Leveraging

Not that I need any other incentive to find my London experience worthwhile, but I did just get to put a new blip on my cv as a direct result.

I presented a little talk at the Spring Federal Depository Library* Conference in Tampa, Florida, on Monday. It was mostly pretty technical librarian stuff, passing along highlights of the workshop I attended at the British Library in November. But I also included some sightseeing photos and amusing anecdotes from my London stay. I was very gratified with how well-received it was—not too surprising, though, to find a good number of Anglo-philes among librarians.

*Don't know what a Federal Depository Library is? You're not alone! But this has been my day job for more than 30 years. The graphic at the top of the post is the Government Printing Office logo; GPO are the folks who put on the conference and run our program. For a few pictures of Tampa, see my Hometown Tourist blog.

Spread of smartness?

It wasn't too unusual in London to see these little vehicles, although seeing two in front of the same house in Kensington was eye-catching enough to inspire a photo:

But I figured it would be years before I saw anything this small on the streets of San Antonio.

This week, however, I saw Smart Cars on my way to work on two different occasions. And they were two different cars (I'm sure because they were different colors). They're still 'way outnumbered by big, honking, impractical SUVs, but I find it very encouraging that there are any at all.

To put the whipped cream on the Smart Car sundae, my neighborhood HEB is actually giving one away! Which I would think is just a publicity stunt, had I not seen those others in actual action.

Seeing all these little guys lately has really made me think of London. Can American drivers finally be getting smart about vehicle size?