Powerless at PDC05

I managed to arrive
in LA just in time for a huge
power outage. You really haven't lived until you've experience
downtown LA without functioning traffic lights. And it wasn't just the
lack of streetlights making things fun but also the fact that the streets were
full of pedestrians that had evacuated downtown office buildings and
businesses. The power was still out when I finally made it to the hotel
and dragged my suitcase up the non-functioning escalator to the lobby. The
power came back on about the same time as I set foot in the lobby, which made
for kind of a grand entrance. I then made my way to the registration
desk and waited in line with several dozen other people for the hotel computer
systems to come back up, which took about 45 minutes. "Hmmm..." I thought
sarcastically to myself as I waited in line, "the people in this check-in line
alone could probably implement a new hotel management system faster then it
takes them to reboot." Anyway, I finally made it through the line and into
my room, where I was finally able to plug into the sweet, sweet broadband.
Here's to hoping the rest of PDC05 goes
better!