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| TRAVELS WITH MY DINOSAUR 05 June - 05 August 2003 |
| Monday 23rd June. I visited Camp Twin Lakes today, and as usual, you can read about that experience at the Oxford Children's Hospital website. Before leaving for the camp, near Rutledge GA, Mary Campbell and I met Lydia Gonzalez-Ryan to view the Children's Healthcare Of Atlanta conference facilities at Tully Circle, which CHOA has offered for free as a conference venue for next year's optic-glioma family gathering. As Director of the Brain Tumour Foundation for Children, Mary was particulalry keen to view the venue, not only in relation to next year's event, but as a possible venue for future Tools for Living conferences - an annual BTFC event for families. Tully Circle does indeed seem to be an ideal location. There are several large rooms suitable for keynote addresses, and an array of smaller rooms which would be ideal for break-out sessions and groupwork. The cafereria is spacious and could accomodate a big group of deligates, and even boasts a few outdoor tables. I'm fairly certain that we'd use Tully as our conference venue. On return from Camp Twin Lakes, Mary kindly drove me directly to the Greyhound station, as my bags were already in her car. I had arrived with several hours to spare, and assumed I'd be able to indulge my passion for Grisham's writings until my departure. However, my early arrival proved to be a huge blessing. Remember how I'd questioned the lady about my Ameripass paperwork in Orlando? Well, it turns out I had been right to query her, and I should have taken it further. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! The ticket agent refused to accept the voucher issued in Daytona Beach, and thus I had the misfortune of having to speak with the depot manager. Manager - he didn't look like it. Wish shorts and a cowboy hat, and an I-don't-care-at-all attitude, he was about as unprofessional as they come. In fact, he was so laid back about the whole affair that he was almost horizontal. He basically refused to issue me with a ticket, even though he could see on the computer that the pass was valid. Mary eventually left me to battle this out with The Hat, and after that I really dug my claws in and insisted on the issue of a ticket, threatening to call Greyhound head office. Lucky I did. I was very short on patience by the time my ticket was finally handed over. I knew I'd to address the issue of the pass, but not with this idiot. There's only so many numbers I can count up to before I snap! The journey to Birmingham was pretty uneventful, and though I arrived late, I decided to try and sort out the pass so as I wouldn't spend the next few days worrying about it. This unfortunately involved calling my housemates in Oxford at 4am. Before I left the UK, I photocopied all my important documents in case anything was lost or stolen during my travels, etc. The envelope on my desk also contained a copy of the original Greyhound Ameripass voucher, which the manager wanted to see - he'd have had no hope at all if I hadn't copied it. Well as it happened, even with that paperwork, the manager had no idea what he was doing, though he was happy enough to admit that, and to give me the contact details for the day manager who probably would know more. So, I went to bed with plans to follow this up in the morning. |