This is the last night for the DUG Conference 2008. As usual, the last night is the Be True To Your School party.
It’s a chance to get dressed up in your finest school duds and come on down for some popcorn, music and a little Guitar Hero (no, didn’t play). It’s a nice time to unwind and get ready for the trip home.
I also had a Cuban sandwich for dinner. Very tasty. It did have a bean sprout aftertaste (yuch), but it was very good. I ate at a diner down the hill from the conference hotel (Marriott Wardman Park).
I have enjoyed trying out new foods and drinks as I have gotten older. When I was young, I was a very picky eater. My poor mother would have said I was the worst. I knew what foods were fine and how they had to be prepared. Now, I am more forgiving and even willing to try it again at a different restaurant.
Progress.
Well, it had to happen.
I sat down with some colleagues and had a nice cold beverage. Yes, a Guiness. The only beer that I truly love to drink. Now, I am no longer a young man, so one beer every 6-12 months is about my limit. It was a nice way to take a break during the DUG conference. We sat down, talked a bit and got to know one another a bit better.
As much as meeting people and learning more about a subject is the focus of a conference, it also allows you to become more familiar with the people you work with every day.
Drink Guiness – for your health!
Well, I just came back from eating at a Lebanese restaurant here in DC. I had some small cheese and mint filled rolls, some tabouli (sp?) and some lamb and beef with spiced onions. To say the least, it was delicious. It was the first time I have eaten Lebanese. I hope it will not be the last.
The restaurant was quite unassuming from the street. Go inside, and it’s another world. The smell was understated (let’s face it, that is something american’s complain about “ethnic” cooking), well laid out with fitting architectural detail. In a word, it looked like a Lebanese restaurant from this Texan’s perspective (with respect to actual lebanese who disagree).
The waitress was kind and helped us select a nice meal. I actually ordered from the appetizer menu. That worked out well for me. I did not end up with a lot of leftover food and was able to try a couple (yes, a couple means two [2] and not some ambiguous number) of dishes. The hollow flatbread was multi-use as we could place any number of items inside. Tabouli,lamb, beef. You name it, we put it inside the bread. It all tasted good.
The DUG is now open. The conference is truly busy and the first meetings were this morning @ 7AM. I was early. That means I had less sleep that I even counted on. No complaints so far, but I wish I have taken that last few minutes of my snooze.
The opening speaker was John Powers, a motivational speaker from Chicago, now living in Wisconsin. He was truly funny and full of old school/traditional words of wisdom. He reminded me of my great-grandmother (Fina) and great-aunt (Cuca). Those women were wonderful and patient teachers. I really miss them both.
