2002/07/23 · 05:09

MGB day 1 wrapup

Yesterday started with a beautiful sunrise. Fortunately, my
hotel room overlooks
the river, so I got a great view of it as the sky slowly lightened and then
began to turn pink. That object in the lower right of the picture is a river
dredge; not shown in this shot are the numerous ferries, tugboats, and cargo
carriers that ply the river.
I met Peter and John for an undistinguished breakfast at the conference
center, then we started work. Attendance at the labs was fitful; we’d get
a spurt of 10-15 people, then they’d all finish and leave and things would
be quiet for a while. Eventually, our Microsoft sponsor decided to set out
a huge pile of T-shirts, and that was a sight to see! You’d have
thought we were giving out free money the way people descended on the T-shirt
stacks. I saw one lady take six of them. Considering the prevalence of Microsoft
logo-wear among the attendees, I wouldn’t have thought anyone would want
any more of it. The puzzle block
sets were very popular. In fact, John threatened to juggle in the aisle,
but he never quite made it past our row of tables.

I ended up taking four certification tests for my MCSE
certification, which requires a total of seven exams. I hadn’t studied,
but since the testing company had a special $40 rate (as opposed to the
usual $125), I figured it was worth a try, and it was– I passed all four!
Some other highlights of day 1:

  • Watching the little electric carts that the convention center staff
    uses drive along the catwalks just below the ceiling
  • Seeing a cart driver inattentively smash into a large "SAFETY
    FIRST" sign; the crowd reaction was priceless
  • Taking Betty and Thomas to dinner at the New
    Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Company    , where I had a darn good
    shrimp po-boy
  • Going up to the rooftop pool with Thomas for a pre-bedtime swim. The
    night was too cloudy to see the moon or any stars, but it was warm and
    breezy. Two men were practicing kick-boxing at poolside, which was really
    cool– they were both fantastically quick, and they’d start off slowly
    and speed up their strikes and blocks.

Today is more of the same, although we expect a bigger crowd at the labs
once the lectures/sessions begin to repeat.

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