Coming to you live from Moscone Center South in the basement, I’ve finally made it. To a basement.

Well, technically it’s not a basement, it’s in the actual expo hall, but I call it a basement because where I’m at is below street level. I’ll give a more visual tour later, but for now, I’ll just be sticking to text. Still have a few kinks in my mobile setup to workout.

Things so far are light in the center. Vendors are busily preparing for the actual opening of the hall tomorrow. If things go off without a hitch tomorrow, expect a plethora of updates spread throughout the day.

The weather right now matches the gloomy picture being painted in the media about the two major tech conferences this week. Both Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas are without their usual keynote speakers. Bill Gates stepped out of his role as the head of Microsoft last June to focus more on his philanthropic venture with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, though he’s still working with the company. In his place, the often excitable Steve Ballmer will be stepping in. How excitable is he?

Well there’s his amazing enthusiasm right out of the gate, his mid-workout repeating, and of course his *ahem* passion for his company. YouTube loves this guy. Gotta love Uncle Fester sometimes.

At least Ballmer has experience sweating profusely for the cameras. With Steve Jobs out for the keynote, Apple is letting VP of marketing Phil Schiller take his place. Before the announcement I’ve heard bits and pieces of Schiller’s name tossed about in the press, I’ve never actually seen him speak. But if he’s a marketing guy, I’m sure he can at least put together a coherent sentence or two. However, in a twist on the challenge of  walking and chewing gum at the same time, giving a speech and playing a game on your iPhone seems to be a challenge for him.

Expect more updates today as the day goes along. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a $3 bottle of Pepsi to drink very slowly.