I seem to have found the secret to westerly jet lag recovery – alcohol. Now if I could just get rid of this hangover…
Yesterday went smoothly comparatively speaking. I made it through the day without needing a nap (though some of the conference sessions threatened to force me into one). The commencement was great, and the 5-minute lightning talks by various sponsors about their products were fun (especially since they let us text vote on each vendor’s performance – I think the best presenter got something for free, but I can’t remember what). But then I made some poor session choices and felt my attention and wakefulness slipping, so I skipped the last 2 sessions and retreated to my room to read and relax.
Drinking last night seemed to be inevitable – I was invited to no less than 3 parties (2 of which were sponsored). The first was the official conference party which included free food and drinks and apparently a RockBand competition with the host (I was tempted to sign up, but didn’t feel I was skilled enough for it). I stayed for about 15 minutes of it before I got pinged by the people from my company’s SF office to come out and food and drinks with them – so I went (I’ll talk an evening of drinking with a small group of people I know over one with a crowd of strangers). After a handful of drinks, including a few shots, and some appetizers and a lot of laughing we dispersed. On my way back ‘home’ I came across party #3 – the remnants of the first party heading for an after party around the corner. I considered it, but didn’t have the energy left for it.
So after said festivities, I made it back to my room, wound down, and hit the sack just shy of midnight … and didn’t wake up until my alarm went off at 6:30. I’m hoping that coffee and breakfast will help clear the headache and other post-drinking symptoms. But I’ve had worse mornings after and this one is worth the mild suffering.
Ah so alot of partying going on in SF. Shame on you for missing the last 2 sessions.
In truth, there was no loss in missing them – my focus out here is on JIRA and to a lesser extent Confluence. None of the sessions that were offered during those times fit in either area. And regardless of what I attend, as an attendee I’ll get all of the sessions as videos to watch (and share) whenever I want.