Well, I made it to Los Angeles in one piece. The shuttle service is a joke, what a rip off. It’s cheap, but I felt like I got the tour of a lifetime. Oh well, I save my company $30 on taxi service I guess. Then, I get to the hotel and find out that the power was out and nothing works. So no credit card authorizations. Bugger me! They go ahead and let me check in after about 20 minutes, I throw my bag into the room and haul ass to the bus to get to the convention center before registration closes.

The people at registration are nice, quick, and proudly announce that I’m a winner! So I guess I really do get the best seat in the house. She said to look for the red carpet and comfy chairs when I arrive in the morning. I wonder if they’re going to give free foot massages since my feet are killing me. The LACC is enormous, which I guess I knew, but the scale is different when you’re hoofing it to sessions clear across the way.

I picked up the first few premiums, a slick hand bag (with a ton of junk in it, most of which I chucked into the trash five minutes later). My favorite was the copy of MSDN Magazine without the magazine. It was 100% adds and called the “component catalog” even though it was nothing but the ads from the regular magazine. Chunk, eight more ounces gone. There was a cool Channel 9 fob in the bag, that was pretty slick and I’m sure will find itself flying through the air upon my return to the office.

I went into the Big Room and that’s about right. It’s huge and my favorite part? The comfy couches in the track lounges. Expect me to hang out here often unless it gets completely overloaded with folks. The Internet Alley should keep most occupied. No wireless that I’ve found yet, but plenty of LAN cords lying around to hook up and check on things back home. I’ve yet to check out the gaming zone, that looks interesting albeit kind of simple. There is also a nice dining area, that should be cool.

I was pretty fried after the trip and arrival mess, but I got a first glimpse. After getting enough of tonight (the birds of a feather sessions are kinda, well, anyway), I walked over to 7th and Figuroa and got my some pizza at CPK. Then I walked back to the hotel (an interesting journey to say the least) and unpacked. It’s a nice hotel, but their wireless internet totally sucks. I can’t stay connected for more than a couple of minutes. I’d be better off snorking from the apartments across the street, I noticed a few open nodes on the list I may try later tonight.

Anyway, that’s it for Day Zero. More to come!