In between

dealing with this nutty cold, winter rain, family issues (all is well now!), roommates (all is well now!), landlord issues, prepping for my big news (more on that later), blah blah, I haven't had much downtime.

Things, in general, are going well.

Next week is the inauguration, and it's really interesting to see the changes that D.C. is going through just for one day. Frankly, I think it's a bit of an overreaction. D.C. pulled in about 5 thousand cops from other counties/towns/wherever for extra manpower. It also pulled the National Guards from wherever, and I believe we have some extra Coast Guards too, for the Potomac River. Roads are being or have already been shut. Bridges are being shut this weekend. I think this will create a major bottleneck at the remaining bridges that are open. Various other entrances to the city are also being closed or restricted.

I don't remember hearing about the city going to this extreme four or eight years ago. Do you? But then again, I didn't pay much attention the last time.

We just got notice at work that: My office building must be vacant by 2 P.M. Monday (we're off Tuesday), and that those of us who do come in Monday, myself included, may need to show work ID to get in because our street is close to the parade route.

The city is also under State of Emergency, which allows it to tap the Federal funds instead of paying for all this by itself. As far as I know, Prez. Bush did not declare a suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus...boiled down, a suspension of this writ means the police can arrest you, whether legally or not...however, I would not be surprised to hear about arrests being made over frivolous or trumped-up (aka false) charges. It's extreme, but i think it'll depend on how well-behaved the sheep are and how touchy the cops are.

What am I doing? I'm staying home, unless it seems like it's not super crowded. If that's the case, I might head over and snap a few pictures.