Ah, family. I'm glad I got a chance to unwind with the Ps after my conference. But I do miss my dog.

Tomorrow: or, rather, tonight after 7pm CDT: check out Weather Now for, well, something appropriate to the season.

I believe I figured out why the conference disappointed me. I last went to VSLive in 2003, when I had just started to get really good at my craft. The sessions at that conference hat a lot of information that I hadn't encountered before, and taught me a lot about where I should look to keep fresh and informed. Only a small part of it has to do with this being right outside the conference center:

I have to say, the conference has disappointed me a bit. Many of the panels I thought looked interesting turned out to be somewhat less in-depth than I'd hoped. To make matters worse, I'm in one of the greatest cities in the world, the weather is perfect, and I haven't had enough exercise this week.

So, as irresponsible as it seems, I'm going to take the next two hours or so to cogitate on what I've learned this week, by walking up Powell Street until I hit water. That should get me back to the conference (by Muni, most likely) in time for the next panel I'm interested in seeing.

...the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 today to ban plastic bags at grocery stores:

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 this afternoon to make the city the first in the nation to prohibit petroleum-based plastic checkout bags in large markets and pharmacies.

On the first of two votes needed for final passage, supervisors approved legislation sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mikarimi that would mandate the use of biodegradable plastic bags or recyclable paper bags. The legislation would take effect in about six months for some 50 large markets in San Francisco and would apply in about 12 months to large drugstore chains such as Walgreen's and Rite-Aid.

I hope to write more when the conference ends, or perhaps if I play hooky from a session or two tomorrow.

I'm sitting in the Hotel California lobby watching rain-soaked buses trundle down Geary Street. I'm in the lobby because the hotel's WiFi doesn't actually reach the fourth floor. This, and the unfortunate confluence of a room overlooking the street and a 23-year-old's birthday party Saturday night that spilled out of the lobby and down the block until the cops broke it up around 4 am, is my only complaint about the place. Old hotels have old windows, so it got a little noisy during the melée

The hotel is truly a gem. From the little perk at check-in—a frozen tequila shot—to the wine and cheese spread they put out every night, to the understated décor, to the lobby it shares with Millenium (a wonderful vegetarian restaurant with a tasty wine list), I love staying here. The bill adds to my pleasure: only about $100 a night, half of what hotels closer to the Moscone Center wanted. Since it's also only about 500 m from there—a 10-minute walk through Union Square—it was a no-brainer.

Of course, I'm in my third-favorite city on the planet (after Chicago and London), sitting in a hotel lobby. The one day that the conference sessions are truly uninteresting to me is the one day that it's pouring down with rain. It's supposed to let up a bit later, so I may have dinner at the Ferry Building or even, if the spirit (and Muni bus) moves me, Sausalito. And they put out the wine and cheese in an hour.

One would think that planning a conference for 1,500 or so software developers would involve planning for 1,500 or so laptop computers. This means, among other things, providing (a) power outlets and (b) decent WiFi access.

After searching for half an hour I found one lone power strip in the "Gold Passport Lounge," and the only reason the other 1,499 people here aren't using it is that they're patiently sitting upstairs listening to an ill-prepared presenter from Microsoft who will probably get a "BillG" email tonight asking him why he was so unprepared.

As for WiFi access, despite the relatively few people down here in the lounge, I'm still getting only about 77 kbps of throughput. Yes, I'm at a developer conference getting modem-speed Internet access.

I'll have more later on today's presentations, the final three of which I may skip. The pre-conference workshop I attended yesterday I found invaluable; I'm looking forward to Deborah Kurata's panel discussions later on this week.

I realized last night that I forgot to bring some important things to VSLive:

1. Business cards. I have about six with me. I have about 200 in my office. Hello, Kinko's?
2. A USB cable, required to connect my phone and my camera to my laptop. There's a CompUSA about 100 m from here, fortunately.

It's always something.

Also, a propos of nothing, I got the best pitch from a panhandler today that I've ever heard: "Buddy, can you spare $1,000? I have a payment plan..."

I'm in San Francisco, at the Hotel California on Geary Street. They've checked me in to Room 404, which, as you can imagine, I couldn't find at first.

Parker has gone on vacation for a week while I'm at a professional conference. When I dropped him off with the dog sitter I felt pretty sad:

My accountant, Linda Forman, sent me this note on the Illinois Gross Receipts Tax proposed by Gov. Blagojevich. Now, I voted for the man twice, and I voted for my state senator twice, but if they go ahead with this proposal I'm not sure I will continue to support them:

The Gross Receipts Tax Proposal

There are thoughtful people in the political arena mulling over the proposal of a gross receipts tax and the prospect of health care coverage for the uninsured employees in Illinois.

While debate goes on, I would like you to visit with a company or two that could be a composite of many small business clients.

On Sunday I posted about catching a dog running loose in town. This afternoon I spoke with the local animal shelter to see if she had gotten back home.

Short answer: no.

It seems that Sandy, the slightly-overweight, very sweet beagle mix that Parker and I collared, is a regular visitor to the shelter. Six times, in fact. And each time, the owner gets cited, and each time, the owner takes several days to collect her. Sandy also has a brother, who is also a slightly-pudgy, very sweet beagle mix, whom the owner has voluntarily surrendered to the shelter. As soon as he's neutered—he's about 7—they'll put him up for adoption. The shelter also told me that they're about to send Sandy's owner a 24-hour notice, saying essentially "get your dog today or we're keeping her."

I had assumed that her owner would be worried about her, given that she had current tags and all. But no, the owner isn't worried, not one whit. Not even worried that someone (me) picked the dog up half a mile away and across a major street from home. Apparently the only reason Sandy had current tags is that the shelter won't release a dog without them, even if she comes in stray, so Sandy only got those from previous visits to Hotel Hound.

