I'm searching for a new laptop bag. After getting a backpack from Microsoft and using it on a few trips, I realize that it won't work. Since I know there are a few other people looking for them, I commissioned a review on a Maxpedition bag from the Scary DBA. I'm looking forward to seeing what he thinks of that one.
In any case, when I was trying to stuff things into my bag and struggling. So I unpacked the bag and then took stock of what I had in there. My list of things:
Wow!
I was actually stunned by how much crap I was carrying around. No wonder I didn't like carrying the backpack. I can cut down a touch of this stuff, but I'm missing my camcorder, which I'll need at PASS along with a microphone.
I definitely think that I need to consider a rolling bag of some sort.
Don't look for all this at SQL Saturday #17. I'll be there with just the netbook, leaving the 15" laptop at home.
I had to go to the UK recently and took my Kindle along. I put some thought into my Kindle use before I left and ended up with things not working out as I planned.
The planning went into the trip because I usually read on planes and I expected to have lots of time flying from Denver to London and back. Since the Kindle can't purchase books overseas I read quite a few samples in the weeks before I left and then purchased about 10 or 12 new books to take with me. With the 3 or 4 I was reading, I had plenty to do.
That was good since I got stuck in Chicago with a broken plane overnight and read 4 books before I got to London. Plus I was partway into 2 more.
However I didn't really work on my computer on the way over, which was a problem. I didn't charge the battery in Chicago and by the time I arrived in London, my battery was almost dead. By the time I got through a day of work in London and back to the hotel, the Kindle battery was completely dead and I couldn't charge it.
The Kindle has a special charger, and despite being a miniUSB plug, it doesn't work with most mini-USB chargers, like cell phone chargers. There is a USB cable, which trickle charges, but it won't get things charged unless you can boot the Kindle first. I couldn't and spent all week without anything to read until Thursday night when I went to a Borders and bought a couple books.
From Thur night to Saturday night when I got home, I read 5 books and started a 6th. It was a hassle to carry them around, especially on planes with my bag stuffed with 5 paperbacks and overflowing. I missed the Kindle during those times, wishing I'd brought the charger.
Why didn't I? I have a travel adapter, but only one and the last time I was overseas, I was struggling to get things charged. Between my laptop and cell phone, I knew I'd be competing for plugs and so I brought the USB cable. What I didn't count on was running the battery low and not being able to charge that way. I did buy a 2.5A, 5V charger in the UK, but it didn't work. I read online that there is a Samsung charger that works, but I couldn't find one in a few stores and didn't have time to search widely. Amazon.uk has one, but they didn't have express shipping or I would have ordered one.
I learned a few lessons here. One is that I need to charge more regularly on the road. Two is that I should just bring the wall charger. Three is that the Amazon Kindle team are idiots. How much money could they be making from selling spare chargers? Why wouldn't you just use a blackberry compatible charger? Poor, poor design choice.
I didn't want to go on this trip, but I agreed to do it. Now I regret it.
My flight to Chicago was fairly uneventful, but it was running late. At 4:30CST the pilot says we should be on the ground in 30 minutes, which is good since I have to get to the London flight by 5:45. at 5:00 we're finally descending and then we arrive at 5:15. I rush out and find a monitor to learn I need to change terminals, which is fun for the kids with the underground tunnel, but not much fun when you want some food and need to get to a flight.
I luckily stopped for a sandwich that I stuffed in my bag when I got in sight of the gate. That would prove fortuitous later.
I get on the plane with about 5 minutes to spare before they close the door. I get settled, start reading, listening to music and then 20 minutes later I'm wondering why we haven't left. Eventually they say that the plane has an issue and we need to deplane. This bird isn't going anywhere. It's annoying, we pack up and get off, they say they'll look for another plane, announcement at 7.
OK, I go get a bit of food (I'm saving my sandwich for the flight in case the food stinks) and wait around. I call home, no one there, and then finally here we're leaving at 8 from a few gates down. Same type of plane, same tickets.
So I walk down, we get on the plane, get settled again, and then push back. They de=ice, we taxi out, moving slowly, making the journey along the runways. I'm not sure how much bigger CHI is than DEN, but we taxi'd for a good 10 minutes around. The engines rev up and we start to turn, then they go down. A couple minutes later the stewardess comes on and says that the de-icer in the engine isn't working and since it's snowing they want it checked.
Back to the gate.
It's 8:45CST and we get to the gate, they look at it, don't want us to de-plane. We sit there, people are on cell phones trying to re-book, change plans, etc. Finally at 9:30 they tell us this plane can't fly so we deplane WITHOUT the flight being canceled. I'm glad I got in line right away because they canceled the flight 5 minutes later and started booking us in hotels.
