Geodog

First impressions of San Diego

I arrived in San Diego fairly late, and went straight to my hotel. In the interest of economy, I had decided to stay in the local Hostel. I wouldn't recommend it. Speaking politely, it is grimy. They sell ear plugs at the front desk. I don't mind spartan, but I like clean. I've stayed in $12 hotels in Central America that were cleaner and had more amenities. And there is no net connection, not even dial-up! I would happily trade the old TV in the room for a phone line, and both of them for a good cleaning. Oh well, I don't expect to spend much time in the hotel, and luckily I used HTTrack Website Copier to mirror the O'Reilly Conference website before I left Berkeley, so at least I have conference resources locally.

After getting settled in my hotel room, I decided to go for a walk before going to bed, and I wandered over to the Westin where the conference is going to be held. Not having a clue as to what the neighborhood was like late at night, I decided not to bring my computer with me. The sight of a Hooters a block away from my hotel didn't fill me with confidence about the security of the area. I had never seen a Hooters before - I thought they were a mythical chain, equivalent to unicorns. Guess not. I suspect I have some culture shocks coming, on my third trip to Southern California in my 20 years living in California.

I had a lovely walk over to the Westin. The air was balmy, and it was comfortable walking in shirt sleeves. The streets in the Gaslamp district were mostly empty, except for a few straggling partiers, drunks, and homeless folks. I wandered into the lounge in the Westin, and found a number of geeks taking advantage of the free wireless in the bar. I had a drink and watched the digerati arrive and gather. Many of the same people who I always see at these conferences -- the dour Dan Gillmor, the ever polite Doc Searls, the bubbling Cory Doctorow, plus the crew from O'Reilly -- the mysterious Rael Dornfest, and the earnest Schuyler Erle, had gathered around the tables. There were also lots of people I've never met, like Jon Lebkowsky and a group of young European hackers swapping jet-lag stories.

After my drink I started back to my hotel, and decided to cut across Horton Plaza. Knowing nothing about it except the name, I expected it to be a large open space, in the tradition of the Zocalo in Mexico City or the central plaza that I've seen in every town I've ever been to in Mexico and Central America. Another culture shock. Silly me, this is Southern California, not Latin America. Horton Plaza, the center of the Gaslight district, isn't an open space, it is a mall.