24 July Monday evening
Well Day 1 of the conference is down.
Surprisingly I slept well last night and had no trouble waking up this morning. I slept with the window wide open – it never really got cold last night – maybe 65°F – and there were no bugs. Blessed.
I was off to register for the conference about 8:30. The SECC is about a 15-minute walk. I had meant to pick up a coffee along the way – but opted to get to the center before the first lecture.
Registration was remarkably easy – except that I was stuck with a safety pin for my nametag; by the time I picked up my badge they had run out of lanyards.
Into the first set of lectures and I remember that the ‘first’ day of the conference is a set of invited plenary lecturers- 8 in all – for the BJ 100th birthday. Since these are all the attendees in one lecture hall – I must disagree with my boss that this conference is as big as ASBMB. I remember ASBMB to be about 2000 in Boston last time; there were between 400 and 800 people at today’s lectures.
The boss met up with me at the first coffee break (well, D. Coke for her!) and I was dismayed to learn that the hotel had not passed on my message. She seemed quite anxious. Poor girl. I assured her of my presence intact and continued on to coffee.
Coffee and tea (of course) were served in cups with saucers and teeny tiny spoons. Milk was from pitchers; sugar came in the form of lumps (2, thank you). How quaint! I had coffee with a charming student from Sudan(!) who was in the UK for the first time. Not that I am world traveler, but at least I am from a first world country. Mohammed did his best to convey how overwhelmed he was. I was excited for him but almost sorry for him at the same time. I tried to convince him that the best part of conferences (besides the scientific discourse, obviously) was the free swag from vendors. I left him looking dubious and unbelieving.
Back to the lectures – two more before lunch – where they fed us! Veggie pasta or Chili con Carne with rice!
I ate lunch with a woman from UT Southwestern and her mother, visiting from Ireland. I manage to snag one of eight computers provided by Stratagene for some much needed internet time – namely email – after lunch. No messages from TSB – oh yeah, it is still before nine in Boston. He is not even up yet!
I had a bit of a time getting into email – the UK keyboard differs from the one in the US meaning that my password was not my password – frustrating until I managed to figure it out.
I got a message from my Paisano, whom I will be visiting in a few days and managed to make flight and bus plans for the rest of the week. Now all I need is a place to stay Thursday night.
Dinner tonight was in the west part of the West End, fish and chips and a pint. Quite good except for the fish bones.
I asked the bartender if he could explain cricket in two sentences or less. He replied, “Don’t watch.”
Surprisingly I slept well last night and had no trouble waking up this morning. I slept with the window wide open – it never really got cold last night – maybe 65°F – and there were no bugs. Blessed.
I was off to register for the conference about 8:30. The SECC is about a 15-minute walk. I had meant to pick up a coffee along the way – but opted to get to the center before the first lecture.
Registration was remarkably easy – except that I was stuck with a safety pin for my nametag; by the time I picked up my badge they had run out of lanyards.
Into the first set of lectures and I remember that the ‘first’ day of the conference is a set of invited plenary lecturers- 8 in all – for the BJ 100th birthday. Since these are all the attendees in one lecture hall – I must disagree with my boss that this conference is as big as ASBMB. I remember ASBMB to be about 2000 in Boston last time; there were between 400 and 800 people at today’s lectures.
The boss met up with me at the first coffee break (well, D. Coke for her!) and I was dismayed to learn that the hotel had not passed on my message. She seemed quite anxious. Poor girl. I assured her of my presence intact and continued on to coffee.
Coffee and tea (of course) were served in cups with saucers and teeny tiny spoons. Milk was from pitchers; sugar came in the form of lumps (2, thank you). How quaint! I had coffee with a charming student from Sudan(!) who was in the UK for the first time. Not that I am world traveler, but at least I am from a first world country. Mohammed did his best to convey how overwhelmed he was. I was excited for him but almost sorry for him at the same time. I tried to convince him that the best part of conferences (besides the scientific discourse, obviously) was the free swag from vendors. I left him looking dubious and unbelieving.
Back to the lectures – two more before lunch – where they fed us! Veggie pasta or Chili con Carne with rice!
I ate lunch with a woman from UT Southwestern and her mother, visiting from Ireland. I manage to snag one of eight computers provided by Stratagene for some much needed internet time – namely email – after lunch. No messages from TSB – oh yeah, it is still before nine in Boston. He is not even up yet!
I had a bit of a time getting into email – the UK keyboard differs from the one in the US meaning that my password was not my password – frustrating until I managed to figure it out.
I got a message from my Paisano, whom I will be visiting in a few days and managed to make flight and bus plans for the rest of the week. Now all I need is a place to stay Thursday night.
Dinner tonight was in the west part of the West End, fish and chips and a pint. Quite good except for the fish bones.
I asked the bartender if he could explain cricket in two sentences or less. He replied, “Don’t watch.”
posted by beaner at 4:15 PM
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