It rained today....for 3 minutes

Last night when we were eating dinner I told one of the waiters it looked like it was going to rain. His response was, “In San Antonio it only rains for 3 minutes at a time.” It kind of reminded me of Phoenix rain. Well, today it rained for 3 minutes and then it was done. It rained just enough to cool the air down about 5 degrees.
Today was the second day of the NECC conference. I had a chance to attend a few workshops of some well known tech educators. It seems like all the tech gurus think that Second Life is going to be the future of how we learn. Second Life is a virtual online world where you create your own character, buy land, build houses, and have access to all kinds of information. The name says it all. I think it is a little too weird for me…maybe.
At one of the workshops I attended the presenter had a book signing immediately after the discussion. His publisher was giving away 300 books at their booth in the vendor hall. I decided I could afford a free book, so I got in line. Apparently there were so many people in line that the fire marshal made the publisher tell everyone to come back in groups. They passed out 300 pieces of paper with a time to come back on them. If you didn’t get a piece of paper, you didn’t get a free book. Well, I was one of the last people to get the piece of paper. I came back about an hour and a half later and met the author. I told him that I had heard another keynote he did in Phoenix a few years ago. He asked me what I did. I told him I was a 2nd Grade teacher, and he said, “Oh, I remember Phoenix…that was a long time ago.” My interpretation of that was….Oh, I was in Phoenix? When in the heck was that?” This is what he wrote inside of my book, “Hi Robert, Alan November.” How personable! I guess after almost 300 book signings you run out of things to say. I do plan on reading the book.
I spent the rest of my afternoon checking out the vendor hall. I think I have walked almost the entire exhibit hall. I don’t know how many million square feet it is, but it must be at least half a mile long. I even had the chance to ride a mechanical bull. I don’t remember what vendor it was. They took a picture of me, and gave me a card with a number on it so that I would go to their Web site next week to see my picture. I managed to stay on the bull for 8 seconds. The old guy after me stayed on for 20 seconds. I think they were easier on him…..weak bones.
Jeanette and Matthew spent the morning at the Children’s Museum. Matthew had a blast playing with all of the interactive exhibits. They napped in the afternoon, and when I got back to the hotel we all went to the AzTEA reception at the Rio Rio Cantina. AzTEA is the Arizona chapter of ISTE (International Society of Technology Educators). I had a chance to meet up with some of the people I know from Arizona. There are so many people attending this conference that I haven’t really seen too many of the Arizona people. There were probably over 150 people from Arizona at the reception. There was also a group from Australia and Germany. I’m not sure why they were there….probably for the free food.
We ended our evening with a trip to a playground at Hemisfair Park and then the hotel pool. Jeanette and Matthew are swimming right now, and I am sitting here by the pool. Two things have been on Matthew’s mind all week….swimming…and apples. He has a thing for apples right now. I guess that’s better than candy. Unfortunately it has been difficult to come by fruit around here. There are no real grocery stores in walking distance. Jeanette had to buy a banana from Dairy Queen this morning. I don’t know where she got the apple. That’s all for now…tomorrow is the last day of the conference. We will be flying home around 9:30 PM.