Providence
Three solid days in Providence, RI for PEARC24. Conference lunch the first day was a disaster, lines were ridiculous, so I bailed and went to a local pizza place instead. Did not know Rhode Island had its own pizza style, thin crust and tasty, although Providence Coal Fired Pizza had only whole pies on the menu, no slices. The workshop today was not my thing, but I suspect that was on me for not reading the description in sufficient detail. Oops.
Caught up with Gerald the next day for lunch at the conference, which was much better-- more food stations/lines/access, and the food was decent enough. Some solid sessions, particularly about the future of datacenters, then managed to meet up with Gerald and family for dinner out at Iggy's in Warwick, out by the airport. Lobster roll was legit, the clam doughboys seemed like more carb than clams, and the chowder was pretty good. Was good to hang out with Gerald and family, and also nice to get out of the city for a bit.
Wednesday was solid on info, particularly from the OpenHPC group, then a few more on documentation efforts-- although pacing/timing on some of these was rough. They had a lot of very short sessions that could have been twice as long, so some of their scheduling felt overly tight. I skipped out on conference food today in favor of Durk's BBQ for lunch, which was pretty meh. Pork ribs were dry, the rest was best describe as average at best, made me wish I had stuck to conference food. Dinner was at Maruichi, a regional Japanese grocery chain, with chirashi bowl that was f'ing amazing. Quality was good and the cuts of fish were generous-- superb.