Cold and Hot Running Presentations

Yesterday was an interesting contrast in public events for me.  I wrote in yesterday’s blog about the groundbreaking ceremony in the middle of Worcester.  The sun was shining but this was very deceiving.  It was around 50 degrees (F) until you went into the shade where it felt like we immediately lost 15 degrees.  “Thankfully” we were all sitting in the shade of an open sided tent listening to speeches.  I’m sure if we hadn’t put up the tent that it would have rained like crazy.  As it was, by the end of the speeches most of the crowd had moved outside to listen where they could stand in the sun light.  I was seated next to the union president and I wasn’t about to wimp out in front of him; especially when I saw how much he was suffering from the cold.  He eventually gave up and moved out into the sun while I remained.  In truth I wasn’t sure my legs would still function correctly so I stayed through all the speeches.  I’ve also developed a problem with direct sunlight in the last few years.  After spending most of my adult life working outside I now find that if I am in direct sunlight without a hat I usually develop a pretty painful migraine, ahh the joys of middle age.  After a quick lunch at my desk (plus some blog writing) we were off to our next event – a presentation at an elderly housing complex.  We are fielding some new fare boxes in a little over a month and this was part of the outreach program.  I even volunteered to drive the group over in one of our large vans.  Once we had everybody loaded I was a little nervous about where my bravado had landed me.  I once drove school buses but that was over 35 years ago and the Army never let me drive anything really cool (big) once I was commissioned as an officer.  I immediately noticed how wide the damned thing was and how far the mirrors stuck out.   Fortunately where I was driving to was right in the middle of the city down some very narrow, one way streets.  Somehow we all arrived safely and my respect for my drivers who navigate these streets safely each day in these vehicles had grown measurably.  Part of the presentation was a video that I was supposed to set up using my laptop and a projector.  I have done this dozens of times and had even tested the equipment in my office prior to leaving so of course it was not working once I set it up there.  I was struggling to get the computer to talk to the projector as the presentation started.  We all wore suit coats and ties and the elderly facility had to have their heat set in the upper seventies because we were roasting after a few minutes.  I eventually got it to work, looking over the shoulder of all those IT guys over the years finally paid off.  I always enjoy speaking to the elderly groups because there are usually a couple of real characters in the crowd that the rest of the group feels honor bound to “handle”.  Yesterday was no different as they were “shooshing” a couple in the rear of the room who kept talking when the presentation was going on.  Everything went well but we were all ready to escape the sauna like conditions after an hour and a half.   The wife and I went to the movies last night and saw Wrath of the Titans which was pretty good.  The plot consisted mostly of the star, Sam Worthington, getting his ass kicked by assorted demons, giants, and gods for most of the movie before finally prevailing at the last minute.  After a long day of wildly fluctuating temperatures I was glad to share the last part of it with her, although I would never accuse her of being even tempered.

It Looks Much Bigger When You Get Behind the Wheel