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[Austin, TX, Apr 28, 2026] I had a little bit of free time during the day, so I decided to hop on over to the Blanton Art Museum. It was just a block over from the conference center and across the street from the Bullock Texas State History Museum, which I visited yesterday. I was surprised to learn that my admission was free. It turns out, the Blanton offers free admission every… Read More
[Austin, TX, Apr 27, 2026] The Bullock Texas State History Museum was directly across the street from the conference venue. I couldn’t help but utilize a lunch break to check the Texas-sized museum. The 4-story granite building features close to 40,000 square feet of exhibition space and a 400-seat IMAX theater with a six-story high screen! I had picked up tid bits of Texas history on my visit to the Alamo back… Read More
[Portland, OR –> Austin, TX, Apr 25, 2026] It was time for my annual conference again, which took place in Austin, TX at the end of April. The University of Texas at Austin was hosting, which meant that I stayed close to campus. UT Austin hosted the conference back in 2012. Back then, I added a couple of extra days to visit San Antonio. I didn’t have the opportunity for an extension… Read More
[Austin, TX] It is Sunday morning. I’ve set my alarm for the obscenely early hour of 7 am because I have a task – run 8 miles!!! As part of my half-marathon training (I am hoping to complete the San Diego rock-and-roll half marathon in early June), I am building up to the 13.1-mile distance over a series of long runs, each one a couple of miles longer than the other. Sunday’s… Read More
[Austin, TX] After our afternoon of sight-seeing in San Antonio, we headed back to Austin. We checked into the AT&T Hotel and Conference center, which was on the fringe of the University of Texas at Austin campus and was actually owned and operated by the university. This was where our conference would be over the next three days. After checking in, we touched base with my former boss Martha. She used to… Read More
