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June 11, 2006
Boston, Day One: Arrival
After an incredibly long day of flying, I'm pleased to report that I've made it to Boston. As always, a few notes from the trip:
- The time zone thing is brutal. To be at the Boston Convention Center in time for the 7 PM keynote, I needed to fly in to Logan around 4 or 5 PM Eastern (that gives time to de-plane, get to the hotel, check in, drop bags, etc.). The only available flight left SeaTac at 6:10 AM, which, working backward, meant I arrived at the airport around 4:15, left my house at 3:45, and was up at 3 AM. Yeesh.
- Denver International (the site of my layover) is a big, big airport.
- The TCBY at Denver sells low-fat raspberry smoothies that are yummy. And perfect for a long flight.
- My connecting flight from Denver to Boston was delayed about two hours. One problem with long layovers is that you tend to spend a lot of time waiting in chairs with a lot of other people who, like you, are similarly delayed. It creates a very "hospital waiting room" feeling.
- Parents: one thing you should never, ever do - in hospital waiting rooms or, God forbid, at Denver International airport when your flight has been delayed two hours - is give your monster-ish three-year-old twins a handful of coins to play with as a way of keeping them occupied. 'Cause, you know, your kids will find the nearest metal surfaces (trash cans, window sills) and will bang the holy hell out of the coins on the metal. Which, when you're a) delayed two hours and b) have been up since 3 AM Pacific, is like having someone fire a nail gun into your head. Repeatedly.
- I'm just saying.
- I finished "The Subterranean Railway" (a book all about the creation and history of the London Underground) while mid-flight. It's awesome. One thing the book makes abundantly clear is that large urban transit projects have the same problems, whether it's the mid-1850s Victorian England or 2004 Seattle. Guess what? People will complain about the project and claim it's a boondoggle. NIMBY's will tell you they don't want it near their house. Nobody thinks it will relieve congestion. And economically, it's going to be a wash for the builder/operator/investor. The city, however, (and its citizens) will get incredible rewards for a long, long time. The other thing about the book is that it makes me want to ride every individual tube line when I'm in London at the end of the month, just to see all the differences in architecture and design.
- (Sound Transit Light Rail opens in 2009.)
- Another good book is "What Clients Love" which was a gift from my good friend Laura. It's a collection of common-sense business wisdom, compiled into a folksy, accessible volume. Some of the advice is the business equivalent of "wash your hands after using the bathroom" and "don't talk with your mouth full", but what makes the book good is its positive, can-do energy - not unlike Guerrilla Marketing (a book I adore, and a book that makes me fall in love with commerce every single time I read it). In this case, when you take out all the tautological The Sphinx stuff (think, "He who questions training only trains in asking questions") you're left with some gems that trigger all kinds of great ideas. (I've got a full notebook of stuff I want to check on and think about.)
- Boston has a light-rail system ("The 'T'"), and it works great. I was able to - wait for it - take the train from the airport to downtown. No, really. And I cost me $1.25. (I think this "train" thing might be catching on!)
- One other thing about Boston's light rail: the airport terminal isn't, you know, actually at the airport. (Gasp!) Instead, you have to take a shuttle bus a quarter mile or so to the "T" stop, at which point you catch the train. The shuttle bus is free, and comes about every 5 or 10 minutes. But you know something? Despite the inconvenience, the train thing still seems to be popular! Amazing.
- Boston feels a lot like London. Same mashup of old and new buildings, same winding, narrow roads, same cobblestone. It's cool.
- Boston pedestrians do not know about, or care about, the existence of pedestrian traffic lights. "Walk"/"Don't Walk"? Never heard of it. Peds are strolling into the streets around here like cows on some far-off rural road in Indiana. I'm amazed that people don't get hit more often. Maybe it's an East/West Coast thing, maybe it's a Seattle thing (Seattleites are famous for observing traffic signals past all reason), maybe it's a me thing (see the point about "Seattleites" and multiply by 3), but I'm astonished.
- After checking out the TechEd keynote, I hooked up with Cintra for pizza and beer at this cool Irish pub near the hotel. We had a great time laughing and catching up - which we'll do more of later this week.
- 3 AM Pacific - 11:30 PM Eastern is a long day.
More as it happens...
Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 11, 2006 10:13 PM. Posted to MSFT | Travel.
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