chanson

I leave tomorrow, and I haven't had any deep-dish yet. So I'm in desperate need of a pizza fix.

I'm going to Giordano's on Randall Road in Algonquin tonight to get my fix. Join me! Eat tasty deep-dish pizza (aka real pizza) and hang out and stuff. I'll be there around 7:30 — if you want to join me, reply to my post or send me email so I can get a table we'll all fit at.

If you're coming from the city, just take I-90 out to Randall Road and go north for a while on Randall; Giordano's is on your left right as you head north. In any case their address is on the Giordano's Locations page if you need it.

I'm in Illinois right now. Things I'd forgotten:

• It costs money to use the road. Well, some roads. Fortunately at least there are manned toll booths in addition to the I-Pass lanes and the automatic coin lanes.
• People can still smoke in restaurants, bars, and clubs here. I'd forgotten just how foul it was.
• Holy fuck is this area white. There's a very distinct lack of any ethnic diversity here. I'm glad I lived in the northwest suburbs when I last lived in Illinois, and that I live in Cupertino now.

It should be a nice vacation though. I'm heading a ways south to my sister's soon, for the first of the family events, and I can't wait to see everybody.

I'll be in Chicago next week for the holidays, from the night of Saturday, December 23 to the morning of Thursday, December 28.

I won't actually be in Chicago for most of that time; I'll be staying in the northwest suburbs — Crystal Lake, specifically — and I'll be spending a lot of time with family in Johnsburg and West Chicago. But I also want to get together with people and hang out, in addition to taking care of some business.

Drop me a note if you want to hang out!

I'm in Las Vegas right now for a technical conference.

I haven't been outside since getting to the hotel. I'm not sure how to go outside.

People can smoke indoors here, most anywhere you go. It's insane.

Food and drink is insanely expensive. I thought that shit was supposed to be cheap as a draw for the casinos.

Everything is really needlessly spread out. I'm staying at the Luxor, the conference is at Mandalay Bay, and the nearest Starbucks — as far as I can tell — is at the fucking MGM Grand.

Also, this city is going to drive me conservative. It's completely and utterly brazen about its goal to separate you from as much of your money as possible while giving you as little as possible in return. There's no equivalent exchange or win-win here, just blatant opportunism and exploitation.

For example, I saw a female cocktail waitress in a casino on my way to the conference this morning, at 7AM — that's right, a cocktail waitress at 7AM — in a costume that I would have expected went out of style in the 1960s. And I'm the kind of guy who has no significant problem with random naked people in San Francisco, even the ones who don't have the body for it...

The coming energy crisis and housing meltdown can't make this city unviable soon enough.

To celebrate various things and see various people, I'm going to be in Chicago this weekend — arriving Friday and leaving Monday. Actually, I'll be staying in Arlington Heights, not downtown, but hey.

If anyone wants to hang out, drop me a note. I'm planning on doing Big Pizza Get-Together at Gino's East in Arlington Heights on Saturday, so be sure to leave Saturday evening open!

So, there are some major changes taking place in my life over the next few weeks. As a result, I'll be leaving Pittsburgh and heading back to Chicago on Sunday.

Anyone want to get dinner tonight, or get together tomorrow? Reply or email me!

I'm in Pittsburgh now, staying in Oakland for the time being.

It took me longer than I expected to get here, even given that I left Chicago late. There was a whole bunch of Chicago Auto Show traffic on I-90 by the city, it was sluggish from the Cumberland toll plaza all the way to the Skyway. Then there was the horrifically slow service at the first Hardees on the Ohio Turnpike. Then there was thickly-falling snow and a little slipperiness to the roads in the middle of Ohio. Then I spent 45 minutes relaxing and reading email at another nicer oasis on the Ohio Turnpike (the one with the Panera). And then I got turned around in downtown Pittsburgh and again in Oakland before finding my hotel.

But I'm here now, and that's what matters. Tomorrow I'm going to eat the hotel-provided breakfast and forage for supplies in Oakland. And then hopefully run around and see people and stuff.

I'm going to be arriving in Pittsburgh tomorrow and staying for a while.

Anyone want to get together for dinner or something? I'm driving from Chicago, and I hope to arrive at my hotel in Oakland before or around dinner time though I can't be certain of the timing. I hope to be there and settled by 8PM though, which is a nice round time for a weekend dinner get-together.

I'm tempted to suggest Eat-n-Park...

Update (11AM Central, Saturday): I'm getting a late start today, sorry. It's more important that I be well-rested before the drive than that I get in at any particular time, right? (Yeah, that's it.) I don't know when tonight I'll be getting in, though I'll still probably be up for coffee or drinks or something.

Just so everyone knows, here are my travel plans.

I'm going to be at MacHack in Dearborn, Michigan next week. I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Fairlane, which is the conference hotel for MacHack. I'll be there from the night of Tuesday, June 17, 2003 and I'll be leaving very early the morning of Sunday, June 22, 2003.

The week after MacHack, I'm going to be at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. I'll be staying at the Argent downtown, right by the Moscone Center. That's the hotel Apple has some sort of deal with for the conference. I'll be arriving late in the evening on Sunday, June 22, 2003 and I'll be flying home on Sunday, June 29, 2003.

After that, who knows where I'm going to be? Maybe I'll get to travel around some more, I'm finding I like it when I get to go to interesting places or be around interesting people. And as long as I have high-speed Internet access and a steady flow of projects...

I'm in Charlottesville, Virginia starting today on a consulting gig. Right now the plan is to leave on Friday, May 23. But that could change.

I have to say I'm impressed by the town. The one downside is that Mudhouse, the wonderful coffeeshop a block from my hotel that has wireless Internet access, closed at 8PM tonight, and closes at 7PM on Mondays. Oh, well, I'll have to just play some pool at one of the bars nearby or something...

So, I'm going to Gnomedex 2002 later this month. I basically signed up on a whim, based on two things: Several people whose weblogs I read seem to think it's a really good time, and there are going to be some really interesting people there. Hopefully I'll learn a bit and teach a bit and schmooze a bit and it'll all be good. After all, it looks more like MacHack or a science fiction convention than a regular industry conference. Even if the schedule does seem to imply there'll be lots of "sit in a big room and listen to someone talk" stuff.

And hey, I've never been to Iowa. I'll get to see the sights of downtown Des Moines from the luxurious Des Moines Marriott Downtown! (Damn, that doesn't look half bad!)