NECC09 – My Experience

I recently went to Washington D. C. to attend the International Society for Techonology in Education’s big annual conference call NECC09. I was lucky because my friend Dean had an extra bed in D. C.’s Chinatown and my wife had lots of points on her credit card so I could get a free plane ticket.  My employer is even going to pay for meals and luggage fees (LUGGAGE FEES???Delta sucks).  I had never been to our nation’s capitol so the trip was a total blast.  I even made an animoto and embedded it below.

more about “animoto – My experience at NECC09“, posted with vodpod

Three of my friends, Bron Stuckey, Dean Groom, and Fil Santiago were crazy enough to attend a baseball game with me in Baltimore, forty miles to the North.  I don’t think we would have made it were it not for Fil Santiago’s train catching ability.  It started out to be what seemed like was going to be a very sucky trip.  I had never been on a subway and now I understand what it means to be packed in like sardines.  Our train ride was during the rush hour and we were very uncertain about how we would make the return trip to D. C.  We made it to the game about three innings in and the Red Sox were whooping arse.  It was 10 – 1 in the seventh inning when the rain started.  We had to wait about an hour for the rain to stop…luckily…We did not leave as many very unlucky Baltimore fans did!

Dean, Jeff, Bron, and Fil at Camden Field

The Orioles commenced to put a shellacking on the Red Sox in the final three innings making the largest comeback in their franchises history.  We had to catch a cab back to Washington D. C. which only cost about 20 dollars for each of us.  I sat in the front with a Nigerian driver named Sandy.  I enjoyed our conversation as I think my three friends enjoyed theirs in the back seat.  A New Yorker and Two Australians conversing and laughing from the back seat is what I heard as I discussed what brought a Nigerian all the way to Baltimore with the cab driver.  I think the two Aussies really enjoyed what was their first Major League Baseball game.  We finished the evening joking and laughing over a few drinks and a snack back in Washington D. C.  My friends made what could have been a complete disaster into a very memorable event for me…So thanks to Fil, Bron, and Dean…oh yeah…and Sandy.

On a personal note, I published my first six word memoir at Smith’s Magazine.  That sounds pretty important unless you considered anyone and their dog can publish a six word memoir there.  You can see my six word memoir below…My son is relieving himself after a long hike up to a glacier…My six words…”No toilets glacier will naturally flush”.

No toilets glacier will naturally flush