koha-US 2019: Fred and the Avenging Chicken go to Pueblo, Colorado

Time to sail forth yet again, this time to the shores of Pueblo, Colorado, for the annual meeting of koha-US. Actually, Pueblo doesn't have any shores to sail to, so we used a cargo van, airplane, and car. Pueblo does have a very nice riverwalk, a chili festival, and, most importantly, a magnificent public library system that uses Koha as its ILS. This time I was doing two presentations: one on installing and maintaining Koha without a support vendor, given with my colleague John Sterbenz, and one on installing Koha on a Raspberry Pi. It was my last meeting as a board member; fortunately, we managed to find someone to replace me.

A few links by way of explanation:

• What's Koha? Find out here: https://koha-community.org/
• What's koha-US? Try this link: https://koha-us.org/
• Where's Pueblo, Colorado? https://www.pueblo.us/
• Can you tell me anything about the library? Try here: https://www.pueblolibrary.org/
• Are there any links to the conference and presentations? http://koha-us.org/learn/conferences/kohacon2019/
• How about to the Raspberry Pi presentation? Over here: http://avengingchicken.online/misc/installing_koha_on_raspberry-pi-4.pdf
• I bet you don't have an image for an SD card though, do you? Funny you should ask: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gcENhhboY0E7fRYnyRt-W_o-JD9S5Ve-
• What's a Raspberry Pi? Maybe this should be a little higher in the list: https://www.raspberrypi.org

#include Standard_Disclaimers

Ready to go!	We tried a different garage this time--a multi-story one. We park on a high floor in hopes of acclimating ourselves to the Colorado altitude.	I'd heard that planes take off from BWI when it's daytime, but this is the first time I've actually seen it happen.	And suddenly we're in Denver.
We pick up our car and head to Pueblo.	I have a feeling we're not in Maryland anymore.	We check in to our room. The black plate to the right of the lamp has all kinds of controls for the TV, network connections, etc. By the time we had left, we had figured out how to use none of them.	The conference begins! Koha-US President George Williams welcomes the attendees.
Nick Clemens and Andrew Fuerste-Henry talk about Bugzilla. Summary of their presentation: it's not as frightening as you think it is.		We meet Regina Renee Ward, one of our hosts.	And say hello to Marshall Breeding, creator and editor of Library Technology Guides.
Jo Ransom gives the keynote address from her home in New Zealand.	Charissa Brammer and Cate Guenther tell their stories of migrating to Koha in academic libraries.	Charissa Brammer (l), the Avenging Chicken (m), and Cate Guenther (r).	Lisette Scheer shows off her computer. Or maybe she's talking about something on the screen.
We meet Alex Chen of the Butte County Library in Chico, California.	Second day! John Sterbenz and I compare notes for our upcoming presentation. You can tell it's the second day because I'm wearing a different shirt.	Break time!
John and I are probably the only two people at the conference who run Koha without a support vendor. We talk about what it's like. Summary of our presentation: it's not as frightening as you think it is.	The Education Committee meets for lunch.	Then it's time for my presentation: Koha on a Raspberry Pi.	When I'm finished, one of the moderators tells me that the recording didn't work and asked me to do my presentation again. Fortunately, the audience remain and actually laugh at the jokes a second time.
Ed Veal talks about using Koha to authenticate database access.	George and Lisette chair the koha-US meeting.	The audience are spellbound.	After the meeting, the koha-US board gather for a picture. L to R: Jason Robb, Secretary; Megan Farve, Member-at-Large (Supported); George Williams, President; Lisette Scheer, Vice President; The Avenging Chicken, not a board member; Fred King, Member-at-Large (Unsupported); John Sterbenz, Treasurer.
We meet more of our hosts. L to R: Jill Kleven, Jon Walker (Executive Director), and Katherine MacLeod. You probably recognize the other two by now.	Although there were a lot of evening opportunities to carouse, we were too tired to pursue them. We hope to be more lively for the next conference.	Third day! We begin the morning with a trip through the riverwalk.	And we look at some of the statues.
The chicken gives one of the statues a bit of support.	Does this mean that a beaver can chop down a five inch diameter willow tree in six minutes, or one and a half minutes?	I believe this is known as "mixed use" development.	We admire the statue outside the library.
The conference coincided with Pueblo's annual Chili Festival. We take a quick look.		There were a lot of peppers for sale...	...in bags...
...and bottles.	There were even some things that weren't peppers.	They wouldn't let me read any poetry this time, but George did ask me to talk about the Koha-based Authors' Catalog. It wasn't scheduled; if it had been, I would have worn something fancier, such as shorts that matched my knee brace.	Pueblo traffic has an odd characteristic: there isn't much of it. This is the intersection of Main Street and Other Street.
It's HackFest Day! The chicken takes a nap while I work on firewall issues.	We meet John Andrews of the Washoe County Library in Reno, Nevada. We agree that his facial hair is more stylish, and mine is easier to maintain.	One final lunch.	We get a tour of the automated book-sorting system. It's very impressive. And after a quick wrap-up, koha-US 2019 comes to a close.
I didn't just take pictures at the chili festival, I bought bags and bags of peppers and powders to take home. I'm surprised my bag wasn't searched at the airport.	Getting ready to head back to Denver.	We stop at a park along the way.	Admiring the vista.
Earlier in the month I found out that I had qualified for membership in the Academy of Health Information Professionals at the Distinguished level. I practice looking Distinguished. It didn't work.	The chicken is much better at looking Distinguished than I am.	We set out on a trail...	...but soon decide to turn around.
Ready to get back on the road.	Back in the Denver airport.	We avoided the moving walkway, though our dogs are 2,000 miles away.	We set out towards Gate C99.
But the concourse seems to end at C51! Is this what they mean by Denver Imaginary Airport?	Fortunately, our gate exists. So does our plane.	Back in Baltimore. You can tell it's Baltimore because the people look stressed.	Home at last!