Dale Miller

It’s the last day of the Internet2 meeting, and I’m ready to get back home. I’ll be leaving Austin as soon as I wake up in the morning, and hopefully be back to the cathouse sometime mid-afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon I skipped out on the last sessions to go over to U.T. and pick up 31 liters of liquid nitrogen to perform ice cream experiments. I spent the evening at Mark’s apartment as a taste-tester. He and Rob produced cinnamon, lavender, pumpkin pie and prickly-pear cactus ice creams. The cinnamon and pumpkin pie were excellent. The lavender was interesting, and the prickly-pear was … pink. It really didn’t have much taste, and it was the color of Pepto-Bismol. I don’t think they’ll be serving that one at Linucon. Marks’ kitten, Delphi, loved having new people to play with. She was walking across keyboards, pouncing my hands, etc. She’s a darling.

This is cool

I came across this picture on meetme.hotornot.com. I’m glad I don’t know who gave her that certificate.

I was a bad boy today. I skipped some sessions right after lunch and spent my time sunning beside the pool. It felt good. :)

I had dinner with mirell and landley tonight. Afterward we went to HEB Central Market to search for syrups, purees, etc. to make liquid nitrogen ice cream at Linucon. I can guarantee there will be flavors of ice cream that few people have tried. Among the things bought tonight were lavender syrup, pomegranate concentrate, and prickly pear syrup. I think the list is now up to about 40 flavors including mango, guava, peach, peanut butter, grape, apple, carrot, and the favorite so far — chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and Oreo.

Austin is a nice city. I suspect I would enjoy living down here … if I only had a job. Oh well, I guess there are worse places than Little Rock.

I miss my kitties.

I miss my bed.

But it’s nice to be away from the usual for a bit. Austin is nice, and it’s good to see Mark a bit. I had dinner with him last night at Fuddruckers, and went over to his apartment to visit his kitten. She’s adorable.

I just can’t seem to become terribly excited about anything they are talking about at the Internet2 conference. There is too much hand-waving for me. I’m more of a nuts-and-bolts sort of person. A large number of the folk here are directors or technical managers, and are good at the “big picture” issues. That’s not my forte.

I work up fairly early this morning, despite having stayed up until midnight reading. Since I was sleepy, I rolled over to catch a few more winks before making myself get up. That was a mistake. I did my usual sleep-dream-wake-repeat cycle a few times, becoming more depressed every time I awoke. I have pleasant dreams, and that makes it harder to get up and face reality.

It’s interesting to attend a conference where I am just getting started in the topics under discussion. I found the following description of one of the sessions:

Session Abstract:
This session will be an in-depth discussion of the Internet2 E2E piPEs project. We will give an overview of recent changes to OWAMP and BWTCL including OWAMP hop counting, serverless BWCTL client, and 3-party BWCTL. We will discuss the evolution of the piPEs architecture, focusing on the next generation version of the “glue” software and our collaborative efforts with the GEANT2 JRA1 team to develop a joint architecture.

I have very little idea what this even means. I think I will be attending something else in this time slot. ;)

My trip to Austin was uneventful, fortunately. It was much more pleasant than the previous drive down. Then it was cold and rained most of the way. Today it was sunny and warm. I may have gotten a bit too much sun, but I don’t think I’ll have a bad burn. Keeping the top down on a pretty day is just too seductive.

I am ensconced in the Hilton in downtown Austin. I am not overly pleased with the accommodations. The room is fine, but the prices are ridiculous. The room rate is high, but I knew that going in. Then there is a $10/day parking charge. And, to top it off, the hotel is advertised as having both wired and wireless Internet access. They do, but for an additional $10/day fee. And, of course, more fees if you want to use the fitness center, etc. I can’t even really decide to check out tomorrow and find someplace cheaper and more guest-friendly, because there is a $75 early checkout fee which I would have to eat. Oh well, I’ll just make the best of it and find myself somewhere nearby with free wireless. As it is, I’m using the data connection from my cell phone. It’s slow, but it’s free. :)

It seems strange to climb into bed and not have a cat (or several) come to visit.

I need to be getting ready to leave for Austin. I have laundry to do, the oil needs to be changed in the car, and I have to pack. Am I doing any of those things? Of course not — I’m playing on the computer.

For anyone who is bored and has free long distance, this is one of the more fun time and temperature announcements I have found.
(806) 537-3574

Yes, I’m a nerd who called a bunch of t&t numbers just because.

What a week this has been. I’ve spent two evenings in the darkroom so I could have my prints ready for class the Monday after I get back from Austin, work has been busy, the Internet connection to UALR has been flaky, and I haven’t had enough sleep. Not at all a bad week, just a busy one.

I think I have some good prints to turn in. I had almost forgotten how much I like messing about in a darkroom. It doesn’t matter how many times I do it, there’s still something magical about seeing a picture appear on the paper when you put it in the developer.

I have done almost nothing to prepare for my Austin trip. Fortunately, all I have to do is go down there and sit in meeting rooms. I do need to get clothes washed and packed, the oil changed in the car, make sure there is enough cat food in the house, etc. Just the usual things one has to do before going somewhere.

Friend opossum has become a regular visitor to my kitchen. He is becoming bolder as well. He started by coming in the house sometime around 2:00 a.m., when everyone was asleep. Now he wanders in around 10:30, has a relaxing dinner, and wanders out again. The cats just watch him, and he’s apparently scared of them.

I need to post (and read) more regularly.