CafeChatNoir

I hate it when I have so much rattling around in my head that it effs with my ability to sleep.

Today’s (well, technically yesterday’s) events have me pretty down. Thrilled they caught it ahead of time, but it just reinforces the fact that it’s just never really going to end, and there’s not really anything I can do. Sure, I suppose I could go enlist in the Army, but I’m pretty sure I’d die 3 days into basic, so that may not be the most practical response. I guess I just don’t like the idea that the best we can do is just hope we can stay a step ahead of things.

Maybe related, maybe not, I can’t tell for sure, but I’m also feeling totally single tonight and not in my usual “I like being single” way. Meh. However, Snoopy is doing his best to remind me that I am not just single, I am Single with Cats. Um, thanks buddy.

Totally un-PC cynical thought of the day… How many candidates that lost in the primaries on Tuesday are wishing this whole Heathrow story broke on Monday morning instead of today? And I wonder how many other candidates are drooling at the timing for the November elections, and how many times we’ll hear about this again. Regardless, props to British intel for getting it taken care of, as long as they nail this stuff ahead of time, the timing is fine by me.

I am flying to Panama City in November. I wonder how much of a pain in the ass that is going to be, or if things will have settled out a bit. I also wonder how much the lost luggage numbers are going to spike if they continue to heavily restrict carryons…

Went into the city today, and of course there were the requisite news vans all outside Reagan National showing a lot of nothing going on.

I actually don’t mind the ‘no liquids’ in carryons rule, cause right now they apparently don’t have an effective means of checking/testing to see if what you’ve got can be blown up later. Understandable, but I do hope they can get their act together to effectively screen for things such as this, but I doubt it. I was also happy to see that at least one airline waived all ‘extra baggage’ charges for anyone that had to check their carryons if it took them over the X bag limit. (Yes, I would expect this should be a given under the circumstances, but business being what it is sometimes, I can see some execs going “Woohoo, extra baggage charges today!”)

One way of getting rid of your liquids before boarding*

*photo link courtesy Fark.com

Well, there goes carry-ons…

Have fun trying to travel anywhere anytime soon…

ETA: Listening to Sky news via Fox right now - if you’re in the UK (and it sounds like it will be the same in the US shortly if not already) - you basically can’t take JACK on an airplane anymore - seems it was a liquid explosive that was the issue.

At what point will you not even be able to check luggage, either?

Today was a very, very good day. Finally broke through the 2000 meter barrier at the pool. 2050 meters in 1:05. :-D (2050 meters = 1.27 miles)

It has taken what seems like forever to get to this point, but this bodes well if I ever decide to do a half-IM, since the swim is 1.2 miles. I know I can slog through the distance. :-D

The reward was a lovely rare steak and a baked potato. MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

This is mainly for the benefit of , as he’s the one that got Mox his new frisbee. He’s not real good at giving it back, though… (It’s 2:26 long, so don’t feel like you have to watch the whole thing!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zJHVVwg5eU

Let me preface this entire discussion with: Had I known about the vigil/protest/rally in Lafayette Park on Sunday night, I would have been there, but I didn’t find out about it until it was too late.

Well, maybe not a riot, but indulge me. I am not much of a peace vigil/protest kind of gal, never have been. I’m not sure they serve any real practical purpose, but that’s what’s great about America - you can go out and do such things without worrying about someone breaking down your door in the middle of the night and shooting you in the head for your troubles. (Thought on my more cynical days I do wonder if the current administration isn’t hard at work on that little problem…)

That being said, with not one, but two vigils scheduled last night, I decided to head up into DC to see one of these up close and personal and see what it was all about, and on a decidedly selfish note, to see if I couldn’t snag a few decent pictures of it all. So, I got home from the gym, cleaned up and headed out, camera & directions in hand.

First stop, the C Street entrance to the Department of State via the Foggy Bottom Metro stop. This vigil was organized by Amnesty International and was billed as a “Vigil for Ceasefire in Lebanon/Israel Conflict”. While I’ve never been officially affiliated with AI, I’ve never really had any problems with their work either. The event was scheduled to run from 4:30 to 6:30. I was running a little late, but but figured things would be in full swing by the time I got there. I stepped out of the Metro station at 5:30 and saw two groups of people coming back with AI stickers on their shirts. Given that it’s a 15 minute walk from Foggy Bottom to State, this means AI hadn’t been able to hold their attention for more than 45 minutes or that the cops had already shooed them off.

Undaunted, I headed over to State anyway. When I arrived at the C Street entrance there were only a few stragglers left, with “Don’t Invade Iran” t-shirts & posters. Well, there’s your problem - this may be a town full of multi-taskers, but they’re not so much into cross-demonstrations. If you come out for an Israel/Lebanon peace vigil, you’re not looking for an anti-Iranian-invasion rally. I lost a little respect for AI on the bait and switch tactics there.

