MLB and I arrived home late (10:45 PM or so) last night, after navigating 5 state’s worth of toll roads back from Chicago.
The Red Hat Summit was another outstanding affair; the sessions were well-attended, the food good and plentiful, and I’ll attend again next year. The event is just that don’t miss in my book.
MLB was well-entertained; I had some initial trepidation about how she’d fare during the conference. My concerns were unfounded; the presence of a college bud who’s temporarily between positions helped out; he squired the missus around for one day while I was at the conference; she spent the other day lounging about the pool of the Hilton, and doing some solo sightseeing.
After the conference broke camp on Friday, and we spent the balance of our time at my friend and his wife’s condo. They have lived in Chicago around 20+ years; they love the place, and are excited when out-of-towners arrive; they are also excellent tour guides in their own right.
My only regret was that I missed the tour bus/trolley trip around the Windy City on Saturday; several days of conference attendance combined with unseasonably cool1 Chicago weather and the stindeen-frosting temperature of the session halls to send me into a sneezing, coughing, chilling fit on Saturday. And so it was, that MLB, our host and hostess went on the bus/trolley sightseeing tour, whilst I wrapped up in a quilt and slept. I got up around 1PM and watched NCAA football until they got home. An excellent steak, grilled on their 16th floor balcony, an evening of conversation, in which we solved nearly all the world’s problems, and I was feeling pretty human again.
Then Sunday, the big drive, and home. I’m glad to be back; I guess the back-of-the-mind pressure of not wanting to be on the road on Labor Day compelled us to make the ~700 mile journey yesterday.
And it’s great to be back. Now, we can watch the rest of the world, as they wend their way home, on the teevee tonight. On the 11:00 news. Which I’ll miss, because I’ll be in bed.
-k-
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