Albany Hell

Conference Dystopia
... includes bad buffet food

I planned to head to Albany for an environmental conference on Wednesday night but a screw-up at the Marriott hotel meant they didn't have my hotel room reserved for that night. Instead I headed up on the 7:15 am train Thursday morning. At least the ride up the Hudson was beautiful, the fall colors and river glowing in the sunshine, which soon turned to rain. The cab ride from the train was an exorbitant $25 despite the fact that the van loaded up with 6 people, at least two of us being dropped of at the Marriott! What a scam. I then spent two day listening to poorly presented material and eating horrid food. I haven't been to a conference focused on engineering and science material in awhile and I forgot how male dominated they tend to be. The whole demographics made me feel disconnected. I also realized that most everyone seemed married and slightly boring, not to say that the two are connected. Another unfortunate construct of conferences is that they tend to be located in bland hotels in disconnected locals thus limiting the freedom of exploring something beyond the nondescript rooms and hallways. Sometimes I wonder why I'm in a profession where I'm so obviously outside the normal range of personal norms of those who are attracted to this line of work. At least back in New York City, I feel a tad bit more normal, given the wide range of people walking the street there :0