Well, here I am at the Minneapolis IETF. And I'm overwhelmed by a sense
of deja vu.
Having to stay at the Marquette hotel 3+ blocks away because, living
on the west coast, I'm at least 50 milli-light-seconds farther away
than most of the people contending for the token number of on-site
hotel rooms when the meeting site is announced.
The much-touted "skyway" that is inevitably locked when you want to
return to your hotel, forcing an unprotected late-night dash out on
the Martian, uh, Minneapolis surface if you didn't have the foresight
to lug your spacesuit, uh, winter coat with you all day.
The countless eateries in said skyway that (even when the skyway is
open) always seem to be closed whenever you're looking for food.
The electronic outdoor temperature sign in the skyway reading
"39". The units aren't mentioned. Kelvins?
The stockbroker's electronic sign showing the Dow trying to break
10,000.
I understand the reasoning for holding the IETF here -- to discourage
all but the most highly motivated from attending. But it doesn't seem
to be working. So why, oh why, can't we just permanently move this
thing to (say) Las Vegas, where there are hotels actually large enough
to accomodate us, and where the winter climate is actually survivable?
Phil