I’m in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this week, mostly tending to W3C business. Updates will be infrequent.
I flew in yesterday — an uneventful flight, with an empty seat next to me, a decent movie, though one I’d seen before (Spy Kids), and an upgrade to First Class and, therefore, warm nuts to munch on before lunch.
It was 10pm when I got to the hotel, too late to find much of anything to eat here (unless I wanted pizza), and the area around the hotel had given up for the night, too. So I walked over the bridge to Boston and found a random pizza place, picked up some garlic bread, and walked back. It was a most pleasant way to unwind, with the temperature just around 70 and reasonable humidity.
Despite the nice walk, I didn’t sleep too well, so morning came early. The weather was still good, and my meeting didn’t start until 10, so I got dressed and went out for a little run. I didn’t make the mistake I made last July — instead, I turned right after crossing the bridge and ran towards Fenway Park for a few minutes, so I was able to turn back when I was ready instead of feeling obligated to complete a whole loop.
I spent the rest of the day at W3C (where I’ll be again tomorrow). Our meetings broke up about 3:30, so I came back to the hotel to take advantage of the high-speed connectivity and quiet and handled the day’s mail. Then it was time to join the W3C Advisory Board for a pre-meeting dinner at Chez Henri in Cambridge. I was originally going to take the T to Porter Square and walk a half-mile back to the restaurant, but the weather seemed threatening — I could see occasional flashes of lightning in the distance — so I decided to walk the three blocks back to MIT LCS and get a ride to the restaurant. There was occasional drizzle on my way over, and just as I got to the building, there was a bright flash of nearby lightning, followed two seconds later (I counted) by a loud thunderclap.
By the time we were ready to leave, we were in the midst of a full-scale thunderstorm — I only had to walk 50 feet to the car, but I was drenched by the time I got in! But by the time we reached the restaurant, the rain had stopped, and now the sky is mostly clear again. Definitely not California weather!
Chez Henri is mostly a seafood restaurant, heavy on the shellfish, which would not be good for me; fortunately, they do offer alternatives, and I quite enjoyed the vegetarian pasta with fava beans and mushrooms that I had. The sorbet for dessert was even better, though.
And now I’m back in the hotel, preparing for yet another day of fun, sun, and excitement. Oh, and meetings.