Best Sleep Ever
So I’m in Portland for the fifth year in a row at the OSCON Open Source Developer’s Conference. And as in prior years, the Institute has put me up in the DoubleTree just a couple blocks away from the convention center. That’s do-able largely because of the deep discount the hotel gives to OSCON convention attendees.
The rooms I’ve had have ranged widely from the small to the large. Last year they put me in a really nice deluxe room. This year it’s one of their smallest. What’s going on I found out, is that the hotel basically fills in the blanks with conference goers. We get, at a very nice rate, whatever the hotel couldn’t book at the regular rate. And I am not complaining.
DoubleTree beds are decadent. I’ll reliably stay at a DoubleTree whenever I can afford it for the bed. I get, hands down, the best sleep ever on these beds. The chain has them custom made to their own specs, and you can actually buy one yourself. Swear to god one of these days I will…but they are not cheap.
It’s not just the mattress and box springs, it’s a whole system including a cushioned mattress cover, box baffled down blankets and triple sheets plus lovely jumbo down pillows. I was so looking forward to getting to my hotel after a long day’s flight, crammed into a tiny passenger jet seat, and lay down in one of these lovely beds. It’s been two nights of heaven so far.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:58 am
Dammit!
So you flew this time. Sucks. But I bet thats cheaper then driving through and hanging in Topeka for a day or two.
What about Nov and the NARTH convention in Denver?
July 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Yeah…sorry. It’s the price of gasoline. I’d have driven it as usual but for that. I just didn’t have the money so I had to let the Institute fly me out. I figured gas would cost me close to a thousand bucks for the trip to Kansas, Portland, then California and back home. Air fare was only about 550. The Institute would reimburse me the equivalent expense in air fare, but then hotels out and back would have been another thousand. I just don’t have it.
My plan was to wait until September to do my usual road trip out to California. Putting it off might have given me more time to save up for it. But the cost of gas kept on going up and now I don’t think I’m going to make it at all this year.
I have an invite down to Orlando come October that I can swing, and will for reasons you can probably figure. Also, the Hubble Servicing Mission will launch sometime then so I’m going to be there for that too. The expenses down to Florida aren’t so bad as to California. And there is a certain someone down there I have wanted to see again for 38 years.
The NARTH Convention is tempting. But come November there are weather concerns that will probably prevent me from either driving or flying. At least, not driving the I-70 route. I may still try to get in a trip out to see my brother…but I’d probably take the I-40 route during the winter.
I have a dear friend who is going to Burning Man this year and I was hoping to meet up with him afterward on my way out to California. But that’s probably not going to happen. Unless I get something like an amazing performance review this year and they convince me I won’t be laid off for at least another two or three years.
July 26th, 2008 at 2:55 am
I had the day-dream today of getting my hydrogen generator installed in my car, and seeing if I could make it to Colorado and back with one tank of gas.
On the other hand, it wouldnt be as fun and cool if you were’nt going to be there! (If for no other reason then to keep me from being TOO incredibly obnoxious! hahaha)
Gas prices are really screwing everyone, and everything over.