gavinshearer.com

« Touche, Indeed | Main | Boston, Day Five: Half Day »

June 14, 2006

Boston, Day Four: Burnout

TechEd is too damn long. It's only Wednesday, and I'm already feeling burned out.

At some point, the steady consumption of all this information causes me to want to hole up for a week and just process. I've seen demos, taken notes, met speakers, and talked to folks at their trade show booths. Now I just need to take the time to find out how to schematicize all of this data so I can make use of it in my work.

(A break, kind sir?)

Nah. Instead, I'm got two more days of the same.

I do like the show, but it's like eating a favorite dinner - the first night is a treat, the second is a happy accident, the third feels vaguely indulgent and lazy. But by the time you've eaten the same thing for a month straight, you're ready to pull out your hair and swear the stuff off for the rest of your life.

(I'm sure there's some kind of Law Of Long Conferences or something that expresses 'attendee information retention' over time, or something - if so, conference organizers ought to design their shindigs so they end at the primary downward inflection point.)

To unwind, Cintra and I decided to walk around Boston and take in some of the local color. As it happens, this is the perfect antidote for a long day of conferencin'.

We started at my hotel and walked to (and through) the Boston Public Garden. It's lovely, picturesque - just a terrific civic amenity. If I lived in Boston, I know I'd spend a lot of time here - either gazing at the water, watching kids play on the swings, or simply seeing other citizens enjoy themselves.

A note on the associated photo: Boston has these painted cows everywhere at the moment, scattered throughout downtown as a form of public art (this is not unlike Seattle's "Pigs on Parade"). One of these, located at the Park Street Station (on the northeast point of the Garden), is the "MBTA Cow", painted with the various transit lines of the city. And, naturally, being the big transit geek that I am, I had to get my photo taken next to the thing. (Big thanks to Cintra, who kept her snickering to a minimum as she snapped it.)

After we dallied in the Garden, we walked north and east and hooked in to the Freedom Trail. This is a 2-mile-long strip of brick and red paint that re-creates the ride of Paul Revere. It's amazing. You walk past Boston's old City Hall (now, sadly, a Ruth's Chris Steak House), past the Old State House (where the Declaration of Independence was read publicly for the first time), the site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere House, North Church (remember "one if by land, two if by sea?" This is where they hung the lanterns) and ultimately end at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown.

Like my trip to London, this was amazing, overpowering, incredible stuff. It's a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around the enormity of the history (and its importance to our country) that occurred in this tiny piece of the world - and not that long ago. It also made me realize that I should have paid much better attention during history classes in 8th grade - there's lots here I know I'm missing.

Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 14, 2006 8:04 PM. Posted to MSFT | Travel.

Comments

Post a comment

« Touche, Indeed | Main | Boston, Day Five: Half Day »