TBA
San Diego Supercomputer Center
San Diego Supercomputer Center does an excellent week-long summer institute for high performance computing (HPC) and data science. Came down to SDSC the night before just like last time, finding the Residence Inn La Jolla hasn't changed in a year, then spent a full week absorbing everything that Bob, Marty, Mary, Andreas, and many others could teach us. Most sessions were excellent, only a few the end of the week (by newer instructors/staff) were a bit rougher; the prep day done via Zoom the week before saved a lot of time during the institute itself.
Fooding outings, some officially through SDSC, some on my own, were sprinkled throughout the week. SDSC had a happy hour at Cutwater Tasting Room, which has a beautiful outdoor patio setup on a summer day, a solid drink selection, and decent food that attempts at some inspired fusion, but ends up a bit too whitewashed to truly excel. Was still great to chat with a lot of the staff and attendees the first night tho, there are some seriously smart people at these things. Dorm food remained at Pines' dorm cafeteria, which was admittedly a lot of nostalgia back to my own undergrad days eating similar dorm food at a different cafeteria. And the final night's organized social event was at 15th Floor at one of the other dorm areas, the Village at Torrey Pines West. The northwestern corner of UCSD's campus coupled with a 15th floor (as the name says) view lead to some great scenery but some very mediocry UCSD catering.
On my own, hit up Fan-Fan, one of the Asian restaurants at UCSD, for lunch one day. They seem to be a local version of Panda Express, but with some made-to-order dishes like Northern Cafe or other Chinese chains, only they are not quite as tasty. Still solid enough, and a nice break from dorm food-- plus very convenient being on the UCSD campus. Wandered off-campus one evening to La Jolla Shores and The Taco Stand, which was a crazy popular chain with fresh-made tortillas, yet the overall meal just added up to okay. There are so many street taco vendors that any restaurant is going to be pressed to compete.