Over in LA right now for [SCALE](https://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale5x/) and having a good time. I got into LA at about 6pm last night, got to the hotel, dumped my bags, had a swift pint in the bar and met some of the organisers and familiar faces from last year. Then, the Rt Hon Ted Haeger and Erin ‘Ted’s Bitch’ Quill showed up and we went for dinner. A bit later Dave ‘Pig Lover’ Neary appeared and we went to a party in the conf organisers suite at the hotel. Drunk lots of beer, got virtually no sleep, but felt uncanny satisfaction at sleeping in the worlds singular largest bed that I have ever seen. In fact, I deliberately slept from left to right just because I could. Simple things…
Its a good show, bigger than last year, and my talk is in an hour or so. Its been great to meet some of the same faces from last year, and particularly good to see Brother Ted, a kindred spirit. Its been way too long since we last met up, and so much has happened since then. Good to meet up, compare notes, reminisce over past experiences, joke about burning down certain restaurants…
As I mentioned before, one of the great things about heading out to these shows is that I often get little gifts and keepsakes from people. I always find this quite touching. This has included:
* A carrier bag given to me in Holland from a shop with the word *Bollocks* in the name.
* A DVD of a self-made rock-chick flick given to me in LA at SCALE last year – apparently the guy is giving me the sequel this year. 🙂
* A little boat and statue given to me in Sydney by Miguel Ruiz from Chile.
* A small wooden instrument given to me by a community member in Holland.
Well, added to the list is a chap who gave me a bottle of *Arrogant Bastard*, a local brew here in LA. On one hand an excellent gift, on the other hand, a swift kick in the nuts. Cheeky bugger… 😛
