MIX08 First Impressions

Silverlight, Silverlight and more Silverlight. We've only been to the keynote so far (which had lots of good stuff from Scott Guthrie as well as some good demos and an introduction by Microsoft Chief Architect, Ray Ozzie) but it's already very clear that Microsoft really wants to emphasize Silverlight. It'll be interesting to see if they can get any kind of market penetration to reasonably compete with Flash. But if the large corporate partners demo'd during the keynote are any indication, it could maybe get interesting.

And it's not just Flash. Microsoft seems to have Adobe squarely in their sights. Their new Expression Studio tools are tailored for designers and even look like comparable Adobe tools.

One fairly significant annoyance: no wireless internet in my room?! Shame on you, Venetian! I'm paying (ok, Dow Jones is paying) $300/night for a room and you can't even provide a basic service that I would expect from a Motel 6?!?!

One other thing conspicuously missing: caffeine. I haven't seen a drop of soda yet! I can't recall ever going to a Microsoft event and not seeing tables full of complimentary cans of soda. And Lou has been complaining bitterly about how difficult it is to flag someone down to get a simple cup of coffee during the meals they provide.

Caffeine Update: Ahh, I knew Microsoft wouldn't let us down. We hadn't made our way down to the 4th floor yet, where all the breakout sessions are being held. Once there, we were pleasantly greeted by numerous tables of soda, coffee, snacks, cookies, candy bars, etc. Huzzah!

T Is For Tonsillectomy

I was lucky enough to spend the last week+ laid up with a charmingly painful and lingering sore throat. What's really annoying is that it was a total rerun. Yep, I had the exact same thing last for a couple weeks just a few short months ago. Needless to say, I was getting a little sick of it (no pun intended).

So on Monday, I paid a visit to my friendly, neighborhood otolaryngologist. It took him all of about two seconds to take a glance down my throat and tell me that my tonsils need to come out ASAP. So two weeks from today, on Wednesday, March 12th, I'll have the pleasure of getting my very own tonsillectomy. According to Wikipedia, "The number of tonsillectomies in the United States has dropped significantly from several million in the 1970s to approximately 600,000 in the late 1990s". Ya hear that? I'm retro!

And yes, 30 years old is a little late to be having one but obviously I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. From what I've been told, they'll just keep getting infected until they yank the little suckers. But let me tell ya, what I really love is how it seems to inspire everyone to tell me lovely horror stories about some adult they know that had a tonsillectomy and what an unpleasant recovery they had. Like I need to hear that!

But I'm staying optimistic. I've done really well with surgeries in the past. And I have heard some positive things, too. Like how much better overall people have felt after healing up since you don't realize how much chronic conditions like this take out of you when your body is constantly fighting infection.

Long Weekend in SoDak

1,407.4 miles on our little Ford Focus rental car and Denise and I are back home. We spent an enjoyable long weekend taking a road trip to the western edge of South Dakota and back.

Last Thursday, day one, we picked up the rental car at the airport and we were off. Much to my dad's disappointment, we didn't take the 20-something mile detour to his hometown of Pipestone, MN. We stopped for the night in Sioux Falls, a city with some historical significance for me considering it's where my parents met.

The next day we headed west, bound for Rapid City. Our first little detour was to stop off at the somewhat disappointing corn palace in Mitchell, SD. Who would've guessed it's actually just a basketball arena inside? Ever since I was a kid, I had pictured a building entirely made of corn. Hmm...

Upon reaching the Badlands scenic bypass, we turned off I-90 since I'm ashamed to admit I've never really seen the Badlands. Coming from the relatively flat state of Minnesota, it's pretty amazing to see that much topographical diversity just one state away!

The bypass joined back up with I-90 at the always amusing tourist trap, Wall Drug. Of course we HAD to stop and do some shopping. We also had some surprisingly amazing calzones at Stone Willy's Pizzahouse. We then proceeded on to Rapid City where we crashed for the night.

On day three, we woke up and after some breakfast, headed 25 miles or so southwest to Mount Rushmore. A lot had changed with the monument in the 15 years or so since I last saw it but the mountain itself was still as awesome as I remember. It was Denise's first time ever seeing it.

After that, we took the long winding US-385 through the Black Hills northwest to Deadwood, SD. I figured Denise would enjoy Deadwood since I knew it had plenty of casinos and I must confess to being curious myself, having been a religious viewer of HBO's far-too-short-lived series of the same name.

Thanks to trolleys that cost a mere $1 per ride, we were able to spend the entire afternoon and night carefree, taking advantage of free alcohol and attentive waitresses. Needless to say, we had a blast!

All in all, Denise and I summed up Deadwood as about halfway in-between downtown Vegas and the Strip. It's thankfully no where near as flashy (read: gaudy) and expensive as the Strip, which gets annoying to me after about, oh, 15 minutes. It's much more laid back like downtown Vegas but not quite as (for lack of a better word) dumpy.

After snowing most of the evening, we awoke Sunday morning to find that it had never stopped. A little concerned, we headed out relatively early. Road conditions on US-14A leading up to Sturgis, where we joined up with I-90, where at times treacherous. It wasn't until about halfway across South Dakota that we finally outran the snow and road conditions improved.

We didn't really plan ahead of time where we were going to stop, we just wanted to get most of the way back home so we had a fairly short drive for Monday since we had a rental car to return. But we were in the zone and just powered through the 648 miles (according to Google Maps) all the way back to Minneapolis.

For a full outline of our route, click here. For pictures, click here.

San Diego: Day 4

Travel day, nothing eventful. Just the long drive back to Tucson. Sounds like we left San Diego just in time. The weather forecast for today said it was ACTUALLY supposed to cloud up a little and MAYBE sprinkle. That's some pretty severe weather by San Diego standards.

San Diego: Day 3

Today we went to the San Diego Zoo. Very cool. And the weather was gorgeous... but of course we didn't expect anything less from San Diego! But since a picture is worth a thousand words, you can check out my pictures.

San Diego: Day 2

Today was a relaxing day. About the only thing we did was visit a large outlet mall right down near the Mexican border. Tomorrow, I think we're either going to the San Diego Zoo or SeaWorld.

San Diego: Day 1

Any day that begins with IHOP is a good day, I always say... um, starting now. And after grabbing some delicious grub with my older brother Ryan and his wife Kate, Denise and I hit the road with my parents from Tucson to San Diego.

Because of our leisurely pace (and almost running out of gas in the mountains... in the middle of nowhere... in the dark) we didn't get to our hotel until about 8:30pm local time. We already got a great rate at the Pacific Terrace Hotel, but due to availability we were upgraded to junior suites with ocean views (although we can't really see much of it in the moonlight).

The room is really plush. And considering the last hotel room I stayed in a couple months ago was in Manhattan, it's downright gigantic in comparison... and at a fraction of the cost. In addition to the ocean view, large wood beds, marble bathrooms, and a flat-panel TV that I estimate at about 42", we get free wine! And as if all that wasn't enough, they actually managed to dig up a charger for my near-dead cell phone since, like an idiot, I left my charger in Tucson.

I have no idea what the plan is for tomorrow but after spending all of Friday afternoon traveling to Tucson and most of today trekking to San Diego, sleeping in and taking it easy are definitely top priorities!