You Just Never Know What a Microsoft TechNet Event Can Lead To....

I got the following email through this blog from Matt Dean, who attended a couple of Microsoft events at our Missisauga office last week.  His second event provided more excitement on the way home then he expected.  Here's what he wrote me:

Hi Damir,

I'm sending this information to both you and Bruce Cowper. My name is Matt Dean and I work for the Simcoe County District School Board, one of Canada's largest geographic counties. Myself, 3 colleagues and a personal friend of mine came to the User Group event on the 22nd of March, 2006 (you recognized me and my friend as being at your event on Monday the 20th...).

After the event, there were some interesting things that happened that involved the Ontario Provincial Police.

The following is copied from my weblog at https://blog.mattdean.ca/

Myself and three other school board employees attended a great Microsoft event in Mississauga, ON today discussing how to lock down desktop workstations so that users didn't have to run as Administrators. However, after the event, we proceeded to McDonald's at Hurontario (Hwy 10) and Bristol. After a quick bite to eat, we went and grabbed gas and hopped onto Hwy 403. We took the 403 to Hwy 401 East.  

A few moments after getting onto the 401 East express lanes, just before we came up to the Dixon Road exit, we noticed a vehicle going all over the road and causing problems. I gave Dan, one of the school board employees, my cell phone and he called 911 to report it. We ended up staying behind this vehicle for quite a while as Dan provided location updates to the 911 dispatcher.  

After the other driver proceeded onto the 400 North exit from the express lanes on the 401, we followed (we were going that way anyways...). Around Hwy 7 and 400, we notice a police car passing us on the right. Dan relayed to me (I was driving) that the 911 dispatcher requested that I engage the 4-way signals, so I did so.  

They then requested that we pull over behind them (police) right after two other police cars pass us in the far left lane. They cut across a couple of lanes of traffic and push the other car off to the shoulder of the road. We pull in behind (not too closely though...). They ended up taking two young (approx 5-6 years old) children from the back of the car. An OPP officer comes back to us and asks for my driver's license and tells us that they got it all on video as well as our accounts (there was a total of five of us, 4 school board employees including myself and a friend of mine) of what he was doing.

The officer goes back for a while and then comes back and asks us to follow him to a parking lot so we can fill out "Incident Reports". We do so. The officer hands out forms and pens to us all and we all start to fill out our accounts of what occurred. He then interviews us each seperately in the back of his car (the first time I've ever been in the back of a cop car... it's a tight space with that wall thing protecting the officer).

After the interviews, he tells all of us that the other driver was impaired and we'd likely be called to testify in court as they usually plead not-guilty. He says that this would likely be in about a year. During his speech, his wife calls and he tells her that he's on a call. We, including the officer, had a little laugh about that. The officer and his wife actually just bought a house. He then says that's all he needs and we can head home. Just before he hops back into his car though, I ask for my license back as he's forgotten that he's taken it.

The odd thing is that about 10 minutes after getting back on the highway, we notice the exact same car (same as in make and model) with a VERY similar license plate, with only the last number being different... 5 instead of 3.

Just thought I'd share this little tidbit with you guys.

Matt Dean

All I can say is good work guys!!!