Opa's Traits

My adorable, smart, and very perceptive (!) granddaughter (Rio) sent me this e-mail yesterday, telling about her Opa's traits.

1. Your smart - like your Rio.
2. You work hard.
3. You are a great Grandpa/opa and will be forever.
4. You are wonderful, awesome, SMART so SMART.
5. You spoil me crazy even though i don't need it.
6. You will forever be the greatest man on earth to me cause I love you.
7. You are a dad, a grandpa, and some day you will be a great grandpa in about 9 years you will, then a great great grandpa in about 29 years.
8. You will allways be a second father to me in my heart.
9. You are a wonderful hard working man that i will always love.
10. And last you are the most loving, carring, sweet, enjoyable man that i know will always be there for me whenever i need him. I love you and hope this has showen you how much you are to me and how important you are in my life with out you i would not be Smart, Cute, Smart, and The way I am.

Again, what insight and great perceptiveness ... for a ten-year-old!

A jogging we will go

I got out on the PT trail this evening - instead of watching Seinfeld! - and it felt good. I jogged for only about 20 minutes, but that was enough to build up a sweat and breathe heavy for a bit. Now, I just gotta keep it going.

The Wonders of Facebook

I'll tell ya, I'm very excited to be part of the Facebook revolution. I joined up the other day and in just a few days I've connected with family, friends from high school, old Army buddies, former co-workers, you name it. What a great idea this is. If you haven't signed up yet, get right on over to facebook.com and get on board. You can see my profile here.

Happy Birthday!

Sunday is the Army's 234th birthday. Today at the Pentagon there were "lots of doins" in the center courtyard to commemorate the event. They had a huge cake, guest speakers, all the big wigs were there (Secretary of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Army, Sergeant Major of the Army, Deputy Secretary of Defense). I watched for a while. Pretty neat. I joined up 34 years ago this month, so we were celebrating the Army's 200th birthday when I entered active duty. Here's the program for today's Pentagon event:

Everybody in the pool!

This, from my favorite weekly news magazine, The Week, about what you'll swim with in the pool this summer:

Is the pool a cesspool?
Chances are you'll find yourself in a swimming pool this summer. A new study has some bad news: You might be doing the backstroke in a toilet. When asked about their behavior in swimming pools, 20 percent of people admit to peeing whenever nature calls. And researchers say urine is just one of many contaminants found in pools used by lots of people. Babies swim in diapers filled with urine and feces. Some people work out and, covered with sweat, dive in without showering first. Sick children paddle about, shedding viruses and bacteria with every stroke. Filthy pool habits, scientists say, add up to numerous outbreaks of summertime "recreational water illnesses" such as diarrhea, ear and skin infections, and respiratory illness. When swimmers fill pool water with their effluvia, epidemiologist Michele Hlavsa tells LiveScience, chlorination cannot guarantee that you won't get sick. "Unhygienic behavior brings germs into the pool and makes it harder for chlorine to do its job," she says.

Effluvia, what a great word!  Kinda gives a new meaning to the thought of a floater, doesn't it.

Barbara Starr Sighting

Guess who I walked past in the A ring of the Pentagon on my way to work this morning.  I guess the title of this post kinda gave it away.  Yep, I passed by Barbara Starr!  I gotta say she looks better in person than she does on TV.  Seeing Barbara reminded me that I once saw Wolf Blitzer in a snack bar at the Pentagon.  That was back in the early 1990s.  Hey, it's the little things. :-)

A Baltimore Rose

Whilst mowing the lawn this afternoon I noticed this pretty little flower in our back yard.  I tried to get a closeup of it. I may need to work on that, but there's no denyin' that this is a pretty bloom.

Here's a close-up:

And here's an even closer-up:

Speaking of books

My cousin does, and I finished a great book today:  The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly.  It gets five stars from me.

Show Your Pride!

This is simply too much.  Did President Bush do this?  Let's see ... No, thank goodness, he did not.  I could go on and on.  For crying out loud!  What is the world coming to?  The President of the United States applauding that garbage.  The end must be near.  And what's next?  I think a NAMBLA Pride Month cannot be far off.  Hey, they're just different, not wrong - who are we to judge? - the men who love boys are just "misunderstood."

A day in the life

Not in photos, but with time hacks:

• 0400: First call
• 0515: Depart for train station
• 0544: Train departs BWI station
• 0625: Train arrives Union Station
• 0630: Metro to Pentagon
• 0700: Arrive at Pentagon, start work
• 1530: Stop work, Metro from Pentagon to Union Station
• 1615: Train departs Union Station
• 1650: Train arrives BWI station, drive home
• 1715: Arrive home
• 1730: Unwind, undress, gear up for quick trip to the gym
• 1800: Quick trip to gym
• 1850: Back from gym, prep for next day
• 1900: Dinner and one episode of Seinfeld
• 1930: Finish prep for next day, check e-mail, etc.
• 2000: Hit the rack, read for a while
• 2045: Lights out