It is important to constantly look for new perspectives. Different people have different ideas. Other countries do things differently. Different is NOT wrong. I’ll admit that I don’t know a lot about Dubai, but I learned about it’s transportation infrastructure today. Their government made a commitment to providing safe transportation to it’s people. Transportation at all levels. They’ve improved roads, processes, and procedures. They’ve integrated rail, water, and roads into a cohesive program. It’s truly exciting to see how they are growing. If you would like to learn more, check out their website: http://bit.ly/WF0fQS

The link for their English site is very long so I’ve used bit.ly to make it shorter. This is a Dubai Government site. If you would like to navigate to it directly, search for “Dubai, RTA”

From a training perspective, it can be extremely effective to infuse real-life situations into training modules. It gives people something to identify with at a personal level. Today I was exposed to a heartbreaking story about a school bus accident. It is a story I will never forget, because the people who were affected the most choose to use the experience to educate others about the dangers of being distracted while driving. In 2011 a young boy was hit and killed by his school bus while unloading. The family, in collaboration with the Missouri Association of Pupil Transportation, created a video that should be viewed by anyone who currently drives a school bus or anyone who is considering driving a school bus. Take the time to learn from this situation and take steps to keep it from happening in another community and to another family.

http://www.moapt.org/news.html#news2

I like to run/jog in the places I visit. It keeps me on track with marathon training and it helps me see a lot more of the city than just driving from the hotel to dinner or other destinations. Since I don’t have any cool GPS gadget to monitor my path/distance, I usually rely on my $10 digital watch and google maps. Today, however, both Google maps and Bing Maps make me want to claw my eyes out and throw my laptop through my window. Is it to much to ask that when I select a point A and a point B that the path it shows is the path I actually used. Even the “walking” option for Bing was no help. Anyway, we got to see Mud Island and the other half of the Riverwalk path this afternoon, and we either did just under 7.5 miles or 456.3 miles depending on if you believe google maps or my average speed/pace and time jogging (as kept flawlessly on my $10 dollar watch) calculations.

I’ve known about Elvis for a long time. I remember watching some of his movies, and I recognize the songs, but beyond that I’ve never really know a lot about him. Saturday night we were able to visit Graceland with a great bunch of people. It was a blast! It really opened our eyes to how important Elvis was in the community, and why he still has such a fan-base even today. We will be adding some movies to our Netflix queue and pulling out some of the albums I’m told we have. It was a great night with new friends, some of which enjoyed my hair a lot.

“First Observer” is a national safety and security program that uses the skills, experiences and “savvy” of America’s transportation professionals to help protect the critical transportation function that moves the goods and services and people across America. Find out how they can help your school bus drivers become an active force in counter-terrorism: http://www.firstobserver.com/