Without our bags. I can't get my bag, which means no clean clothes, no deodorant, no running shoes, etc. I get 3 vouchers for food (dinner, breakfast, lunch), and of course nothing's open at 10:45 when I get them. When I get to the hotel, their kitchen is closed. Fortunately the bar is open, I grab a beer, get to my room and then get my chicken Caesar wrap out of my bag. At least I got dinner.
I fly to the UK tomorrow, not really my favorite thing to do, so I’m trying to ensure I can make the trip as painless as possible. I want to keep busy, distract myself, and not feel trapped on the plane with nothing to do as I make my way from Denver to Cambridge. The last time I went, I had a laptop, PSP, iPod, and 4 books in my bag. The trip went OK, and so I’m preparing again.
The first thing I’m doing is loading up my Kindle. I can’t get books while I’m in the UK, except for some Mobipocket ones and I don’t want to take the chance I’ll have issues being at a UK IP, so I’m going to make sure I have at least 12 books for my weeklong trip.
A lot? Yep, but I can usually read 2 while flying to Orlando, so I want to be prepared. I’ve been going through some samples, but here are a few I’m loading up:
That should keep me going for a few days. I still have some samples to get through before I leave, so I’ll have a few more hours to decide if I need anything else.
Then I have my iTouch. I listen to some music while I’m traveling and I’ve got plenty on there, but I’m going to actually purchase some video to keep on there for my travels. I have my eye on the new season of Scrubs, which I haven’t seen much. 'I’m not sure what else I want to buy, probably search around for a movie or two I’ve missed and want to see. Maybe Death Race or Burn After Reading.
I’ll have my laptop, and a Min Flip video camera to help me document things as well as get work done. Along with a power adapter to handle English power and assorted USB charging cables, I’m hoping I survive the two cross Atlantic flights without too much hassle.
I spend the weekend in Indianapolis at the IndyTechFest 2008 and had a great time. It's a smaller, regional conference type event that takes place on a Saturday (this is their second year) and it covers .NET, SQL Server, and Sharepoint tracks. It's a good sized event, over 400, and the leaders of the various user groups have done a great job.
John Magnabosco, who runs IndyPass, started contacting me last year (2007) and trying to get me to come. I begged off last year, not really wanting to travel and having some conflicts, but John got both me and Andy Warren out there this year. It was partially a favor to speak and support the event and partially to see how someone else runs an event. Andy and I, along with Brian Knight, have been running the SQL Saturday events for a year now and we have more coming up. If you're in Olympia, WA or Greenville, SC this weekend (Oct 11, 2008), there are events to attend.
We've struggled to get the events going outside of our home towns, at least Orlando and Jacksonville. There's another event in Denver, so I haven't organized one yet, but who knows what will happen. It seems to come down to the event organizer really putting time and effort in there, even with coaching from Andy, and this weekend confirmed that. Andy wrote a bit about the event already and I tend to agree with what he said. This organizers have done a great job fundraising and that makes a big difference, but they put on a great event.
I spoke on Green Computing at lunch, slightly delayed because of the way lunch was run, but it worked out OK. It was actually good since my presentation ran just about one time, maybe 5 minutes early, and I would have been 30 minutes early if I'd started on time. That's my bad, but I honestly thinking the type of people that would like the talk would be excited and they'd talk about green computing more.
It was great meeting John and his fellow chapter leaders after emailing with him for over a year. They were nice hosts and it was interesting to see how they run things. Indy is a nice city, we had great weather, and they have a lot of passion for the community and helping people. People in Indy are lucky to have them.
I'm in Indianapolis for the Indy Tech Fest, having been talked into speaking by John M. He started emailing me last year, I begged off then, but he persisted and so I have a lunchtime session on green computing and energy tomorrow. In any case, Andy Warren and I met today for some brainstorming and now I'm back at the hotel, trying to get some work done tonight. Luckily it's two hours ahead here so I'm not too tired. Unluckily, the time difference will matter in the morning a lot more.
We're staying at the Sheraton, in Indy, a large city with a few professional sports teams, a couple miles from the event, and a fairly new, modern, nice hotel in a tech center type area. It's a 10 or 11 story hotel and I found myself surprised by a couple things.
This is a fairly upscale hotel, so paying for Internet seems surprising to me. Especially in a business area, I'd expect most people would need access, so charging for it annoys me and honestly makes me reconsider ever booking at a Sheraton again.
The second is the lack of Wi-fi. Paying for Internet, while not a lot of money, is annoying. However then having to use a wired connection, unable to sit in bed and work, is doubly upsetting. In this relatively modern age, in a fairly large city, I'm surprised that wireless isn't pervasive in a hotel like this.
Geeks, beware of Sheraton hotels.
