Not just the weather, but me also. I've been feeling pretty blah these past couple of weeks. Tired, a little bit depressed, just worn down. The cold and grey seems to sap my soul just a bit. And since I need to put up the good front at work, when I get home I just sort of dissolve. I climb into my pajamas, do more work, usually eat something bad for me, and then crawl into bed. Getting up to go the gym is just a dream. When I do wake up in the morning, I'm huddled under my covers in the fetal position and I just don't want to get up. Too much to do and not enough time in the day, even if I had the energy.
I'm looking forward to the cruise. I am. But I'm really not sure I'm in the right head space. But we'll see. It's not like I can back out at this point. Maybe some time in the sun, albeit surrounded by many depressingly attractive men, will do me some good. Who knows.
So I was supposed to attend this Homeland Security conference on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building. So Tuesday AM I get up, I put my suit on, grab some business cards, and head out. I walk to the metro, ride the metro to Federal Triangle, and I go through the medal detectors and then I go to look for the conference. And I can't find it. Oh, I see signs for other conferences and meetings, but not mine. So I finally call one of my guys at the office and ask him to see what room it's supposed to be in. Well, the meeting is actually Wednesday & Thursday, not Tuesday and Wednesday! So I'm totally messed up. So then I get back on the metro, walk back to my condo, change into regular office attire, and then drive to work feeling oh so stupid.
But wait, it gets better!
Wednesday AM I get up, put my suit on (which I HATE!), walk in the BITTER cold down to the Metro, go to the Reagan building. The conference is there! I go to register and they can't find my name. And now I'm annoyed. Because I know I've registered! I've gotten like three emails from them and they've got my position and company name messed up. So I pay $12 for wifi access to pull up my email. But I can't find the registration. So I'm getting mad. So I find the email I sent to the loser from the conference about my position and company name messed up. Uh-oh. Apparently there are two conferences in DC regarding Homeland Security this week. The one I registered for WAS Tuesday & Wednesday, but at the Washington Convention Center. There's a different one on Wed & Thursday at the Regan building. F*&K! So I leave the Reagan building, hop on the Metro and finally make it to the one I really signed up for. And it sucks. The two people I wanted to hear and chat with briefed yesterday. And there's no one good/interesting today. I did make one business contact that might be useful, but we'll see. Anyways, I was just mad about the whole thing. And I kept thinking, I'm just losing it. That vacation can't come soon enough!
The problem with trying to deal with terrorists is that for the most part they are irrational. You are operating under the (incorrect) belief that there is a common belief system upon which both parties can talk and discuss the problem. But it just never seems to work, because trying to have a rational discussion with someone who is clearly irrational is doomed to failure.
I'm not dealing with terrorists, but I am part of a discussion (on line) that is clearly irrational. And while I want to jump in and try to provide some reason, some sanity. I realize that it is useless.
My USNA class has a mail list and an "open" mail list for fun discussions such as politics. And until recently there has been little discussion at all. Kind of odd considering the current political issues we are facing and the elections. But the beast finally did begin to stir and in response to one of the emails, one of my classmates made that statements that anyone who is a Democrat is either 1) delusional, or 2) wants to turn America into a socialist state. Sigh. How to respond to that. There are soooooo many ways. Sarcastic, argumentative, passioned, coldly logical, etc. Take your pick. But I refrained from the fray because I realized that it would do no good. We would just be talking past each other and I'm depressed enough about politics and life as it is right now without throwing myself into a useless fight. They are obviously blind to the many faults of the republicans that have lead this country away from its ideals and prosperity, and therefore their position is that anything the democrats want to do as treasonous. If we have universal health care, the terrorists will win. Or some such crap.
One of my favorite bloggers is the Anonymous Liberal. His tag line is a quote that I love: ""The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment." And that's what I believe.
On a different note, the lack of information about my personal life is not intentional, just more a by product of not having a life. I've been on the road quite a bit, but I'm going on my next cruise this Sunday. Needless to say my diet plan fell apart after a week on the road, so I'm not particularly happy about that. Pretty much like I'm not particularly happy about anything these days. It's a funk. I'll get over it eventually.
So why Obama? And I don't want to make this why not Clinton. That's a longer post. But there is a lot of stuff being thrown up in the blogosphere saying how Obama is all talk, no substance. And for some reason, since he is inspiring and can give great speeches, it prevents people from actually going online to find out what Obama has done and implies that he hasn't done anything. And that would be wrong. A little easy research finds:
He introduced: 233 bills regarding healthcare reform, 125 bills on poverty and public assistance, 112 crime fighting bills, 97 economic bills, 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills, 21 ethics reform bills, 15 gun control, 6 veteran's affairs and many others.
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These inculded: the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law), the Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, ( became law), the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (passed the Senate), the 2007 Government Ethics Bill (became law), and the Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill (in committee).
It's true. I finally own my first piece of Prada. And it's all thanks to Museum Man.
Today was supposed to be my shopping day. A new suitcase, and a new bed side table/night stand. So after the gym, I trekked out into Falls Church. Only to find the Target surrounded by cops that were blocking all entrances. I must check the Washington Post tomorrow to find out what that was all about.
