The TechEd plane leaves early Saturday morning.  I truly loathe flying in post 9/11 America but not as much as I loathe long car trips.  The Family is coming with me which will to some degree affect the amount of geekery that I am able to participate in but I am very much looking forward to these sessions.  I'm sort of hoping I can finish one of my side projects in between sessions and leave more time for interesting research when I get home.  I should be able to get to the next stage of my simulation on the plane ride down there.