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Tuesday May 15, 2001
"The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see." - Chesterton
flamingo nerd vacations in Florida
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runaway train There was this news coverage of a train churning across the heartland with no engineer on board. Sometimes my life feels like that. In control? Yeah, right. My day started early since I was a moderator for the first session. I attended a couple of other sessions and a special interet group dominated by a pair of guys, one talking a mile a minute in an Eastern European accent and the other smiling incrutably and saying a few well-chosen words in a Chinese accent. Sometimes understanding variations of English is the hardest part at these things, like graduate school. One of my colleages, known for his communication and mastery of English uttered a sentence that is probably unique in the history of technical conferences, "I'm about to end this sentence with a preposition." You know that feeling when you started a sentence and can't get out. I'm trying to branch out of my base area and it is hard to sit through sessions and not be able to think right along with the best minds and instead be inundated with new stuff to consider. Exciting, though. You have to remember that you were once an initiate in your chosen narrow area. In the evening, there is a large dinner for customers. To cut costs, there is a fixed choice of menu. Yours truly pre-ordered the wine. (For the record, Rosemount Cabernet is a pretty good choice. I didn't taste the relatively economical Clod du Bois Chardonnay.) Still, coctails and after dinner drinks were offerered. That runs up the bill. This steak restaurant was almost in the hotel. But we did have to walk outside in the open air to get to it. That was the first time I'd left the hotel since I arrived. I joked about not wanting to break my record. I do finally sleep this night. With the help of a nightcap and a paid-for movie. Still, I was almost with there for the credits of 'Almost Famous.'
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