So while I'm relatively enjoying my time in Shanghai, I'm missing HDC -- the Heartland Developers Conference -- since I'm missing the chance to reconnect with friends and associates like Dave Donaldson, Robert Hurlbut, Rocky Lhotka, Javier Lozano, Matt Milner, Phil "McCracken" Rieck and of course and Joe and Phil. I've been following the blogs where I can of, course. But if you're at the HDC, please blog about and let me know your RSS address.
I'd like to give an shout of thanks to Robert Hurlbut for covering my talk for me. Robert rocks!
In the mean time, I'm watching Google Blog Search and Feedster for posts too.
Thursday morning I decided to take the cab to the office. I've already commented that the traffic here in Shanghai is chaotic at best. Yesterday completely re-affirmed that for me. The driver decided that he was simply tired of waiting for the traffic in front of him and decided to take off down the wrong side of the street. The street was divided by a double-yellow line. Ok, so I'm pretty sure that's illegal everywhere. Didn't seem to bother this guy. While there is certainly an air of formality and distance here, there comes a point where maintaining that just isn't worth it. I'm starting to see that here in class too. It's always hard to have class full of Microsoft employees -- especially field people -- because they are all so dedicated to taking care of their customers. Monday just about every was here the whole day. By Thursday, attendance was "as best possible."
That's fine with me. While I'm here to help people really understand SQL Server, these good folks are taking care of their customers and that's always more important. The "solid yellow line" of classroom formality has faded away.