Gamefest 2008 and DIY train tickets

I'm delighted to be able to attend Gamefest 2008 in Seattle this July. I'm looking forward to the XNA tracks very much. If you are in Europe, the event travels to London in early August.

But now more about living in Dublin.

Dublin, as it turns out, has many pubs. So far, in my month's residency, I've managed to avoid going into said pubs. However, a good friend that I'd not seen for twenty years happened to be visiting the city for the weekend, and so we arranged to meet up in Sinnotts; a large, underground sports bar right next to St Stephen's Green.

It was a nice pub, and I enjoyed a pint (or two) of the first Guinness I've had in Dublin in many years. Unfortunately (or not) I'm not much of a drinker, so I reached my limit very quickly, but we had a good evening exchanging stories of technology from the good old days. Yes, nerd talk mostly.

I was planning on taking the LUAS home, but when I got to the stop, I realized I'd forgotten my LUAS SmartCard and I'd left my coins as a tip for the barman. The six mile walk didn't seem that appealing, but a LUAS train guard took pity on this clearly lost alien, and after telling me about how exceptional this was, wrote me a note on a little scrap of paper which effectively gave me a free ticket to get home. I'm not sure that would have happened in any other city. I like Dublin.