It's been a long week for me since I last wrote in my journal and Tales of the Cocktail beat me silly. I had a great time but got laryngitis and a cold, and my camera was acting up on me for a while, so I have only a few photos out of hundreds that I took. Finally, my travels home were a complete disaster. A half day trip turned into a multi-day epic. I was pulled off several planes because they broke down, had numerous ones rescheduled, sat on runways for hours, and didn't get anything to eat for 40 hours; just a few glasses of water. (The last is probably not a bad thing, in N'awlins overeating great food is easy.) There were a few times I wish I had Dorothy's ruby slippers because I wanted to be home sooo bad.

There is absolutely nothing worse than having to travel when ill, and then get rescheduled. Last time this happened I was quite ill after returning to the US from a voyage around the world. I got stuck in a blizzard and it took several days to get home, all the while shivering in unheated airports. I ended up losing my hearing for several weeks and so sick i was in bed for three months. Well, at least this trip wasn't as horrific; just maddening.

Usually I'm quite happy to receive lots of goodies at events, although it is starting to get a bit more difficult to impress me. Well, Tales of the Cocktail certainly did! Sadly, I got sooo much schwag that I had to give most of it away or leave it for housekeeping at the hotel. The above photo is less than one days worth of stuff! By the way, there is a difference between swag and schwag, and what I got was a nice mix of the two. I kept the Plymouth Gin tips clock, the cool tiki cocktail stirrers, a bunch of nice notebooks and cocktail books, cocktail kits, and the dozen Riedel crystal spirits glasses; which were a nuisance to get home but much appreciated.