So here I am sitting in the back of Al's caching talk. We're at a conference in Munich, which started with us doing the opening keynote on the new ASP.NET 2.0 features. It was a good talk; it's the second time we've done this one together and we have a routine where I have to create a new page for a web site. Al is convinced I won't be able to add all the features he wants without writing code, but all of the new controls provide everything I need: security, navigation, master pages, caching, etc. It's tough to get so many new features into a standard talk, but we only ran over by 5 minutes. I did a talk on Web Parts after lunch and it's now 17:45 and Al still has 45 minutes to go.
Arriving in Munich was a bit of a shock as there was a severe lack of warmth. And I do mean a severe lack. We stepped outside and the warmth just leeched itself from our bodies. I felt like I'd left my warmth in the baggage hall, a sad forlorn item slowly revolving around the conveyor belt on it's own. I'm sure the locals were warm and toasty, but it's my blog and I reserve the right to act like a wimp. I'm not over-exaggerating either. OK, OK, maybe a little. But as we've already established, it's my blog and I can do what I want. Any complaints and I'll take the ball away and go home. Where was I? Oh yes, the cold. There was a biting wind and several inches of snow. See, I told you it was cold. Given that it was cold, it was inevitable that we'd have trouble getting to the hotel. We asked at the airport for how to get to the hotel and they said the easiest was to take the train: "change here and take S2 to here". So we did. Of course he didn't tell us that S2 was actually a bus, which as it happens didn't go anywhere near our hotel. The driver was really helpful and, after discussion with some other passengers, told us to get another bus. At this stage we're losing faith in advice. But, lacking other options, we decide to go with it. When the next bus arrives we ask the driver, who wasn't quite sure how far up the road the hotel was, but conveniently the second stop we tried was directly opposite the hotel. Faith restored. It took us longer to get from the airport to the hotel than it did to fly from Birmingham to Munich. I think going 5 miles beyond where we needed to, plus waiting for all those additional buses didn't help. The hotel was wamr, with a well stocked bar, which was a bonus.
Tuesday was free, so in the morning we wrapped up and headed into the town centre; more buses and trains, but this time we were on the right track. Or the right train, as playing on the tracks is dangerous. And boy was wrapping up needed as another few inches had fallen overnight. Thankfully the wind had dropped, so we managed to tramp around for a few hours, only stopping in one coffee shop to warm up. Oh, and stepping into a large slushy puddle which resulted in squelching around in a wet sock and shoe for the rest of the day. Ick. Good job I had another pair of shoes.
Today is the first day of the conference. It's been a good day so far, with the talks going well. We've also caught up with a few friends we've met at various conferences in the past, such as Hanness (who is organising this one), Christope and Peter. Alex & I aren't speaking for the next two days, but we're going to hang around the conference to make ourselves available for questions. Unless it gets colder, in which case I'm not getting out of bed. The hotel has wireless and room service, which is pretty much all any geek needs.
Al's talk is almost finished, so it must be time to find a bar.