Back in black
Updates from San Francisco where I'm attending the big Oracle conference:
Monday night I went out with a couple of former co-workers. I got back to the hotel late and wanted a bottle of water but didn't want to pay $6 for a 10 oz bottle from the hotel minibar. I knew there was a Walgreen's up the street from my hotel so I headed out to by a bottle of water with $4 in my hand. Walgreen's was closed, so I decided to go around the block to see if anything was open. Well, around the block from my hotel the neighborhood starts to get pretty sketchy. I saw a bunch of homeless/drug addicts (HUGE problem in SF) so I took my hand with the money in it and started to put it in my pocket. This guy comes out of nowhere and tries to pull my hand out of my pocket and grab my money. I foolishly tried to fight him off. He punched me in the face and I reeled back. By this time two other dudes showed up and ran the first guy off. They then proceeded to ask me what I was looking for - did I want some rock. I said no and told them that I had been looking for water, but now I just wanted to get back to my hotel. They walked with me back around the corner and I gave them each $2 for their troubles. So, I ended up losing my $4 anyway and didn't get any water. What I did get was a nice black eye. I'm lucky though - it could have been much worse. It is amazing how instinct kicks in inappropriately sometimes. I instinctively tried to protect my property rather than doing the smarter thing and protect my life by letting the guy have the money. Lesson learned, hopefully...
Last night was Oracle's big appreciation event and it was the usual spectacle and study in excess. The food for 20,000+ folks included sushi, prime rib, chocolate fountains, salad bars, pasta bars, on and on. There was free beer (if you consider Budweiser products beer) and wine. But the craziest thing was all the bands; there were five tribute bands (including an all female band Cheap Chick and an all female band called AC/Dshe). In addition Berlin, DEVO, Joan Jett and Elton John performed. It was crazy! I found it interesting that the male performers had all become heavyset middle aged men, while the female performers were in great shape. Joan Jett looked incredible!
Off to the real purpose of this conference, attending session, talking to Oracle development teams etc. Hope everyone's week is going well.
AC/DC - Back in Black
Monday night I went out with a couple of former co-workers. I got back to the hotel late and wanted a bottle of water but didn't want to pay $6 for a 10 oz bottle from the hotel minibar. I knew there was a Walgreen's up the street from my hotel so I headed out to by a bottle of water with $4 in my hand. Walgreen's was closed, so I decided to go around the block to see if anything was open. Well, around the block from my hotel the neighborhood starts to get pretty sketchy. I saw a bunch of homeless/drug addicts (HUGE problem in SF) so I took my hand with the money in it and started to put it in my pocket. This guy comes out of nowhere and tries to pull my hand out of my pocket and grab my money. I foolishly tried to fight him off. He punched me in the face and I reeled back. By this time two other dudes showed up and ran the first guy off. They then proceeded to ask me what I was looking for - did I want some rock. I said no and told them that I had been looking for water, but now I just wanted to get back to my hotel. They walked with me back around the corner and I gave them each $2 for their troubles. So, I ended up losing my $4 anyway and didn't get any water. What I did get was a nice black eye. I'm lucky though - it could have been much worse. It is amazing how instinct kicks in inappropriately sometimes. I instinctively tried to protect my property rather than doing the smarter thing and protect my life by letting the guy have the money. Lesson learned, hopefully...
Last night was Oracle's big appreciation event and it was the usual spectacle and study in excess. The food for 20,000+ folks included sushi, prime rib, chocolate fountains, salad bars, pasta bars, on and on. There was free beer (if you consider Budweiser products beer) and wine. But the craziest thing was all the bands; there were five tribute bands (including an all female band Cheap Chick and an all female band called AC/Dshe). In addition Berlin, DEVO, Joan Jett and Elton John performed. It was crazy! I found it interesting that the male performers had all become heavyset middle aged men, while the female performers were in great shape. Joan Jett looked incredible!
Off to the real purpose of this conference, attending session, talking to Oracle development teams etc. Hope everyone's week is going well.
AC/DC - Back in Black
posted by r.m at 7:57 AM
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