Trip to DC

Just returned from a conference just outside of DC in Lansdowne, VA. I flew into Dulles where they have these odd-looking shuttles or "mobile lounges" that you can ride from one part of the airport to another.

I experienced quite a number of other firsts on this trip. It was my first visit to DC...although I shouldn't really count it b/c I didn't get to do many of the typical DC things secondary to being "locked" in this nuclear fall-out shelter type building. It was the most bizarre building I've ever been in. It is solid concrete and most of it is underground. I got lost inside the building 3 times the first day I was there. My colleagues and I did finally escape Wednesday evening. We took a cab to the... (I have to digress here and ask if anyone has ever had a cab ride that didn't make them car sick and/or wonder if they'd make it to their destination alive. You'd think people who drive for a living would be competent at driving.) We took a cab to the metro station and orange-and-green-lined over to Nationals Park for a Washington Nationals game.

The metro was my first experience on a real subway system. The ride in wasn't too bad...other than prolonging the nausea I developed in the cab. The ride out of DC lived up to all of my preconceived notions about riding a subway. It was PACKED! Many, many people invading my personal space. It was also my first baseball game at Nationals Park. The Nationals are terrible - reminded me of the hundreds of Rangers games I went to back in the day.

Things that were not firsts on this trip: horrible cab rides (see above), difficulty sleeping away from home - especially without the wife and kids, and the ability of every airport in the world to make people who are probably otherwise sane and rational to become ridiculously impatient and irrational. It is astounding to watch people transistion to Mr. Hyde over the smallest inconvenience. I'm glad to be home!