Travel Travel Travel Thu, 07 Apr 2005, 00:00 EDT
Things have really been moving. Or, at least, I’ve really been moving. I was in Miami for a week for INFOCOM and the Global Internet Symposium where I presented a paper on my Gnutella crawler. That went well; I got some positive feedback and had the chance to meet a few of the other researchers in my field. INFOCOM was huge with 7 trackers and a little overwhelming. I got a lot more out of the smaller, single-track Global Internet Symposium even if the work presented there tended to be less developed.
Since I was going to be in Florida anyway and since Alisa grew up there, she flew out for a few days before the conference. We got to spend some quality time together, and I got to meet her family. I also got to see some of the less-touristy scenic spots near Orlando, such as Alexander Springs. Canoing and snorkeling make for a relaxing and romantic time.
Everyone in her family was very nice. The first day Alisa and I spent some time lazing Lake Eola in downtown Orlando, then meeting up with her sister and her sister’s fiancee for dinner. Later, we went out with her dad to see Red Priest’s “Pirates of the Baroque”. The following day we drove down to Eustis and spent the next two nights at her mom’s house (where she grew up). We took a nap in the hammock, and later cooked a tasty dinner for her mom, capping off the evening with a few games of Farkle.
After getting back from Florida, I had a week at home, spent a weekend at GameStorm, then took for the Passive and Active Measurement Workshop in Boston. I again left home a few days early, this time so I could have dinner with my family on my birthday. It was nice to see them. I spent the time staying at my sister’s apartment, conveniently located just a few blocks from the workshop hotel. The day before the conference Mom came up from Rhode Island and she and my sister went to the New England Aquarium, where we learned all about how jellyfish are thriving because of global warming while fish and land-life suffer. The penguins were cute and the giant turtle waves “Hello”.
Now I’m back in Eugene, but next week I leave for Dallas to visit Alisa. Next month she comes here (just in time for Episode III!).
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