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 Since
Day 2 of the TechLearn '99 Conference was so uninteresting as
to have long since faded from my memory--I do vaguely remember
seeing Michael Milken strutting around on the stage talking about
distribution of wealth as I listened from half a conference room
away with various stages of interest, most of them south of genuine;
mostly I was trying to figure out if Michael Milken really does
look like John Malkovich, or if it was just my imagination coupled
with the suggestion of the fact that they're both middle-aged
bald guys with Ms and Ls and Ks in their last names--I decided
to put up a brief tour of the Coronado Springs Resort hotel where
I stayed and where the conference was held.
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My Room
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The View from My Room
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The Lake
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Lori, Allison, and Rick at the Conference
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 Tuesday
night I had the pleasure of having dinner with my friend Laura
Caudle and her husband Keith and their six and a half year old
daughter Lisa, who I had not seen awake since she was two weeks
old.
It took approximately forever to get to their house; a full hour,
as it's 40 miles from Disney World to where they live, in a cute
little house that is just barely in Orlando, and which is filled
with books and toys and a cat named George. Laura served chicken
enchiladas, which were excellent, and key lime pie for dessert,
also excellent. The hight point of the evening for me was meeting
Lisa, who is beautiful and intelligent and precocious,
but well mannered and dignified. I was very impressed with how
considerate and polite she was; Laura and Keith have done a great
job of raising her. They should be proud; I know I am. Before
we ate we joined hands and they recited, "We love our bread,
we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other."
The second high point of the evening came after we ate, when Lisa
was very eager to show me her elbow-in-a-cup trick, a trick which
results in a sound that does have a precedent in nature, indeed
in human physiology, but which I will not name here; suffice it
to say that most pre-adolescent boys are capable or producing
similar results by the deliberate application of a hand to the
armpit and a rapid pumping of the arm. The elbow-in-a-cup trick
seemed to be the bane of Laura's existence and the delight of
Keith's; Lisa took a great pride in her trick, justifiably so.
After we had left the table, Lisa read a school book to Laura
and Keith and me, then Laura read a book to her--Worms Wiggle,
I believe, was the title. Then Keith put Lisa to bed and Laura
and I talked for about an hour about various things one talks
about with an old friend you haven't seen in a year. I left at
about 8:50 and got back to the hotel by 9:30; Anna called me at
about 10:00, and we talked for half an hour or so, then I went
to bed.
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The last day of the conference was Wednesday: Here's a summary
of what I did: attended one last TechLearn session, spent four
hours at Epcot, and drove 500 miles home in practically one long
stretch. I was very glad to be home.
And yes, I finally got some little chocolate covered donuts:
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