Coffee: The jet lagged traveler's best-est friend. Actually, I seem to have adjusted to the time shift rather well. By 11 p.m. last night (8 p.m. Pacific) I could barely stay awake. And this morning I was wide awake 5 minutes before my alarm went off at 6:45 (that's 3:45 in the morning in Vegas!). Eager to get some blood flowing, I hit the hotel gym right away. For those of you who are unaware, last year I began a massive self-improvement regime that, most significantly, involved quitting cigarettes (I recently celebrated 1 whole year as an ex-smoker) and losing weight. In the weight department, I'm happy to note that as of Monday morning I had officially lost over 50 pounds. (Don't get too excited, however. I still have another 100 to go.) Back to the hotel gym. This is my first out of town trip since I started working out regularly, and so it is also my first experience with a hotel's in-house fitness center. First off, they charge me $10 each day to use the facility, which after yesterday afternoon means I've already racked up $20 in fees -- and the conference hasn't even started yet. What do I get for my $10? A gym with only 4 treadmills. Actually, make that 3 because one of them is out of order. I managed to snag one after waiting 5 minutes last night, but this morning I couldn't sit still long enough to wait, so I hit the stationary bike instead. Which of course means that my ass is killing me now. Honestly, who designed the seats for stationary bikes? All whining aside, it's probably good that I did something other than walk. I've spent so much time on the treadmill the last few weeks that my legs probably needed some variety. And though I bitch about $10 fee, it's not as though I'm not going to pay it. Basic economics says that an appropriate price for a good or service is whatever the market will bear, and the market seems to be withstanding this one just fine. The conference starts in 30 minutes, so I have a full day of seminars ahead of me on such wide ranging topics as web development and... web development. I am signed up to have dinner at a pizza place tonight. Our topic of discussion: wikis. (I can just sense the envy of my readers!) Today's theme music: "Fitter Happier" by Radiohead I'll try to post again tonight to discuss why my return to our nation's capital after 22 years has sparked memories of The Beach Boys.