[JManc]

Originally Posted by SlidellWx

Houston will now suffer from the dumb decision by my professional organization to go all virtual for our annual conference at the end of January. There was already a requirement to be fully vaccinated to attend, but I guess that wasn't enough. Thus, Houston will be losing out on around 3,000 convention attendees hotel nights, recreational spending, etc. I know it's not a big convention, but it will still be a hit for the local hospitality and tourism industry in Houston.

Fortunately, my job was paying for my attendance this year, so I don't have to worry about reimbursement for funds spent. I don't plan on attending the virtual session, and I feel for my colleagues who were to present this year. I had the misfortune of attending and being a panelist for the virtual convention last year, and it was absolutely terrible. I'll not make that mistake again. Hopefully, next year common sense will prevail, and we will actually all get to meet up again.

I was supposed to relocate to the Bay Area last week as we were to return to the office by the 30th. Already had an apartment set up. Found out literally days before I was to head out that we won't be going back until July. Had to cancel lease and ended up losing security deposit but at least I save almost three grand a month in rent in the meantime. Needless to say, I won't make plans to move again until it's certain we actually return in July. Meanwhile, new cases in the Bay Area have been consistently low.