31 July 26

The last Friday in July is always National System Administrators Appreciation Day. I shepherded the Blackboard system at Eastern Kentucky University for 24 years! When I retired in January 2024 the Blackboard corporate staff (now Anthology) rewarded me with two wonderful neckties, one with the words Blackboard Learn and the other featuring the "Space Dog" logo. Space Dog was the iconic mascot for a special user-help tool called Assist; it was retired after 3 years because some people said it took up too much screen space.

16 July 24

I'm wearing a special tie for a technology conference that I am NOT attending! Anthology Together is in progress in Orlando, Florida, and I am NOT there. Anthology is the company that owns Blackboard, the online classroom software that I administered for Eastern Kentucky University for 23 years. When I retired from EKU, some of the management staff at Anthology sent me two Blackboard neckties! At their suggestion I'm celebrating the conference with them by wearing this tie.

My pin says that I am a Learn Ultra ROCKSTAR. Ultra is Blackboard's premier software. I used it with my classes from 2021-2023.