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A Week at `PyCon DC 2004 `__ -- Day 8
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Heading Home -- Saturday, March 27
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:Author: David Goodger
:Contact: goodger@python.org
It was raining this morning. Packed up and left the hostel at 9am,
took a bus down to a metro station then on to Pentagon City. I'm not
sure, but I think the "Fashion Center" mall there may have been the
mall in `Minority Report `__, and
possibly also in `No Way Out `__.
Bought a "PFC" -- portable folding cart -- for my bags because I was
getting tired and sore carrying them around. A couple more wee
gifties for the kids. Visited the `Bang & Olufsen
`__ store, and fantasized.
On the opposite side of the street -- reachable via a metro underpass
-- was another mall, not so upscale. Browsed around a Borders
book/CD/DVD/coffee store, and a Best Buy. Then it was time to get to
the airport, 2 stops away.
Got my boarding pass, and two last-minute gifts: a nice bookmark for
my wife, and a black & yellow "jungle carpet python" plushie, for my
kids. And for me, too, I guess -- I'll name it "Monty" and it'll be a
cousin to Eric, the conference mascot brought by Bill Sconce. A
Cinnabon later, and it was time to get to the gate. Spent my last 90
US cents on some mints -- no currency to carry home.
On takeoff I had a good view of the Pentagon, and I see the need for
so much security. The airport is literally a stone's throw away, and
a last-minute course correction would be (and was) deadly. I wonder
if security is the reason why, on both arrival in and departure from
DC, the plane wasn't brought all the way to the jetway. Passengers
had to go down a flight of stairs to the tarmac and back up.
As I write this on the plane, I look back on the last week as an
unmitigated success. I met loads of people I'd only ever exchanged
email with before, and plenty others new to me. It's amazing the
places my software has gotten to -- rumored to be in use at NASA, the
NSA, the OSAF, and I'm sure at many other companies and organizations
large and small. I guess Docutils and reStructuredText have hit a
sweet spot.
Warms my heart.
* up: `Contents <./>`__