Mowed But . . .

Can anyone really say that this:

Looks any better than this?

Pathetic and actually quite sad.

I Haven't Gone Dark

Just super busy at both work and home. I have several posts half finished. Hopefully soon I will get to finish and publish them. For now, however, it's good night to one and all. Desperately need sleep!

The Joys of a Normal Commute

This morning was the first normal commute all week, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I have had appointments near my home early in the morning all week.  As a result, I have been coming in to work later and have had to take I-95 to the dreaded DC Beltway to get into the office.

Honestly, I don't know why people drive the Beltway at rush hour every day.  Why do they find standstill traffic and a 50% longer commute acceptable?  I don't and never have.  I have been stressed out all week because of traffic, and I've burned a lot of $4/gallon gas just crawling along at 2 mph for miles.
So rather than sleeping in and having to deal with the worst traffic in the country, I come in really early, I leave early and I take surface streets to avoid the Beltway.  It's not perfect--I still have a long commute and I still have to spend plenty of time sitting at stop lights and pondering the societal implications of unkempt median strips--but it's far better than the alternative.  I know which lane to be in at every point on the trip.  I know where all the speed cameras are and so does everyone else.  There's a predictable flow to the traffic.  Everything has a rhythm.  It just feels right and finally today, so do I.

More on Montgomery County's Median Strip Madness

Two weeks have passed since I first commented about the sorry state of median strips in Montgomery County, Maryland.  As you can see, the descent into suburban blight continues unabated.  This particular median strip isn't even the worst one that I pass on my way home.  I try to pretend that they are amber waves of grain, but sadly, my surroundings remind me that I am in the former wealthiest county in the State of Maryland.  My, how the mighty have fallen, and there's nowhere to go but down.

P.S., As you can see from the dead stopped traffic, I get plenty of time every day to ponder the plight of Montgomery County's median strip woes.

Thoughts on Bin Laden's "Million Dollar" Hideout

There has been a lot of talk about Osama Bin Laden's million-dollar hideout and how he has been living in luxury for the past six years.  I'm sorry, but look at the place.  It looks like dump.  If he spent a million dollars on that place, he got ripped off . . . big time.  And the inside doesn't look any better from the after-action video that I saw of the place yesterday.  Granted, a fire fight had just occurred there, and there was a lot of blood on the carpet, but still, the furnishings were nothing to write home about.  Pretty much what you would expect to find in a thrift store.  So if this is what a million dollars buy you in Pakinstan, I think I'll pass.   

Eerie

Just happenstance that my Bible reading for tonight is Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24:17-18 says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn his anger from him."

Sobering thought given all the celebrating going on in the streets over the demise of Osama Bin Laden.

Now the Worrying Can Begin in Earnest

Don't get me wrong here.  I am more than happy that Osama Bin Laden is fish food, although I'm appalled that he was given religious rites.  That's another story.  What concerns me is what happens next.

I was working in DC on September 11, 2001.  It was a gorgeous day in DC.  Sunny and pleasantly cool, but it seemed as dark as night after the news of the attacks reached me.  I remember seeing streams of people walking over the bridge on Connecticut Avenue because the Metro was shut down.  Traffic was at a standstill as thousands tried to get out of town.  At the time, I was riding the Metro to work and had no way of leaving the city other than just to start walking, so I decided to wait until train service was restored and the crowds thinned.  My employer brought in food for everyone and gathered us together to talk about what was happening.  I sat in my office for most of the day listening to news reports on the radio and trying to reach family and friends to let them know I was OK.  I cried.  By 3:00 p.m. when I left for home, the streets were virtually abandoned.  So were the trains.  Those that were still in the city went about their business in silence.  There was nothing to be said.  Life had changed in an instant.

Since September 11th, I have stopped riding the subway to work.  I avoid meetings in downtown DC as much as possible.  I breathe a sigh of relief every afternoon as I drive outside the Beltway toward the safety of home.  I breathe a bigger sigh of relief when I leave the city for an extended period of time for vacation or business travel.  I'm never totally at ease in DC any more.  Every siren and every helicopter overflight gives me pause.

Let's face it, DC is the crown jewel of every terrorist's aspirations.  They're not going to stop trying to kill us, and the stakes just got a lot higher.  So has my anxiety.