New Orleans

So now that I'm done my class I actually have time to write another one of these. This is really late, but here it goes.

I was supposed to arrive in New Orleans Friday night, but due to missing my connection I slept in the Houston airport and got into New Orleans around 11am. None of my coworkers were at the bed and breakfast so I left my stuff there and walked through the streets of the French Quarter and then along the water to downtown where the conference was.

The walk along the Mississippi river was great and we did it many times over the next few days. The bridge in the distance is where we had to walk to.

I met up with my coworkers at our booth at the conference. We were demonstrating two software programs, one of which I created and our tactile belt. It's a belt that the anesthesiologist wears during the operation. It vibrates in four places depending on which medical parameter has changed and has four different patterns of vibration depending on the direction and magnitude of the change.

Here's me on the poster pretending to be a doctor.

The exhibit room was mostly full of commercial exhibits and looked like a mini-city. There was lots of give aways including ice cream, fresh baked cookies, and smoothies.

A Canal street, where the street car runs along the middle.

One day we took the ferry across the river where it was pretty dead.
It looked like a lot of people had not come back after the hurricane.

There was one front yard over there that had a banana tree growing in the front.

I had my birthday while we were there and that night we went to the Acme Oyster House. While waiting in line, a couple guys went and got Big Ass Beers for everyone from Bourbon street. Unfortunately by the time we got back they were ready to seat us, and we couldn't take the beer in. It being my birthday I downed my beer, but most people drank about half and then threw the rest away.

Later that night we went to a bar where there was a couple piano players. One had a MacBook while the other was using an iPod Touch to go through the songs. Ah, technology.

Bourbon street during the day. Well, you can't see much here, but it's really too explicit to show.

A monument to the hurricane Katrina victims.

This street car ran along the river.

On the last night there we got to see some Jazz music. This band had nine instruments.

New Orleans was a much better place to visit than Atlantic City. I had a smaller role at the conference and most of the exhibits were well out of my area of expertise but it was still useful to be there and connect with people interested in our work. Some folks at the national US level want to work with my software to build knowledge rules.

My next trip starts soon as I travel with my family to Apex for skiing at christmas.