docs: def get_ec2_meta_data():
      """
      Get meta data about ourselves, if we are on an EC2 instance.
  
      In particular, this returns the VPC ID and region of this instance.
  
      If we are not on an EC2 instance it returns an empty dict.
  
      """
      # The timeout is just for the connection attempt, but between retries there
      # is an exponential back off in seconds. So, too many retries and it can
      # possibly block for a very long time here. Main contributor to waiting
      # time here is the number of retries, rather than the timeout time.
      try:
          md     = boto.utils.get_instance_metadata(timeout=2, num_retries=2)
          vpc_id = md['network']['interfaces']['macs'].values()[0]['vpc-id']
          region = md['placement']['availability-zone'][:-1]
          return {"vpc_id" : vpc_id, "region_name" : region}
      except:
          # Any problem while getting the meta data? Assume we are not on an EC2
          # instance.
          return {}