just as I got to the door, the stinking bus driver pulls away and just leaves me there! So I had to walk across the rest of the parking lot and the wind was blowing so hard that it almost knocked me over. Also, it blew the heck out of my hair, so I looked like Helena Bonnam-Carter by the time I got inside. I finally just had to walk the rest of the way to the Davidson Center and it started to rain before I got there. Needless to say, I was SO attractive by the time I got inside. : ) The job I was given to do at the party was no different than the job I used to do when I was a tour guide. Smile, say hello, and tell people where the bathrooms are. Very exciting. I did have one very strange conversation with an older lady who had gotten there early, though. Edited for your enjoyment:

Lady: Did you say there was a coat check?
Me: Yes, ma'am, it's in the lobby.
Lady: Well, nevermind I might get cold. I just feel so stupid wearing a mink.
Me: Well, you aren't the only one, I've seen several.
Lady: I guess, but all of theirs are dark. Mine stands out too much.
Me: Nah, it's not at all ostintatious.
Lady: What does ostintatious mean?
Me: Uh, well, it means not too flashy.
Lady: Oh, good. What about my earrings, they're too flashy, right?
Me: Well, they are very sparkly but perfectly appropriate. You look very nice.
Lady: You're good at what you do, you know?
Me: Well, I try.

That was the first time ever that I've had to give fashion advice to a guest of a black tie function. Weirdness. I also think I pissed off one of our local news reporters. She's well known around here, but I couldn't think of her name. She was having trouble finding her seat, and because I had a seating chart, I was sent to help her. I asked if she needed help finding her table and she just said "AT&T" (the sponsor table where she had a seat.) Our seating list was in alphabetical order by last name, so I said "Your last name?" She looked at me like I had just spoken Esperanto and said louder "AT&T!" I'll admit, that tweaked me off a little. I might not be important in the scheme of things, but I am not going to be spoken to like that! So I looked confused and said "That's your last name?" Then she sort of looked funny and told me what it was and I helped her find her seat. She didn't even say thank you. The heifer.

So the highlights of my evening were 1) the mink lady. 2) I had to help an elderly lady get to the bathroom in her wheelchair (thank God she could handle the actual activities on her own) and get back to her table. I ran over some evening gown hems, though. :) 3) Pissing off the reporter and 4) I got to hang out with Brian, who was doing the streaming video for al.com. At one point, we had the actual event going on in the next room, we were watching the live video feed in the theater, and watching the streaming video on his fancy Microsoft phone. It indeed blew my mind as promised. I had fun hanging out and we got to snark at the speakers without offending any bystanders. :)

Brian was going to give me a ride back to my car, but I was so tired when everything was over that I bolted as soon as I had the go ahead. I had to clock out in the main museum and caught a ride to my car with a lady from Marshall SFC who was acting as taxi for the evening. When I got back to my car, I found that I was parked in the middle of a big mud puddle. When I finally got to my car and could get out of the lot, my car had mud splattered all over it like I'd been boggin. My redneck cousins and their big bubba trucks would have been so proud of me!

By the time I got home I was so tired that all I could do was get some milk and go to bed. I'm glad things went as well as they did, but I'm even more glad that it's all over.