Lack of Sync

My sister arrived in Austin facing a couple of challenges. First of all is was raining and cold. Secondly, the couch she was sleeping on was owned by a friend...and his girlfriend...who had just had a major fight that night. And, to top it off, they lived even farther away than I was staying. She called me hoping that she could get a ride in the morning for the first day of the SXSW fest. She would be attending the Interactive part of the show and it would be great if I could pick her up.
No problem, what time?
9:30?
again, NP.
Do you want to call in the morning?
Just to give me directions, I'll be up.
Although I have been known to sleep in on occasion, with the time change and my excitement for the show, it was going to be... No Problem.

Problem.

When my phone rang at 9:30 I had absolutely no idea where I was. Slowly it came to me. Texas. I am in Texas.
Hello (groggy as hell)? What? Who is this....?
My sister, in good humor, let this one pass. I eventually picked her up and we headed out.

I bring this up because sometimes I can fall out of sync. Sometimes it can last a minute, I've even had it last a whole day. There are times when the normal level of concentration that gets me by isn't enough. And sometimes it can take quite a jarring to get me back into rhythm.

Such as...

I was running into the first panel discussion of the day. I was thirty seconds late and in the auditorium of two thousand people there was no place to sit. By the time I made it the back of the auditorium to find a wall to lean on the discussion was in full swing. The panelist were funny and cracking wise, the audience was completely engaged. I put my bag down, leaned against the wall and focused my attention on the discussion.

That's when the lights went out.

First the lights flickered for a moment, then went completely out. I thought it was odd. I also thought it was odd that the wall I was leaning on was fairly smooth. I turned around to notice not all of the wall was smooth, just the panel I happened to lean on. The panel, of course, was a touchscreen that controlled the lighting for the entire auditorium.

Shit.

In the dark I could hear the staff rushing around trying to find the closest light panel to them. Two staffers had reached their respective panels at the same time. Just as one pressed the lights back on, the other pressed it off. This repeated itself more than it should have until even the audience started laughing. Then I saw a couple staffers walking towards me. Bummer. I was preparing an apology as they walked up to me. One of them asked me if I had touched panel. I look him straight in the eye and said “No”. I then gently pointed to the guy next to me . They turned to him, ask him not to touch the panel and walk away. The guy in front of me (who had not seen me gesture at him) shrugged his shoulders in bewilderment and went back to watching seminar.

Hmmm. I was back in sync.