Ruminations from the road

Driving to Columbus for a meeting I observed the usual and some interesting things; the drive itself, using I-71 south, is very monotonous and I need something beside a loud Montgomery-Gentry CD (their newest) to keep me occupied. Mostly a three lanes highway, leaving shortly after eight in the morning means clusters of trucks during the trip. That in itself is not a problem, sure one almost ran me off the road as it was crossing from the far right lane of an entrance ramp while entering 270 west, but that's a normal occurrance. I'm just a little blue two door Ford; "sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug."

But, I digress. While passing a large SUV I noticed the driver using one hand to talk on the phone and the other hand to fix his hair. Yes, his hair. I had a fleeting moment of interest wondering not only how he was steering his big ole vehicle, but also if he was the only one in the car. I passed quickly and went on my merry way. Arriving at my destination without further problem, I was even happier business was finished early and I was able to start the trip home shortly after 2:30, thus missing the Friday rush-hour exodus beginning at 3:00 pm. Merging from 270, near the Budwiser plant, to I-71 north there was construction. Fabulous. However, the construction was good!

The configuation for merging from 270 to 71 North has changed! No longer must everyone take their life in their hands and exit to 71 using the same ramp as those entering 270. Cleveland and Columbus traffic is separate and equal, each with it's own lane far away from the entrance ramp. What usually takes fifteen to twenty minuts took less than five. As a result, I was able to get home early enough to make a quick stop for some confectionary goodies at a local store. Chocolate covered toffee, double-dipped malted milk balls, and a chocolate covered marshmallow on a stick. Yum.

With the same extra half hour I did a bit of DVD shopping and purchased Garth Brooks: The Entertainer. While typing this post, I am listening/watching the HBO Special, Garth Brooks: Live at Central Park DVD. Now? It's time for "Friends in Low Places." A secondary, though no less important purchase for my collection, was Stargate SG-1 season four. Several of my favorite all-time episodes are part of Season four; "Window of Opportunity," "2010," and "Chain Reaction." I know, "Chain Reaction" is an odd choice of favorite. But it has one of the best lines from O'Neill (two L's): "Have you heard of Ikea? " and brings into play the nefarious, but fun, Harry Maybourne. Next up? I must have season twp and three respectively with "1969" and "Urgo."

As I was finishing links for this post, Garth was singing "We Shall Be Free" - one of the bonus cuts on the Central Park DVD. There is a poignent scene near the end, a large red, white, and blue banner is unfurled between the World Trade Center twin towers ... it says Freedom. I can't add the screenshot here (copyright issues, librarian....), but someone has posted the video on YouTube. Here it is, YouTube-Garth Brooks-We Shall be Free.

"You Never Take Me Dancing"

It's Friday and the countdown to a new semester has finished. Monday is the first day of the 2007-2008 school year and I still have one more handout to complete for my WebCT course. This evening I downloaded a thirty-day demo of GradeQuick software, successful even with my dial-up connection, and was able to complete the accompanying handout for using our licensed version.

It's Friday and so very hot here (95 degrees thank-you-very-much) I no longer wonder why I moved back north from South Carolina all those years ago. It is so hot I can't concentrate on writing anything resembling a content driven post. My attention span is so tiny I watched portions of CMT's Trick My Truck, they did an ice cream truck, and TLC's What Not to Wear. Shopping and ice cream, win-win.

It's Friday and on my way back from a technology workshop this afternoon I stopped at retail's evil empire and treated myself to a book and new music; Suzanne Brockmann's newest, Force of Nature and Travis Tritt's CD, The Storm, featuring "You Never Take Me Dancing." I'm listening to it as I write this post, what a very fine CD for a steamy evening. He's been making good music for so long it is easy to take his talent for granted. The man can sing.

Lastly, it's Friday and I am really excited about the workshop/faculty learning community I attended this afternoon. We are going to meet and explore different technologies and how they may be used in the classroom and/or library to benefit students. This is a great opportunity for me to not only increase my technological "savvy," but also a wonderful networking opportunity being part of a campus wide faculty community.

"You give me all that I want of your money, baby

But you never take me dancing ..."