Vegas in a small nutshell, a pistacio perhaps.

So im at Ceasars Palace at a cyber cafe before the final day of confrences and I have some observations. It is an international confrence and although the official language is english, I have gone some 5 minute periods of not hearing a word of it spoken. There is a very strong oriental (mostly japanese) presence here, as well as many europeans. I have met several people from the netherlands, the UK, swiss etc. There are good experences and bad experences. I was talking to a presenter after his paper presentation and asking him questions about future research. I asked him if he knew about the work Dr. J Smart was doing and he anwsered "I think you know the anwser to that" Well I HATE being asked questions like that. If I knew I wouldent have asked the question. Well apparently Dr. Smart was this guys grad student. Some people here are just doing it for the clout or the intelectual masturbation. Many others are workaholics and insecure. Im not sure its a croud I want to be involved with on a regular basis. But much like becoming a christian, its not about the other people who claim the same title, its about God. So maybe I am ment to go into this field and just be vastly diffrent than the rest of the international community. However there have been some very good experences. Sitting around talking with people durring small coffee breaks has informed me about what others are doing in there work and some have been intrested in what I do. There is discussion and sharing of ideas which may eventually lead to something. However it seems some people are only intrested in themselvs and their own research. There is alot of tension between the Germans and the rest because they are using numbers for office setups that the Americans disproved a decade ago. Some of the members will only look at you if your name starts with Dr. and even that isent a guarentee to gain a standing as an equal or someone worth of spending time with. I did meet a very nice woman from the Netherlands who wanted to pratice her english (which was quite good as opposed to many of the people here whoi have extreamly strong accents) while a large group was going out to dinner which is the fasion after a long day of confrences. She made conversation and we talked about diffrent things. I had tried with others before but when they learn that im not here to present or in grad school its a pretty quick blowoff. A friend of my grandmothers has been very nice to me however. She is from sweeden and told me if im ever in the country I have a free place to stay. Shes reallt quite a character, if youve seen the incredibles then you could relate her to the little costume design lady. My session starts in two minutes and my grandmother is charring so I better get going. The question of the day/year is

is my heart really in this?

do I want to be an ergonomist or am I ment to go somewhere else? I certaintly have the connections to get here, but do I really want to be here?

-Dustin