The DAMOP conference was good; the physics was excellent and the services mostly good (my one complaint is that the chairs turned my back into that Edvard Munch painting). There was an emphasis on precision measurement and fundamental constants, which included one session on atomic clocks (and “clocks”), and much of the rest included the kind of cleverness needed to do these precision measurements that is very engaging to me.

Not enough sleep all last week, long days of being engaged full-time and travel (with the inevitable travel delays) make Homer something something. I’m still too fried to discuss physics.

But ranting doesn’t require higher brain function, so I will point out shortcomings of the current bureaucratic implementation of travel. A lot of this trip was last-minute; I didn’t get my official travel approval letter until 11 days before the trip, which meant no early registration savings. I was required to stay at a lodging which cost government per diem, which meant no conference hotel (even though the rules allow an avenue for paying extra to stay at a conference hotel this was not approved, and getting one of the few government-rate rooms the conference organizers had arranged wasn’t in the cards at this late date). Having a rental car was specifically forbidden, and I thought the combination of the two restrictions had put the kibosh on the trip, but taking a taxi everywhere was approved (!) — which cost about twice as much as the expected hotel savings. The logistics of getting a cab to go in each morning also cost me some attendance time, so it was less bang for more buck. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Still to come is finishing up the wrestling match with the travel voucher system and the game of “Gotcha! You screwed this up and won’t get reimbursed!”

One the bright side, having professionals run the conference logistics was mostly a good thing, and there was beer at all of the poster sessions. Plus all of the physics…