So I bailed on Target and headed to The Room Store. And it was just as dreadful as I imagined it would be. A big huge showroom of crap. But I persevered and made two laps through the bed room section. It was awful, but I found a couple of pieces that I didn't hate too much. But by then I figured I would need to look somewhere else.
Anyways, since I was in VA, I stopped by Museum Man's temporary lodging and picked him up. We headed to Cafe Asia for lunch and then we came back into the District. After a couple of quickie errands, we headed to Filene's Basement. I think poor Museum Man (MM) was in a bit of shock. He was all over the place. I did manage to find a burnt orange suitcase that was big, but not heavy. MM tried to sell on one with four rollers, etc and I said it was too heavy. He's like, "That's the wheels are for." But that's not the issue. If the airlines restrict me to 50 pounds per bag, then I don't want the bag itself to weigh too much. It needs to be light, but fairly sturdy. And burnt orange is still in according to MM. We wandered up the second floor and MM went into a whirl wind of fashion. He forced me to buy a black suede sports coat. It's nice, but we'll see. It's definitely casual and I really don't go out that much. Standing in line to pay, MM discovered a hidden bin of Prada shoes. And he lost it. MM is a bit of a label queen. Anyways, he found a pair that are close to my size. Retail $350. On sale: $136. I think that was the most expensive pair of shoes I've ever bought. Oh well. It's Prada baby! So see my red tag and turn green with envy!
I'm tired and we've still got more legs of this insane road trip left to go. Three states in 3 days? I feel like a presidential candidate:
I mean, I like to travel. But this is insane.
Speaking of presidential candidates . . . . apparently Hillary was in El Paso last night. Not that I would have gone to see her, but the folks I'm traveling with decided to go to this steak place 30 miles OUTSIDE of El Paso. So that's like eastern BFE. And to be honest, the mean was just okay and not worth the hour plus driving time going there and back.
And having a huge hunk of beef in my stomach led to some weird dreams. But I won't share.
There's rumor of snow in Denver on Thursday. Just say no! I want to get back to DC!!
So I managed to make it down to the Board of Elections this AM in the FRAKKEN cold to vote early. Yes I'm on the road again. But I wanted, no I needed, to have my vote, my voice, be part of this election.
I know a lot of "the gays" will vote Hillary. Do you remember how Bill threw us under the bus with Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Do we really need Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton? Can't America do better? Doesn't America deserve better?
Don't you want a president who can inspire us? A president who can help repair our shattered image around the world? A president who can challenge us to be better than we are today? A president who can unite the country? A president who doesn't have the baggage of a vast right wing conspiracy on her shoulders? I'm all for a woman president, just not this woman.
I went into my office (a conservative government contracting company) wearing my "I Voted!" sticker. My CEO told me he was voting for Hillary. And I ignored him. I know better that to get into a political conversation with him. My HR Director said the same thing and I asked why. "We know McCain is going to win the nomination, so we're going to vote for Hilary in the democratic primary because Obama's an unknown." I translated that into, "If Hillary wins the nomination, the great partisan dispute will continue and the Republican will be able to use the spectre of Hillary as president to rally their base. Obama is unknown. And the unknown is scarey. So we want Hillary." I hope Huckabee wins VA just to make the Republican race even more of a fiasco!
Oh, and a couple of great McCain paraody videos:
No matter who you want to be President, GET OUT AND VOTE!!!
Back in San Diego. After a rainy Superbowl Sunday (Yeah Giants!), the weather has cleared up. And the new Hard Rock Hotel rocks hard! It's really sweet! And just steps away from the convention center.
Monday AM while on a telecon, I'm looking out my window and I see a bunch of fireman walking around. Yep, in the other half of the huge San Diego convention center, there is a fireman/EMT convention. And let me tell you. The men are HOT!!
Yep, I'm in the convention filled with old, mainly overweight, white men, and next door there is some serious hotness. Life is just not fair.
Oh, here's a gratuitous hot fireman pic! Hey, I can dream can't I?
San Diego was okay. A bit cool, but some wonderful sunny days. Of course, for most of them I was trapped inside my meetings. Which went well, but just seem to reinforce that there is too much to do, too little time, and definitely not enough funding to do it all. And of course, while I'm trapped in these meetings, the pile of emails keeps growing. So after being in meetings all day, and then the obligatory group dinner, it's back to the room to try to keep up with all of my real work. On the good side, the hotel was nice, very nice. l
TV Tales: I will say that the hotel obviously have some sort of ESPN obsession. It had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different ESPN channels. Someone stop the madness. And the other thing that I thought was interesting was all of the commercials for Prop XX or YY. The ones about the Indian gambling I thought was particularly interesting. And then a couple of times I caught this strange ad about how bail bonds are good for America. It was really surreal. I need to get out more.
CO: The trip to Colorado went okay, Considering that United lost my luggage. Oh well. And it's frakken cold here. But we stayed inside most of the time. Mainly me trying to get my Mom's PC working properly. I didn't realize that her machine is 5 years old. And slower than molasses. I could watch my fingernails grow as I waited for hotmail to load. Really sad. The rentals are good. All things considered. And I'm glad I got a chance to visit them.
On my way back to San Diego. I'd like to watch the Superbowl, but I have just a ton of work to do. We'll see. Maybe the bar at the hotel will have wireless. That would be sweet.
