Back to the Freeze

So San Diego wasn't as warm as I thought it would be (at best 60F) and it wasn't as sunny as I thought (mostly cloudy) and it didn't quite hit my idealized fun factor (I had a cold for most of the trip). Still, it was nice to return to the city. When last I was there it was ComiCon some years ago and marked by beautiful weather, cramped living arrangements, a tin man, and numerous waits for freight trains to clear the downtown area. This trip was definitely an upgrade with my hotel (Embassy Suites) much closer to the convention center (I could avoid the freight trains) and offering a FREE full breakfast buffett and a FREE happy hour. That's right folks, free food and alcohol. How can you beat that? Apparently all Embassy Suites offer this, so if you're traveling check them out. Also, this particular one didn't check for room keys, so in reality anyone off the street could walk on in and go to town.

Despite it not being all that I hoped for, the trip was good. It was nice to get away from the frigid weather and see some of the people in my field (yes I went for a conference, not as a spontaneous trip). I presented my research on CSS mice in the form of a poster. I am now retiring the CSS work from conference presentation. Future presentations will be on mineral analyses of our normal model inbred mice. Although the conference was good for seeing what's going on in the bone world, after hours San Diego was very laid back and quiet. I guess this just wasn't a major travel period (noting the weather I can see why). So, I definitely missed the excitement of NYC and my crazy soccer friends. It's good to be back.

Westward!

It's pretty darn cold here in NYC, especially when the wind picks up. I know it was much colder last year, but somehow it's harder to handle this year. Probably this is because it was like 70 in December and my body decided to register that as "winter is over" even though it really never began at all. At any rate, the cold is annoying me. I was thinking how I want some nice weather. So, I thought, hmm, how about I hop on a plane and head somewhere nice? Sounded like a good plan to me. I've booked my flight and am heading to San Diego tomorrow morning. Fun in the sun, here I come!