At long last, I am home! For good! I'm never going anywhere ever again! Well, at least not for the next week or so!
Wednesday and Thursday I was in Champaign-Urbana attending the Illinois Geographic Information Systems Association (ILGISA) spring conference, as well as the ESRI Technology Fair ("Step right up and see the bearded lady!"). The ILGISA conference was rather dull, not because it's a bad conference, but simply because I've been to every single one since the first of them. That probably makes this one about the tenth one I've attended, and it's getting a bit repetitive. The ESRI Technology Fair was rather nice, though, since I had the opportunity to see some new versions of the software. I also had the opportunity to have one ESRI representative tell me that "program X definitely will do what you want" shortly before another ESRI rep told me that "program X definitely will not do what you want".
It's always nice to get a variety of opinions.
Wednesday evening, after the conference, I decided I would drop by Fantasy Realm to see whether they had any of the Magic cards I was seeking. In the process, I learned something that I had never realized before: Champaign and Urbana are two separate towns.
Now, I know what you're thinking -- of course they're separate towns. Yes, I knew that, but I hadn't realized that it actually mattered. Specifically, if you are on "West Green" and are looking for "506 East Green", you do not necessarily travel east to get there. Why? Because "West Green" in Urbana runs west until it becomes "East Green" in Champaign!
There ought to be a law!
Anyway, I eventually straightened out my confusion, located Fantasy Realm, and then was told that they only have their Magic singles in the shop on Sundays. Okay-fine. If the Sears delivery guys can decide not to deliver on Thursdays, I guess Fantasy Realm can decide to only carry Magic singles on Sundays.
After that, I made my traditional stop by Garcia's for pizza, then roamed around the U of I campus for a while to see what had changed since my last visit. Whenever I visit the U of I, I'm always hit with a major case of nostalgia. Just about anywhere I go on campus, I have at least one very clear memory about some event that happened at that spot, as well as plenty of memories about routine campus life. I really enjoyed my three years at the U of I, and I really enjoyed being surrounded by people who were busily learning new things. You don't get too much of that in Springfield.
Comments