That's quite a haul!
I haven't written in a week. (Stick is right, I'm glad I didn't sign up for NaBloPoMo. I couldn't have done it.) Supercomputing'06 was exhausting.... even more exhausting than last year's conference in Seattle. I took even fewer photos than last year, too.
Here's a quick rundown.
Monday - flew to Tampa. Collapsed in my hotel room for a half hour before changing for evening event at convention center. Wore my red-white-and-blue cowboy boots. (I am becoming a Texan now, after all.) ;) Ended up back in the TACC hotel suite with all my co-workers, ordering pizza - the hors d'ouvres at the event left much to be desired. I think it confused a lot of people when I was walking through the exhibit floor and yelled "Hi mom!" :) Nice, since I hadn't seen her since she visited me in Austin last month.
Tuesday - ate my breakfast on the 45-min bus-ride from our hotel to the convention center. The days seemed far longer when we couldn't quickly get back to our hotel to change or rest. Here's hoping it's better next year in Reno. I didn't go to many of the presentations or meetings (I missed the keynote, I wasn't awake!) but I had a great time visiting
with all the people I knew at the exhibits, and the TACC booth was really nice. Tuesday night we went to the LinuxNetworx party at Raymond James stadium, home of the TB Buccaneers. I had so much fun at Safeco Field last year, but this year wasn't as great - maybe because a few of my favorite people were missing. We also got there too late to go down onto the field and try to kick field goals or anything. Turns out the Intel/Microsoft party was going on the same night, so when we went back, M and R joined the rest of the TACC crew there. I was just too tired. They were out drinking and dancing til 1am. oy. (sorry the pic is so dark... that's the pirate ship inside the stadium)
Wednesday - Spent a lot of time either in meetings or checking out the exhibits and collecting swag. Made some great contacts for my job, and got to see some of my former employers. :) I would have gone to the reception at the art museum, but I was invited to a nice sit-down dinner instead. Spent the whole time talking to my old "work-crush" from when I was at COC - A.S. Hadn't seen him yet, so it was worth every minute!
Thursday - More schmoozing, more swag. Pictured left - pens, frisbee, stress balls, small portfolio, USB key (64MB), USB laptop fan, clip-on light, keychains... etc. We closed down the TACC booth and shipped everything home. Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered pizza in the TACC suite again. The girls made the boys go into the next room so we could watch Grey's Anatomy. :) We definitely had some bonding moments. heh. WHITSIT*.
Friday - home, sweet home!
In the meantime, on the various planes and in my hotel room (and even in the suite on Thursday night) I did a lot of knitting on the flag sock. Sock one ought to be done this weekend! Incidentally, Continental Airlines apparently does not like to use the words "emergency exit row" any more - they call it the "row marked 'no children this row' " - Is there something wrong with calling it the emergency exit? Weird.
And, a strange sighting - on the little tram between the E gates and the C gates in Houston, I spied a guy who was in my dorm senior year at Rutgers. It was definitely AB - he looks exactly the same. I almost said something, but he looked like he was racing to catch a plane. And then I started thinking about whether I actually *wanted* him to know where I am or not! [He was absolutely certain when he met me that we were b'shert... he'd have instantly gotten that idea again if I had said anything in the airport.] So, I let him go. I might just google him anyway, to see what I find. Random!
*What happens in Tampa stays in Tampa. ;)
Here's a quick rundown.
Monday - flew to Tampa. Collapsed in my hotel room for a half hour before changing for evening event at convention center. Wore my red-white-and-blue cowboy boots. (I am becoming a Texan now, after all.) ;) Ended up back in the TACC hotel suite with all my co-workers, ordering pizza - the hors d'ouvres at the event left much to be desired. I think it confused a lot of people when I was walking through the exhibit floor and yelled "Hi mom!" :) Nice, since I hadn't seen her since she visited me in Austin last month.
Tuesday - ate my breakfast on the 45-min bus-ride from our hotel to the convention center. The days seemed far longer when we couldn't quickly get back to our hotel to change or rest. Here's hoping it's better next year in Reno. I didn't go to many of the presentations or meetings (I missed the keynote, I wasn't awake!) but I had a great time visiting
with all the people I knew at the exhibits, and the TACC booth was really nice. Tuesday night we went to the LinuxNetworx party at Raymond James stadium, home of the TB Buccaneers. I had so much fun at Safeco Field last year, but this year wasn't as great - maybe because a few of my favorite people were missing. We also got there too late to go down onto the field and try to kick field goals or anything. Turns out the Intel/Microsoft party was going on the same night, so when we went back, M and R joined the rest of the TACC crew there. I was just too tired. They were out drinking and dancing til 1am. oy. (sorry the pic is so dark... that's the pirate ship inside the stadium)Wednesday - Spent a lot of time either in meetings or checking out the exhibits and collecting swag. Made some great contacts for my job, and got to see some of my former employers. :) I would have gone to the reception at the art museum, but I was invited to a nice sit-down dinner instead. Spent the whole time talking to my old "work-crush" from when I was at COC - A.S. Hadn't seen him yet, so it was worth every minute!
Thursday - More schmoozing, more swag. Pictured left - pens, frisbee, stress balls, small portfolio, USB key (64MB), USB laptop fan, clip-on light, keychains... etc. We closed down the TACC booth and shipped everything home. Instead of going out to dinner, we ordered pizza in the TACC suite again. The girls made the boys go into the next room so we could watch Grey's Anatomy. :) We definitely had some bonding moments. heh. WHITSIT*.Friday - home, sweet home!
In the meantime, on the various planes and in my hotel room (and even in the suite on Thursday night) I did a lot of knitting on the flag sock. Sock one ought to be done this weekend! Incidentally, Continental Airlines apparently does not like to use the words "emergency exit row" any more - they call it the "row marked 'no children this row' " - Is there something wrong with calling it the emergency exit? Weird.
And, a strange sighting - on the little tram between the E gates and the C gates in Houston, I spied a guy who was in my dorm senior year at Rutgers. It was definitely AB - he looks exactly the same. I almost said something, but he looked like he was racing to catch a plane. And then I started thinking about whether I actually *wanted* him to know where I am or not! [He was absolutely certain when he met me that we were b'shert... he'd have instantly gotten that idea again if I had said anything in the airport.] So, I let him go. I might just google him anyway, to see what I find. Random!
*What happens in Tampa stays in Tampa. ;)
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