We returned to Chicago for this year’s AAO, where I once again secured a room at the Hyatt adjacent to McCormick Place for maximal convenience. Upon landing, I opted for an Uber over the sketchy walk to Chinatown for late night HK eats at Chi Cafe. Having left my hat on the plane, I picked up a replacement at TJ Maxx on the way to a Genentech ad board next morning. Without a friend to join me for dinner afterwards, I requested a stuffed companion for solo hot pot at Haidilao. On Friday, I bounced between the Retina and Uveitis subspecialty days, and gave my talk on gene therapy-associated inflammation to the more intimate uveitis crowd. Dinner at S.K.Y. was sublime, with an unforgettable foie gras bibimbap that had me savoring the umami bomb the rest of the evening. I presented my second talk and OCT course on Saturday, with a lunch break in between over more hot pot with my ex-fellows. The Arts in the Dark parade that evening kept downtown traffic in gridlock, foiling my hopes of attending all three alumni receptions. I did a few interviews and a consulting gig before returning to O’Hare for dinner and flight home. Melody and I returned from our respective meetings to find our house in chaos, with no internet and no microwave. I hurriedly purchased a replacement cable modem and microwave from Best Buy on Monday, which helped me troubleshoot, identify, and replace the culprits – a failed power adapter for the modem and a burnt thermal fuse in the microwave. We celebrated my DIY repair successes over AYCE wagyu hot pot with my parents, followed by more hot pot, froyo, and father-son time before they returned home. With Chinese school in full swing, we had little time to enjoy Pioneer’s Fall Festival, as we acknowledge our waning free time together against mounting Westley activities.

With my parents back in town to help watch Westley, I was able to flex both my research and clinical arms at back-to-back conferences. I first drove to Pacific Grove for the inaugural Keystone Symposium for dry AMD. The cafeteria and dorm-style rooms at Asilomar gave off summer camp vibes, but at least let me take in the Pacific breeze and partake in some interactive scientific discussions. A brief eclair stop gave me time to charge my car for my drive home. I was off next to Alcon’s Podos Colloquium in Dallas, where I asked the driver to detour to Madea’s for pork neck bone before my talk on gene therapy, followed afterwards by dinner at Hotel Drover in the bustling Stockyards district.  After getting back, we took Westley and his friend Liam to watch their first movie in a theater. With a throwback hand-painted aesthetic and a heartwarming story, the Wild Robot made for good family entertainment, if not for the next few nights of fever and vomiting that kept Melody and Westley feeling miserable through the week. Stuck at home, we at least replayed enough of our Elden Ring base game to embark on Shadow of the Erdtree. Without a guidebook, we fumbled with NPC questlines and struggled with our new greatsword Milady before reverting to our trusty Moonveil. Westley was more interested in wielding his own swords, and took up fencing lessons at DFA. We learned the difference between epee, foil, and sabre, as we watched him engarde with older kids. This weekend, we drove to Martinez to check out the regional tournament to give him a taste of competitive sports. The road trip also gave us a chance to visit and take our niece out to a yummy but pricey dinner. With Halloween approaching, we decided to make our own costume, inspired by the upcmoming Astro Bot game that he’s been eyeing. The crafting project kept us plenty busy ahead of more work travel this month.