That was the piece of advice my mom's friend gave me before I got here...I guess in Cantonese, it was also "don't get taken advantage of." One of the first things that happened to me after I got off the plane was... well...I got gypped! At the airport check in for the hotel, you could also buy a pass for the shuttle bus. I bought a round-trip ticket for $11.50. When I got outside to where the shuttle stop was, they were selling the same tickets for $9.50!!

I think I will take advantage of the free bottled water while I am here. I didn't bring enough, and I don't really want to spend $3.25 on a bottle of water. And the free Internet access. I'm not sure if I am so into this conference yet. These speakers are putting me to sleep, and I can't concentrate. And sometimes I feel like the STC is some sort of cult...the feeling I get is that everyone is on some sort of high horse.

But one thing that is glaringly obvious is that most tech writers seem to go through the same hardships. We're not all that different from each other. I also when looking through the list of attendees, and of course, I am not in there. I am pretty sure I allowed my name to be printed even though I don't usually want my information in those type of publications. I did see the name of a girl I went to elementary school with. I wonder if I would even recognise her now.

Well, time to take another pee break, inquire about the massages, and get to my next seminar. I am going to try to score another Flare trial CD and some jelly beans. And check out other freebies. That's what conferences are for, right?? FREEBIES?! Tonight, my biggest dilemma will be what kind of dessert to get with my dinner: chocolate or carrot cake? Regular chocolate cake or chocolate mousse cake? It's hard to decide. If there was milk, I would know my answer.