DNNcon Saved My Life!
An exaggerated account of my travels home
I decided to drive to Baltimore from Chicago to attend DNNcon this year. In past years, I've flown, except of course when we hosted it here in Chicago some years back. It was cheaper between gas, planes and rental cars than flying, not many more hours when you consider how long it takes to deal with airports, and it gave me an opportunity to meet a client in Ohio for some important business development.
On the drive back, my heater broke, just as a massive cold front moved into the area, bringing the temperatures from 67 the day before to 20 degrees. The car got cold - very cold. I didn't have time to wait to get it fixed. I had a business meeting in a few more hours. So I just needed to keep warm and continue driving. I had a decent driving coat and gloves but my head was getting awfully cold and a little numb.
Then I remembered a particularly nice chochkie that I received while at DNNcon. I reached into the back seat and fumbled around in my DNNcon bag and found it: MY SPIFFY SCARF!
I wrapped it around my head and over my face and within minutes feeling came back into my ears and nose!
I kept on driving until I was almost out of gas - the only stops I could afford to make due to time constraints were fill-ups - and that took me into New Stanton where the gas pumps were iced over and the wind was howling. I filled up the tank and went inside to warm up a few minutes.
The attendant was out throwing salt. We nodded and exchanged greetings. "Stay warm!" he said. "No problem," I said. "I use DNN." He didn't reply, just looked down confusedly into his cart for another shovel full of salt.
Obviously, I survived. The meeting went very well, the sunny day warmed up the car, and as I arrived in Chicago, it was 66 degrees.
Full disclosure: This picture of the frozen windshield is an exaggeration, just like this article. The picture of the Spiffy Scarf in an Emergency Box is real however.
No, not really, but it should be.
Don Gingold
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sprocket Websites, Inc.; Co-Founder Chicago Area DotNetNuke User Group
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