Go E.T.S. Tech!

I'm trying to decide whether to take my laptop with me to Puerto Rico this week. On the one hand, I'm going for a conference, so I could conceivably want to look up some academic-minded thing, or add a hot little tidbit to my dissertation, or do some last-minute editing of my presentation, or keep in touch with my advisor over email. But, realistically, if I brought my laptop, I'd use it to check my email, to see if anyone's commented on my blog, to recharge my iPod and basically to keep up appearances. I don't think I'd be fooling anyone, though. I mean, would I be going to this conference if it were in Beaumont, Texas?*

Sunscreen, on the other hand, is not optional.


*I don't have anything against Beaumont, Texas, really. Someone used it as their standard "nightmare" academic destination in conversation with me the other day. My standard nightmare job destination is usually Eastern Tennessee State Tech, which, to my knowledge, doesn't really exist. This makes it somewhat more immune to the horrified reaction of "My mother went to Eastern Tennessee State Tech! How dare you!!" I say "somewhat" because there's always the chance that you've just picked the wrong "nightmare" state for your audience, which I did the other day with Iowa.
Slightly Embellished Actual Conversation:
Me: "I turned down this job in Iowa, because, you know, it was Iowa."
Friendly Neighbor: "I went to grad school in Iowa."
Me: "Oh, Iowa's lovely. Really lovely. The school was really small. And, it was in Cedar Rapids."
Slightly Offended Friendly Neighbor: "I was in Iowa City."
Me: "I mean, if the job had been the University of Iowa, that would have been one thing. I hear Iowa City is great. Everyone in Cedar Rapids hangs out in Iowa City. Yeah. I love Iowa."
Lesson learned.