I had some time to kill until the next round and decided to wander around a bit and eventually headed over to the White House & Lafayette Park. Way back in the day Lafayette Park was the protest spot, given it’s location directly across from the White House, with usually at least 2 or 3 groups out at any given time protesting something. I’d forgotten about the sanitizing efforts that have gone on over the past few years, and now it’s basically dead. Just one small group that’s been there as long as I can remember, and that’s it. I liked it better when it was an actual living example of freedom of speech in this country.

Wandered around some more, and then back on the metro and up to the Israeli Embassy, supposed site of vigil #2 of the day, scheduled to kickoff at 7PM. I got there at 7:15, and if there had been a vigil or any attempt at it, the Mossad obviously took care of it and scrubbed any evidence of it’s existence. (I’m more inclined to think it simply didn’t materialize.) But, all was not lost as I still had some daylight and wandered up Van Ness a little farther and looked at all the pretty houses.

Did get a few pics during my hikes:

Statue near Virginia & Constitution:

Organization of American States:

The White House

The lone protestors in Lafayette Park:

You knew this was coming. I found the checkbooks. Leaving the gym yesterday, I opened the door, and there they were in the car between the door and the driver’s seat. The place I looked at least a dozen times already.

Well, at least I know where they are now…

Girl Scout Camp Still Sucks How many of those girls will be going for the computer science merit badge next summer?

Went for a run today, and completely bonked. The upside is bonkage is not painful, your body just says, “No thanks, we’re not doing this anymore” and there’s no arguing it. The downside is when you pick a route that has no shortcuts home.

Stumbled on a nifty little website today: Upcoming.org - don’t know how long it’s been around, but the more that use it, the better it will be. Have to say that it’s annoying that I can’t seem to find a truly comprehensive site with the various and sundry DC events that are going on. Craigslist is OK, but kind of hit or miss, and I’ve yet to find anything *really* good.

Well, I’m an idiot, but we knew that. The other night I managed to upend my purse in a dark-enough parking lot that I didn’t manage to get everything picked back up and in my purse. The casualties? Two checkbooks… Argh. After tossing the car just to be sure I hadn’t somehow thrown them on the floor of the car while getting everything gathered back up I realized they were goners.

So…called PFCU, stopped all the check numbers past the last ones written, and they didn’t even charge me for it, which they could have easily done and I wouldn’t have argued it. (I’d just take it as a dumbass tax.)

The upside is that I never got around to ordering checks with my current address on them, so if someone finds them and decides they want to stalk me, well, they’ll be at the wrong address.

The kicker? I usually don’t even have these in my purse.

I think I managed to lose my two checkbooks last night along with every other piece of paper in my purse. This is not good.

Odd things, though - have wallet, cell, PDA, and found the other pack of smokes I had in the wheel well of the passenger side. Perhaps the rest is in there somewhere?

Cleaning out the car will be the first order of business tomorrow to see what I can find, and then cancel them if needed… Dammit, I hate this.

I got a voicemail the other day from the kennel - they were checking in to see how the critters were all doing and to see if they’d enjoyed their vacation. Unfortunately, the connection mangled the name of the specific person that called, so I sent an email to them letting them know I could tell they’d obviously had a fine time cause they were all so relaxed and happy and mellow when they got home, and thanking them for taking such good care of them. I got this response from the GM:

Thanks you so very much for taking the time to send this note to my team. I will be sure to pass on your notes to the staff that do not have access to email. It is unfortunately a rare treat for them to get a note of thanks so please accept my thanks on their behalf and we look forward to see all three of your babies again in the very near future.

Old Towne Pet Resort - simply awesome.

It’s sad that when someone does something very well, it’s rare that anyone says anything.

Poor dog just walked in and looked at me and I swear his face says “WTF, it is DARK out, why is it still hot?!”

Yes, it’s midnight and 86 with a heat index of 96.

Well, apparently heat makes DSL crap out or some such nonsense as my connection has gone down again. Tried to get online w/the cable company to see about ordering their services and of course, the order site is down on Tuesdays and Thursdays… So, I’m stuck on dialup at the moment, and just couldn’t be more thrilled about it.

OK, you’re reading a race report on an open water swim race, and in the “Pre Race Routine” section, you see:

Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way to the kitchen and drank a cup, and looking up, I noticed I was late. Grabbed my wetsuit, and my swim cap.. picked up our friend in seconds flat. Found my way to the lake and had some water, and a whistle blew and I went into a swim…

Please tell me you get the reference…