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<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=083563401-01082003>This is an oldie but
goodie!</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=083563401-01082003>LaRose</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=083563401-01082003>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The <SPAN class=083563401-01082003>D</SPAN>ay
Ronald Reagan <SPAN class=083563401-01082003>S</SPAN>aw LaRose
Karr</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Today at work I wore my souvenier T shirt from a
movie studio in<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>Los Angeles. A lady I work
with said "That's a nice shirt:". So,<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>of
course being the story teller I am, I had to relate my travel<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>experiences.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>A year ago, my boss approached me one day and said
"I've been<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>watching you around work. You
are really smart but no one is giving<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>you
a chance to advance. I've got a job for you to do."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>It turned out that he wanted me to fly out to Los
Angeles and<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>discuss the technical support
business with a studio; concerning<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>some
new software being released.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lots of people fly from city to city on day trips but
let me tell<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>you up front that I am not one
of them. This was only the second<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>time I
had flown. The plane had mechanical problems to begin with.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>We were delayed for over an hour because the heater
wouldn't work<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>on the pilot's window. They
finally decided after replacing the<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>heater
(it still didn't work) that WALA we could fly without it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>OK, I finally get to LA and get the rental car. Not
ever having<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>been to LA, of course I took a
wrong turn and ended up in east LA.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I did what any country gal would do, I stopped and
asked for<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>directions. And yes, I noticed
the bars on the windows in the</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>neighborhood. A nice Spanish gentleman said "Do you
know you're<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>in East LA?" He gave me
directions and I promptly got lost again.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>This time I pulled over at a very well maintained
body shop, made<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>a call to the studio and
told the receptionist I was lost. She<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>was
nice, gave me directions and so did the owner of the body shop.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I got back on the LA freeway and saw homeless people
living under<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>overpasses. I truly didn't
realize the way these people have to<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>live.
You must remember I live in a closeted part of the world in<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>NE Colorado. We rarely even have
crime.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I again had to stop and make a call. A man laying on
the side of<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>the street asked me for a
quarter. A part of me wanted to give<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>him
the quarter but I was afraid I'd be mugged.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>FINALLY, I turned onto Avenue of the Stars, and boy
did I know I<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>was in the right place! The
executives I met were very nice.<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>Two young
men immediately took me out to eat at their Cafeteriaand then let me shop at the
gift shop. After that, they gave me<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>a tour
of the studio. I saw where some shows were filmed. It was<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>very interesting to see the large studios which
looked like barns<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>to me and seeing the
sets being built by the carpenters. I think<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>they told me the studio had approximately 4,000 employees.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The trees in California were beautiful and full of
flowers. As we<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>went back into the Plaza,
one of the guys pointed at a blue car<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>with
the door open. He said "That is Ronald Reagan's car and since<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>the door is open, he will be coming out soon."
Well, we hung around<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>and the secret
service guys checked us out to make sure we weren't<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>loonies. Although, by this time I probably
looked like one. At<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>the airport a kind
lady had informed me that the tag on the back<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>of my dress needed to be tucked in! Wouldn't that have been a<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>sight on a business trip in LA!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sure enough, after a little bit, Ronald Reagan walked
by and waved<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>at everyone and got into his
car. That is the closest I've ever<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>been to
a former president.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>We then discussed the software and I talked about
technical support<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>and common calls. The
most technical person in the office was an<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>Englishman. I don't think he liked me. Maybe it wasn't that he<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>didn't like me, but rather he thought I was a
little country hick.<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>I first told him that
Quick Time (an extension on Macs that allows<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>you to run movie clips) would give error messages on bootup if more<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>than one QT extension were installed. Mac
operating systems don't<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>give you any
warning or prompt you to overwrite. Well, he assured<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>me that he had gotten all the bugs out of the
software, after all<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>he developed
it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, to prove his point he went to a computer (we were
in a lab,<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>not his usual office). And lo,
and behold, there was a Quick Time<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>bug on
that computer!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I then began to discuss video issues. By now I could
tell that<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>this guy really was the most
technical in the office and the other<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>guys
were wondering how I managed to talk with him on his level.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>He assured me there would be no video issues. Again,
he went to<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>a computer and as he booted it
up he told me they had an expensive<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>$1,000
video card in this computer. The software loaded to a<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>flashing question mark. YES, another video
conflict.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>We ended our meeting and I drove back to the airport.
I took a<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>lot of pictures from the car. And
I couldn't remember where the<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>car rental
business was located but dug around in the car and found<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>a map. I might add that during this day, I
spent a <SPAN class=083563401-01082003>c</SPAN>onsiderable<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>amount of time praying and telling God that I
couldn't make it<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>without his help. This
was during the time I was lost.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I asked a lady at the airport to take my picture and
then boarded<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>my flight home. I sat next to
a Chinese guy who couldn't speak<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>English
very well. As we took off at the airport, we flew out over<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>the ocean and then turned back. The Chinese guy
seemed worried<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>about that and got out a
map. He pointed to the map and then said<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>"Denver? Land?" I tried to assure him we were indeed going to<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>Denver.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Once in awhile on the flight, he'd try to talk but we
never were<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>able to communicate. I stayed
in a motel outside Denver that night<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>and
drove home the next day. After all, I had only worked 19 hours<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>that day.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I went to work the next day and came home. Had been
home about 10<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>minutes when my twenty year
old son came in, told me he was blowing<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>off college to go to Wisconsin, and live with a girl he'd known<SPAN
class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>one month. You can guess that our fan was not
in good shape after<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>all that stuff hit it
and that was the ending to my trip!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>My boss was happy and said he knew he'd sent the
right person. I<SPAN class=083563401-01082003> </SPAN>then developed training
materials for the software and trained the<SPAN class=083563401-01082003>
</SPAN>technicians!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>copyright 1997, LaRose Karr</FONT></P></DIV>
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