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Following are my notes from attending BSDCan 2004 in Ottawa, Canada. As you can see I wasn’t very good at taking notes then.

“Roomy” exit seat flight from Charleston pretty uneventful. Detroit was more greeen (approaching from that side) than I had expected. Repaired my boarding pass (too small) and have been scoping out the concourses. Einstein Bros. bagels tempting but lines ridiculous. Flight to Ottawa boards at 10:15. I think I will continue exploring this mammoth “A” Concourse (Gates 1-76) and try to find food without a line. For what it’s worth, didn’t get much of Cien Años read.

Ottawa

Well, I finally managed to leave Detroit, for a frigid regional jet ride to Ottawa which took entirely too long. Fortunately, my shivering legs had the benefit of another exit seat. I must remember to pre-check in for my homeward journey too–I should be able to do that using the BSDCan Wi-fi Saturday morning.

Back to the trip. Customs chewed out some guy in front of me but let me pass after some nosy questions. The bureau de change robbed me on my first traveller’s cheque, so boo for “ICE Currency Services.” I went on to purchase some bus tickets, whereupon I was introduced to the twonie and loonie coins. The other Canadian coins, of course, are invisible to the naked eye.

After stumbling about a bit I located the U. of Ottawa Residence Centre, where I left my bags. I proceeded to stumble to my home for the plurality of the day, the Laurier branch of the Royal Oak pub chain. The food (BLT lunch and a nacho dinner) was not bad for pub fare, and I suppose not that expensive since Canadian money doesn’t matter. I met Dan (Langille, conference organizer) and several fellow BSDCanners, and talked a good bit with Tom Rhodes and Bill Moran. By dinner I’d met Dru Lavigne, in whose upcoming (19 May) book my one of my articles appears. Also saw phk and Theo DeRaadt, who were pretty recognizable. After I checked in at the Uni residences and returned with my laptop, I purloined a faint (but open) Wi-fi signal to send a long overdue “I’m alive” message to (ostensibly) interested parties. I also bragged a little on IM.

Misc missed Royal Oak notes:
I got a mild sunburn from the long outdoor lunch. Burns come faster in the North. Ottawa was quite warm enough, thank you. Pub waitstaff and many passers-by were pretty easy on the eyes. Canadians really do have that funny accent and say “eh” and “Soory.”

Here my journals ended, before the conference had begun. The presentations and people were great, but I don’t remember them well enough to journal about them. I did manage to save some pictures (from me and stolen from others), though.

Yes, I wasn’t very funny then. Please disregard the cracks on Canada, I was young and stupid when I wrote this. [eh?]

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