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Ode to David & Tim (& Scott)
by Lolly
Alumni Reunion
 Twas in October, Nineteen Hundred Ninety-Four,
Part of the mission that was touted by Gore.
Endless planning and coding - - and approvals galore
(With developers wondering what next was in store!).
Firewalls, routers, connections, and such,
All put into place, ready for that first "touch",
It was time, it was here, that site we all love,
"Welcome to the White House", www.whitehouse.gov!
On PCs, on "socks", on "razorback", we grew - -
Then it was "athena", www1 and www2.
There were scores of people who offered assistance,
We thank "Americans who made this possible" - -
for all their persistence!
Democrats, Republicans, Men (and Women too);
We were all represented as our web team grew!
The team arrived early, and often stayed late;
The same teamwork that helped make Our Nation so great.
  
Tim, Scott and I came to serve later that year,
We heard the 'net public starting to cheer:
"We love it, what a service...can you help me find this?
I'm bookmarking this site, so nothing I'll miss!"
The notes from the school children always sent our pride soaring,
When they thanked us for making their school day less boring!
"I've never been to the White House - - can you tell me what is it?
Never mind, your on-line tour is just like a visit!
I heard Socks' meow,  can I write him a letter?
Can you please make your home page load a bit better?
I'm writing the President from inside my dorm,
This is Great, but one question, what's wrong with your form?"
As with all great endeavors there's someone special who sells
With rare vision, and passion, and forward motion propells,
Who makes some customers smile, and many others yell,
Who else but departing Editor, David Lytel!
Lilac, teal, pink - - most anything bright,
We wondered if he'd ever owned a shirt that was white!
His eyes how they sparkled, as he promoted the site,
His mind never rested, he worked into the night.
He came up with ideas, they would hit him like lightning,
There were days working with him that were quite frightening!
"Hey guys, this is brilliant, wait'll you hear - - he'd say on the phone,
(We'd stop coding, pay attention... and stifle a groan.).
"I just came up with the most "elegant" solution
For dealing with this latest information revolution.
Wait a minute, David, we have some resource concerns,
"No problem, we'll manage, with student interns!"
(They volunteered for a lot of work, with no pay,
For the honor of adding "white House" to their resume.)
We spoke many words, as we planned each new page,
The audio and Java were really the rage!
Adding perl scripts, these new links, that new .gif - - in a jiffy,
A few HTML code tricks to make it look spiffy,
We made it all searchable - - so Everyone could find it,
Our "Virtual Library" is really a hit!
On worldwide web travel, visitors stop every day,
We're happy to serve Mr. Gore's "information superhighway"!
"Tim, please come home - - the basement's under water,
And the only ones laughing are your son and your daughter."
This mail bomb is hitting, so I don't know when,
And Judy waits patiently with Ellen and Ben.
David told Jane "sorry" - - said with a smirk,
I drove the car today, then walked home from work.
The tax return came, I found a dining room set.
But Jane, I haven't bought my SGI Challenger yet!
Molly's in trouble, the school's on the phone,
Kacey's hamsters had babies again (she reports with a moan).
The day-to-day hassles, the nasty weather.
Weren't nearly so bad when we faced them together.
Their time here is finished and soon they'll be gone,
But all of these memories will live on and on.
The knowledge and friendships they gave me I'll treasure,
David and Tim (& Scott), working with you has been such a pleasure!
I've run out of Words ("...Not YOU," I heard someone say!)
To help say goodbye to our teammates today!
So I hope you'll all join me as I offer an ovation
And thank them for their contributions to this House of our Nation!
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