Hamilton (Tuesday)

Oh my goodness! What a long day! We woke up for breakfast made by Carol, then headed off to the conference for an 8.30 start. The program has been very full on, with most of the speakers being very entertaining. There were a couple of speakers I found very difficult to listen too. Two had very strong accents and a couple because they weren't very well presented.
I have actually found it much more relevant than I expected. There were several presentations on OH&S that I found quite helpful and relevant, for when I am starting my own business in a few years. It has reinforced the importance of work place safety for me. You would think I wouldn't need reminding, having been through what I have, but I know even at home I do things that aren't necessarily 'safe'. I tend to think I'm 'invincible' and sometimes put more faith in my horses than is probably safe.
The final session for the day was Dr Roberto di Lorenzo, who is the President & Health and Well being Futurist Europa Health Forecasting Group, Milan, Italy. He was a very engaging speaker, but I found it hard to work out what his talk was about. The only theme I could pick up on, was that laughter is good for you. He kept cracking jokes throughout his presentation. Then he presented his last slide- I am the corporate impostor. It turns out Dr Roberto di Lorenzo does not exist! He had me going until the end, Mum too. though I knew the story he told us about his wrestling career wasn't true. a) you cannot physically bite yourself on the left testicle, b) I have heard that joke before. It was a very entertaining talk though, even the fact that he had completely pulled the wool over our eyes was funny. And the fact that Mum had been taking notes the whole way through... 
After the afternoon sessions, we headed back to the house to get 'frocked up' for the evening dinner. The house is a beautiful old and big two story house. Carols mum used to live with them, and she couldn't climb the stairs, so they have one of those stair lifts. I have never used one before, and they are a little intimidating... Especially getting off the lift at the top of the stairs! I think it scares Mum more than me though, she set herself up between me and the stairs. So had I fallen, we would have both broken our necks! We survived though.

The dinner was a great evening, but I was tired before we even left, so I probably didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. Dr Roberto, whose real name is Homer (who does that to their child?) gave us a bit of a spiel on his history and his work before dinner. He also told us about some of the other conferences he has spoken at. Its a bit disturbing how many job offers his characters had got after he had revealed who he really was.
The dinner was at the Hamilton Club, who put on an amazing meal- fantastic lamb! The dining room was up a couple of stairs, so the cute waiter carried me up the stairs. They did have a 'ramp' but he offered, so I wasn't going to say no! I love my job hehe. Mum, Anne and I all ended up at completely different tables, but I had some great people on my table. They had a trivia night after the main course, based on the Farmer Health website. I was sitting by the fire after tea when Libby Price, off the ABC's country hour came and sat down and had a chat with me, which was pretty cool, and rather flattering. After that though, we headed home and eventually got to bed.
I am exhausted!