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.