PDC05: Day Zero #1

The first flight, from Portland, Maine to Newark, New Jersey, was largely uneventful except for the genuinely funny flight attendant. She made the in-flight safety lecture quite entertaining to listen to; heck even my air-jaded co-worker listened for the first time in ages. After some initial delays we landed just in time to grab some sushi and iced green tea from a shop called "Wok & Roll." The sushi was passable and the green tea iced tea was excellent. How could it be otherwise? The second flight provided a bulkhead seat which gave me ample legroom to get three hours of work in. I finally found and fixed a performance problem with the topological analyzer I have been working on. The issue has been on my plate for some time but meetings, meetings, meetings.

The second flight went by invisibly due to the concentration I had on the code mystery before me. The only notice I took was of a strange habitation style somewhere between Texas and Arizona. From 35,000 feet it looked like a network: long roads connection geographically diverse small land plots. This was not the grid-oriented land arrangement I am used to from the Midwest, but rather warren-like in appearance. I wonder what it was. We arrived early in Los Angeles, hopped onto the Super Shuttle and zoomed to the Wilshire Grand. I know it has only been a few hours, but here is my immediate take. The restaurants look quite good: City Grill (American), Cardini Ristorante (Mediterranean), Kyoto (Japanese), Seoul Jung (Korean barbecue) and Point Moorea (Tiki bar). The location is excellent: quite close to the conference and to the city center. All good points so far, but...

The room is small, smells like cigarette smoke and is a little dirty and worn. It reminds me of the Boston Park Plaza which exists largely on its historical reputation. The front desk assures me this is not a smoking room. Do they even exist anymore in California? I still smells like hell and I probably will too before the end. Now I wish I had stayed in the Omni Los Angeles again as I did last time.

I am meeting Robert to decide on dinner soon, here is to hoping it comes out better than my room has...

PS. They are also struggling to provide the bandwidth already being consumed by pre-conference attendees. I wonder how that is going to shake out later in the week. At least it is free! Which should be listed as another positive.