Wednesday, February 16, 2011

In west Texas #gettngslizzerd


We are at another lovely picnic area along US-190, just east of Iraan, Texas (map). We've been through here before, and while we had never actually spent the night here, we wrote on our map that it had wonderful views. When our hoped-for accommodations adjacent to the courthouse in Eldorado, an obsolete listing from Days End, did not pan out, we decided to press on another hour and a half to this spot.

It was a wise decision, because it really is a breathtaking view over the Pecos River valley and the tiny burg of Iraan across the river. This is Texas oil country and most of the traffic we passed yesterday consisted of oil field service trucks, but there is nary a well in sight from this spot. We enjoyed a nice sunset after taking in the view over a couple glasses of wine. Although we did not actually "get slizzerd," whatever that means.

The hashtag was from a tweet that came across the official Red Cross Twitter feed last night, and we knew instantly that one of the social media mavens there had simply hit the wrong button on her smartphone, intending the tweet for her personal account. Louise responded right away with "dude, wrong account" and we noticed the tweet was deleted almost immediately. Nothing said on the Internet can ever be unsaid, of course, a fact we bloggers and tweeters are painfully aware of.

This official blog post explains what happened, and our entertainment for the morning has been watching the Twitter streams of all the Red Cross PR folks we routinely follow. It was, of course, an honest mistake and some good has come of it, so all's well that ends well. But we know what the PR department will be working on most of today. Our only regret is that we did not hang with Gloria the week we were in DC.

Speaking of following folks in the Red Cross, our big boss was interviewed for his upcoming seminar at the Satellite 2011 conference next month. We were pleased to be referred to as "high caliber"; read the interview here. In addition to his duties at the Red Cross, Keith teaches technology in emergency management at George Washington University.

Between the extra two hours on the road yesterday and the fact that I worked up a monster headache somewhere along the line, I did not get my own Red Cross work completed -- updating the teaching materials for the next training. So today will be a short day in order to finish it up this evening, when it is due. I expect we will end up somewhere between Balmorhea and Kent. Unfortunately, by then we will be on I-10, pretty much the only route option through that part of the state, and these lovely picnic areas will no longer be one of our stopping options.

3 comments:

  1. In the urban dictionary they list slizard. As excessively drunk! That's gonna take more than a glass of wine or two at a roadside park!!! LOL

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  2. "getting slizzerd" was from a line in the song "Like a G6" by Far East Movement - I was having some fun with hashtags!

    I'd love to meet up with you guys the next time you're in the area. :)

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  3. @Gloria: Welcome. We were literally just at E Street on Friday. But, of course, the craft beer indulging would have to happen off-campus. :)

    @Rod & Loyce: I knew we were not actually getting slizzerd, or slizard, but I wanted to include the hashtag in my post title, because the meme was just too good to pass up. I knew having that tag plus the words "Red Cross" in the post would draw a number of Red Crossers to the blog, and we are always happy to have our coworkers following along. And, see, the now-famous Gloria herself came to visit!

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