Cisco Live! 2010

Here is a shot from the window of my hotel room in the Mandalay Bay Resort. If you are an airport junkie, you couldn't ask for more. I remember when this was all vacant lots and way past the end of the Strip. When I was a student pilot, I landed at McCarran International Airport in a Cessna 172. It was a long walk along Tropicana Drive until I was able to get something to eat. Now, it is a very busy eight lane road with lots of hotels and casinos. This particular cross country flight sort of stands out in my memory since I got a load of water in the gas from the fuel truck. Must of drained out almost a gallon. Pretty scary as a student pilot since I wasn't sure it was all drained...

The Cisco Live! conference is, as usual, a wonderful training opportunity. The signal to noise (content to marketing) ratio is very high and the only real negative being the location. Last year, it was held in San Francisco and I enjoyed that venue much more. Here, it is over 100°F outside, smoking is permitted everywhere, and it is very loud. Many people, not all, seem either rude or drunk when you venture out from the casino but, in spite of all that, it is a great conference. Many folks are looking forward to the customer appreciation event to be held Wednesday evening. Someone named Smashmouth or something like that....

(Here is some motorcycle related content) This afternoon, I talked with a vendor who mentioned that his BMW GSA is sitting in the garage all packed waiting to head for Alaska as soon as he gets back to Colorado after this conference. He is also planning to stop at the BMWMOA rally in Redmond, OR, on the way north. Another vendor was raffling off a Honda dirt bike.