So, if you know anyone who wants a really sweet but slightly pudgy beagle-ish dog—or two—drop me a note and I'll put you in touch with the shelter.

Oh, yeah, here's the irony: if Sandy had an ID tag around her neck, I would have dropped her off at home, and the owner would not now be facing yet another citation. Then again, this will probably work out better for Sandy and her brother in the long run.

This has to hurt:

While doing routine maintenance work, [a] technician accidentally deleted applicant information for an oil-funded account — one of Alaska residents’ biggest perks — and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well.

There was still hope, until the department discovered its third line of defense, backup tapes, were unreadable.

The article said "no one was blamed." Right.

I meant to put this photo up earlier. A week ago Monday, just three days after he had a nice bath, Parker and his friends discovered the fun that melting snow and mud make available:

Four years. We weren't even in World War II for this long. I can't add anything really profound to the debate, but I will repeat something Garry Trudeau had on today's Doonesbury Daily Dose:

"America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment."
—Gen. Tony McPeak (retired), member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War

I would also like to point out that the recent spate of confessions from people our government has tortured might carry more weight if the men hadn't also confessed to assassinating the Archduke Ferdinand.

Finally, not that this should surprise anything, the New York Times is reporting today the White House watered down government reports to influence the debate on climate change:

In a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the official, Philip A. Cooney, who left government in 2005, defended the changes he had made in government reports over several years. Mr. Cooney said the editing was part of the normal White House review process and reflected findings in a climate report written for President Bush by the National Academy of Sciences in 2001.

No more than 672 days, 2 hours, and 44 minutes remain in the Bush Administration.

Parker has a new behavior.

In my last apartment, Parker would signal his need to go outside by digging at the carpet and whining. At my new apartment, he did the same. But something interesting has happened: Parker has developed, all on his own, a new signal, which he used yesterday about 428 times:

Yesterday, Parker and I were walking to his afternoon play group meeting when we encountered a beagle-basset-looking dog wandering the streets. I tethered Parker and followed the other dog until she tired of the "keep away" game we had been playing. She had county rabies tags, and a current city license tag, but no other identification.

She most likely lived nearby. She was sweet and friendly, got along with Parker just fine, and waited with us patiently for Animal Control to arrive. But then she had to go to the animal shelter, probably for the night, and her owners probably went crazy looking for her until they (one hopes) got a call from the shelter this morning. The county has no record of what dogs go with what tags; they can do nothing more than confirm the tags are authentic. The city does keep identity records, but the police do not have access to them. Only the animal shelter does, but I'm not sure how, and if they need to talk to someone at City Hall then they're going to be S.O.L. at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon.

Look, if you own dogs, put ID tags on them. Had this little dog had a phone number on her collar, she would have gotten home probably within ten minutes. It's great that the owners had her rabies shots and city tags up to date, but come on, spend $5 at Petco or Petsmart and get a name tag made. Even microchipping isn't enough, because the shelter may not use the same system that your dog's chip uses.

Think, people: your dog does not know your phone number, and couldn't tell someone even if she knew it.

After only five minutes of tug-of-war with Parker, I had to throw in the towel. Or, what was left of it, anyway:

My idea of a down-stay:

What does he smell with that nose, I wonder?

Parker is jumping for joy at the weather:

Quick: who's cuter? OK, no real contest here. He's also better looking than I am:

Parker had a well-needed bath today, complete with an unfortunately sweet-smelling shampoo and a bandanna that even Parker thinks looks silly:

The overnight low temperature in Chicago has dropped below freezing every night since January 12th. This is the longest stretch of below-freezing nights in at least seven years. It's getting really quite old.

That is all.

Parker's new crate actually has more than double the area of his old crate. He has enough room to flop on his side and to turn around comfortably. Plus, he has his favorite crusty old bedspread to sleep on:

One of the bits of obedience training I didn't know ahead of time is that Parker is now crate-trained. Since he's also more than double the size he was when I first met him, the crate I had for him was a little tight. So I bought him a new crate, with more than double the footprint of his old one, and with a lot more light and air. Enough light and air, in fact, that I can point the ParkerCam at him when he's in it:

Parker went to the vet yesterday because I noticed this lovely thing growing in his lip:

Heel, heel, heel, sit, down, stay...it's all so tiring:

MSNBC reported overnight that U.S. troops have entered Sadr City in Baghdad. That's newsworthy in itself, but they added an extra level of irony by running their nightly headline-roundup email through an over-zealous spell check:

U.S. troops enter Sadder City

Hundreds of U.S. soldiers entered the Shiite stronghold of Sadder City on Sunday in the first major push into the area since an American-led security sweep began last month around Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17450016/

Sigh.

The clouds broke this evening just long enough for me to see the eclipse. As they say in Boston: wicked cool.

The eclipse will be total from 4:44 pm CT to 5:58 pm, so when the moon rises over Chicago at 5:39 pm it will appear a deep red. (If it appears at all, of course; the weather will likely be cloudy.)

Observers on the East Coast will have a better view; Europeans will get to see the whole thing.

...and I don't mean on the locker-room floor. Just now NPR's Weekend Edition reported on a gym in Hong Kong that uses the kinetic energy from people walking on treadmills and using exercise bikes to power its lights. Neat.

Parker's second training session finished up well, but according to the trainer, Joe Hislop, Parker is a smart dog who got a little spoiled. Actually, he got a lot spoiled, which is totally my fault. But now, Parker isn't so spoiled any more. In fact, he knows how to stay down for as long as necessary now. Last night, aided a little by fatigue, he stayed in a down position munching on a bully stick for an hour. Here he is being quite a well-mannered dog while I walked out of sight and back in my office building's lobby: