yapc, day zero
John and Gloria and I got waffles this morning. They were good. From there, we started our trip: down to the Philly airport, over to O’Hare, cross town to IIT. This was all pretty standard, with a few ups and downs. As the three of us (John, Dieter, and I) struggled to decide what kind of CTA pass to buy, and how to buy it, a few random tourists on their way out of Chicago stopped and asked us if we wanted their remaining day’s worth of tourist pass. There were three of them, and we said yes. That saved us about $15 and a good bit of time. On the way to our train, I found a phone change return full of quarters. (Yes, I compulsively check them for change, I admit it.)
On the second leg of our train trip, some guy had his phone on speakerphone, listening to really loud, bad music. Then he made a phone call with it, holding the phone to his ear and yelling while it was on speakerphone. I do not understand what was wrong with his brain.
We got checked in to the dorm, which has a very weird feel. It’s sort of Soviet Ikea: steel and wood furniture, concrete walls and ceilings. I actually like it a lot!
I saw a lot of people I haven’t seen since last year (Bisbee, dha, Shawn S., Andy, etc.) and a lot of people I’ve never managed to meet in person before (mmlj4, Cees, Jason Crome). The arrival dinner was a bit of a disappointment, dinner-wise, but I had a good time. I think that’s about the norm, so I’m not really very let down.
I took some photos, which I’ll probably put on Flickr soon. Then I think I’ll go to bed. I need to get up tomorrow and be energetic for my talk!