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JavaPolis Day Zero - An Almost True Story

December 13th, 2006 Peter

Sunday 10 a.m.: Operation Javapolis ‘06 has begun. Reckoning that proper style is very important these days, my buddy Mario and I prepare our MacBooks, ride the Plane Experience from Linz over Vienna to Miami Brussels, then travel on Rails to Antwerp. What a journey for a software developer!
A check-in and a beer later, in an attempt to outsmart the average Java geek, we decide to confirm our conference registration (and more importantly grab a Java Duke) right away. After all, who wants to end up in a long blocking queue on Monday morning? “No problem” says the friendly guy at the hotel reception, “take bus no. 31 or 77, both of which leave - uhm - somewhere near the hotel”. Now he could have been a bit more specific, but this would have deprived us of getting to know the beautiful scenery, accompanied by the not-so-beautiful weather. In case you are into sceneries, the one around our hotel is best described as a good blend of funny smells and ample streets packed with heavy traffic.
Strolling around for about 30 minutes, we have finally found what appears to be our bus stop. To our delight, bus no. 31 shows up from a distance shortly thereafter, quickly approaching our position. “Oh boy” I say to myself, “Belgian bus drivers really push their hardware to its limits”, but hey - the damn bus doesn’t stop! Neglecting our wish to come aboard, it shoots by and continues its fast-paced journey as if our existence wouldn’t matter.
After two more unsuccessful tries to get on the plain-old-city-bus, wondering which bus stops where and why, at the same time freezing and counting the raindrops falling on our heads, we return to the hotel. If the bus is not willing to take us to JavaPolis, why not simply call a taxi? “No problem” says the friendly guy at the reception, “your taxi will arrive shortly. Did I - uhm - forget to say that in order to get on the bus, you have to make eye contact with the driver and do the Duke dance?”
We are standing right in front of the hotel. Every once in a while a taxi appears but - you guessed it - doesn’t stop nor even comes close to us. By now we know that it’s our fault, but believe it or not, making eye contact in the darkness is challenging at least, and even Wikipedia doesn’t teach the Duke dance. Anyway, tonight’s Javapolis registration closes at 9:00 p.m., only a few minutes from now. Realizing that no transportation system could take us there on time, we transform our frustration into a beer from the friendly guy at the reception, whose relaxed smile tells he is perfectly fine with taxis that never show up. Hopefully, JavaPolis registration will cope with two more outsmarted average Java geeks on Monday morning…

Entry Filed under: JavaPolis06