Thoughts and things and lunch with a train

Well, after all my ranting and raving yesterday, it turns out the issue regarding the Portal seems to be a matter of terminology and semantics. It's hard to explain without making your head spin, but the person who said the portal was not 'official' still stands behind it, but not for the reasons I had thought.

In my opinion, that person is still mis-speaking about it. In any case, I have decided to take it upon myself to speak with the Commissioner of Education if I have to in order to get whatever "endorsement" or "official" status from the state department. I figure it would be similar to the process the NFL uses with candy bars makers ("The official chocolate carmel-cookie sponsor of the NFL").

Sometimes, I really miss those days when I was "just" the tech guy.... :-)

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I did remember what I was going to write about yesterday - Brad Paisley's video for "Online." Have you seen this? It features Jason Alexander and is one of the cutest/funniest videos I have seen in a long time. The video also features "Marsha Brady" and William Shatner and a few other celebs. Ironically, the song fits Alexander perfectly, or vice versa... :-)

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I left for lunch, went to Mickey-D's, got some nuggets and headed back to the office. On the way back, traffic was stopped by a train on the tracks. Trains in Arkansas have a tendency to block roads - for long periods of time. Just sit there, not moving. And, we did just that. Several cars made U-turns and headed for greener pastures. I hung out, away from the office, listening to my MP3 player (now that it has a fresh battery in it!). I munched on some fries, sipped the Coke, and hung out. After 5 minutes, the train pulled forward. After 2 minutes, it stopped again. That is another strange thing the trains here do... Anyway, while we waited for the train to figure out which way it wanted to go, I had finished my fries and started eating the nuggets. I was finished with lunch (Coke and all) before the train finally decided to go backwards and get out of our way.

What I noticed most was the graffiti on the side of the train cars. Some of it was very elaborate, artistic even. Other 'tags' were simple or sloppy or both. I don't know if anyone has taken pictures of train graffiti in order to preserve it, but I think it would be fun to do. Though, the thought of sitting around waiting for trains does NOT sound fun....

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I hate being on television, which I know is weird considering I am on the screen for 50-75 percent of my job. I went into radio in college for a reason, and now I am on the screen more than I care to know. Of course, I also got out of computer science because I hated programming... Now, with the DL Portal, I am programming more than I ever thought I would. I think God has a wonderful sense of humor, and He uses it at every chance he gets... :-)

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And, to answer my Aunt's question... For the most part, yes, you are the only one that posts a comment to my blog. Sometimes, other folks do, too, but that's kinda rare... Not sure what that says about me.. or you.. or them... hmm....