So I’m here in San Francisco. Just arrived today. The clock besides the bed says 5 pm, but it feels like 8 pm to me. I have a meeting in 2 hours… ::yawn::

We’re here for the GI Cancers Symposium. Alongside the big meeting for oncologists and researchers, C3 and PanCAN have gotten together to offer research advocates already sitting on clinical trial cooperative groups and SPOREs (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence) that are organized throughout the country. Advocates in these groups have varying experiences and qualification, so our training is an attempt to add more value to the work that they do. It’s all about improving the quality of care for cancer patients. Have I mentioned how much I love my new job?

This was my first cross-country business trip in a long time. Some notes I would have loved to blog from the plane:

• I’ve never had an easier time getting through security. I’m not sure what it is, but the whole take off your shoes, put everything in the bin and go through the scanner thing is down to a science and didn’t feel nearly the hassle it used to. And I’m limping on a sprained ankle this trip.
• Newark Airport has a great Airport Wireless store in the Continental gate area. I had packed my bulky power adapter in my luggage, so I ended up buying an iGo everywhere130. Yes, I paid list for it and I could have saved as much as $30 buying it online. But I’m not sorry. The adapter allowed me to use the laptop while waiting for the plane (this beast gets about 90 minutes on a charge, max). The salesman in the wireless store knew his stuff and was able to thoroughly answer all my questions. If he wasn’t as good at his job, he wouldn’t have had the sale. The store was a blast to browse. They carried cases from Bellagio and other items that you normally can only see online. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I don’t like to buy cases and accessories online if I can avoid it. I need to see it first. I think it took a lot of self control to only walk out with a power adapter toy.
• Newark Airport has wifi! Alas, it’s not free. Cost is $6.99 a day but if you have an account with another wifi provider it’s a little cheaper. I was able to pay $4.99 by using my Tmobile account. I skipped the fancy coffee and a magazine I would have bought to kill the time and dealt with email for an hour instead.
• The hotel has a similar deal with the wired ‘net connection in the room. I could pay $12.95 a day for the hotel’s ‘net access, or $6.99 a day with the Tmobile account. I’m already paying for Tmobile anyway, so I might as well save some money. Would be better if my laptop could pick up a hotspot directly so I don’t have to pay a premium, but oh well.
• 3 decent-lengthed audio podcasts, a few short podcasts, some songs, one episode of Photoshop TV and an episode of Monk are enough to drain a 30GB iPod’s battery. Not fun when you still have 2 hours left in your flight. Maybe I should have picked up one of those iPod battery extenders in the wireless store when I had the chance? 🙂
• The plane sounded like a symphony warming up as everyone turned on their cell phones at the same time after we landed.