Everything's bigger in Texas...

Or so I hear. We'll see if that statement is true or typical Texas braggadocio when I go there in April for a Society of Human Resource Management conference. The conference is on HR generalist issues such as compensation, employment law, etc. I'm planning to broaden my HR knowledge, so this is a perfect opportunity.

I'm pretty stoked. I always love to travel for work. I'm especially excited to go to Texas for two reasons:

1. I've never been there; and
2. Texas (along with California) is one of the few states whose residents actually go out of their way to let you know they're from there.

Am I the only one who's noticed this? You're either talking with or introducing someone from one of these states and the first opportunity they have they hint at or say where they're from, whether it's a reasonable time or not. Example:

"Hi, I'm Logan. So how do you know Dave here?"

"Hi Logan. Jenny. I'm from California."

Maybe it's just with college kids, and maybe it's just in Utah (as being perceived as a "Utahn" is decidedly uncool) but they always drop that in there as soon as possible, as though relying upon their respective state's reputation to boost themselves in your esteem. It's kind of like some kids at a playground talking about their houses and one saying: "Oh yeah, well my house is Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory."

Anyways, the conference is in Dallas, and I've already bought a Dallas Mavericks ticket for the second night I'm there. Can't wait. They're playing the Sacramento Kings, who would've been pretty boring two weeks ago but now that they have Ron Artest the potential for this game turning into a chaotic bloodbath has shot through the roof. I'll try to score some pics if it does. Toodles.