Day 0 at CSUN - Never wear a halo t-shirt at the airport

The security guy screening my bags keeps looking at me, as if he were trying to figure me out.  I’m thinking, “there’s just a camera, a mouse, and a cell phone in the bag.  Why is he looking at me?”  Finally, he decides to let me know what is on his mind, as i’m putting my shoes back on.  “How do you get off the ship?” he asks.  I’m totally taken aback.  The security guy points at my chest, and I realize i have that halo t-shirt on from the store.  “Oh,” i say only half-relieved, since everyone is now looking directly at me.  “Restart the level and set it to easy.  If my mother-in-law can do it, i have faith in you, sir.”  Everyone chuckles.  The security guy nods his head, accepting defeat in this mini word-sparring match.  And i run towards concourse N before someone else can ask me another halo question.

Ironically i was on the same flight as Thomas, another CSUN speaker from Microsoft.  At the hotel, we practiced our presentations, letting each other know when one of us didn’t read the entire contents on the slide deck or website.  As Murphy’s Law would have it, my demos had two new broken links, which didn’t exist 24 hours before.  Hopefully, the luck of the Irish will be with me on St. Pat’s Day.

Later this evening, a college classmate of Thomas’s who lives in LA took us to this awesome restaurant where we saw two movie/tv stars.  One was an actress from Under the Tuscan Sun (the one who had the baby), and the other was an actor from the Captain Morgan commercials.  Thankfully, Thomas’s classmate recognized them; otherwise, i would still be thinking “man, she looked so familiar.”  Every conversation at the restaurant was about scripts, upcoming movies, or characters.  Among the smog, billboards, and the variety of conversation topics, i don’t think LA is for me. But still a nice place to visit.

Tomorrow is the big rehearsal day for all Microsoft speakers.  Tomorrow evening is a dinner reception for international guests, the keynote speaker, speakers, and other invited guests.  Wednesday is the day i’ve been preparing for almost 2 months now.  Wednesday night is another dinner for all MS people (i think that’s the plan).  And Thursday is Sara Appreciation Day, among going to booths and sessions and collecting that priceless swag. 

It’s going to be a busy week.