*the faint smell of vomit coming from the airplane seat and/or air blowers.
*the very noisy kids running around airports (although mainly cute).
*the deer in the headlights look everyone had when the gate agents could not tell us what was going on.
*relearning that good idea + good technical execution does not mean a good paper, unless the author can explain it clearly. And realizing that some people will never figure that out, but instead spend time complaining about how unfair it all is, because d*mn it, they have good ideas. Why can't the d*mn referees understand them?
*realizing how interested I am in research, still.
*How much noise there is in academics.
*How much of it all is about getting into the right club, so that people will take you seriously. But I notice that most people do find a club---if they have good ideas+good execution+good explanations. Or at least at a similar level to the other people in their club. There are lots of clubs too.
*How much people use appearance to judge. And some people are as sholes about it, too.
*How much interesting research is being done, but also how much is uninteresting to me. But the joy of it all is that many people have different tastes than me.
*Why do I only eat crap food at airports. And enjoy it.