More thoughts on the recent conference experience (the Arnold’s conference in Rio, Brazil). This time, about peeing. Hugo Quinteiro and I talked and we decided there is a very small higher limit to the number of conferences we can accept to speak at each year. They will be chosen according to priority. It is more complicated than this, but we:
– spent 12 hours commuting to the airports and back
– 6 hours of conference participation
During the 12 hours of commuting, we:
– lost a flight (because of traffic jam in Sao Paulo) , running around a crowded airport because of it (no water, no restroom)
– got the next flight leaving in… EIGHT MINUTES having to go through a FORTY MINUTE LINE (no water, no restroom)
– the flight got delayed, so we made it just in time. There was turbulence (no water, no restroom, although I would go, but just collapsed and slept)
– as we got there, an angry van driver told us we were late (really?).No time for water or restroom. So we got to the van and faced two hours of traffic jam to the conference center (no water, no food, no restroom)
– when we arrived, before we finally reached the organizers, who were awesome, we were sent in the wrong direction by a few people, some of which actually knew where we should go but thought it would be funny to watch three speakers wandering in the weirdest possible places (we actually ended up in an industrial kitchen). We observed as one of these people got scolded by the organizer. People baffle me… But until then, again: NO WATER, NO RESTROOM
We finally got to the amazing conference area with food, water and restroom. But we couldn’t really supercompensate on water because there would be traffic on the way back to the airport.
My urine was dark orange when I finally made it to a restroom. This is a symptom of a high level of dehydration. It cleared up in one hour of good fluid consumption. Headache, irritation and dizziness were gone in half an hour after feeding. The rest of the conference went well.
We concluded our classes and ran down to be transported back to the airport: another two hours stuck in the heavy traffic, no water, no restroom, no food.
We arrived in São Paulo about 11PM and managed to sleep about 2AM. It took me two days of hangover to start recovering. Saturday was a useless day. Hugo did some light speedwork, but I couldn’t move: I was sore all over. I believe it is the ergonomic stress plus the stress itself. I know I don’t react well to this type of extreme social interaction in public places.
A weekend fighting the inflammation caused by 18 hours of working outside our city.
That just cannot happen more than very few times a year. I received many invitations to speak at distant places: we rejected them all. It is either that or compromise my performance and health, which, on the long run, will ruin our project.
But today what really puzzles me is the pee issue. My concern is about peeing and quality of life. I need a lot of water, so I need to pee. Therefore, long lines and traffic jams are not options. I had bladder bleeding once when I couldn’t pee for many hours.
What about everybody else? Maybe they drink less water, which is not healthy. Maybe they are living in urinary discomfort. Extreme discomfort.
This is no way to live.