Nothing nice to say
Dateline: in the Shire, Indy, 18 August 2005
Up at 0400 and caught SWA direct to Balt-Washington International, where I participated in a breakfast meeting with an old friend from a past life whom I'm hoping to talk into a new one. Once that wrapped, back on the 1pm flight right back, getting back in time to pick up the kids at school. Rest of the day spent with kids in pool, running with Kev, and then checking out house construction.
Framing close to finished in basement now, and main floor coming into place. It's very intimidating seeing all your money pour into a construction site, but it's very exciting as well. Funny how the space seems smaller the less filled in it is, but as the walls go up the spaces seem to get bigger. Walking around tonight I had the distinct feeling the basement was much smaller than our one in RI, but then I marked off lengths with my feet (exactly 13 inches long) and I realized the space was far larger. My builder Kent warned me of this distorted sense of space, and he was right. The total space of this house will be about 40% larger than our last place, and after 6 months in this apartment, we'll need the big boost--and perhaps some therapy.
End of day happy news: NYT called with offer to new subscriber. At first caller thought I was holder of old number and when I figured that out, I thought perhaps the jig was up, remembering past phonecon with NYT and being told they didn't deliver to my zip. But I knew that had to be wrong, and it was. Paper delivery starts early next week.
Now on to the Post and Journal. Wife wants Indianapolis Star too. We will have plenty to recycle!
I had written a series of posts on the flight back, but one op-ed in NYT so pissed me off that the tone of the entire quartet was too acidic to publish. Tried to follow my Mom's advice today about not saying anything when . . .
I must admit. I hate this apartment like nobody's business, but seeing the house made me feel better, and it always feels good to fly home to Indy.
Got a nice pair of emails from Rep. Harold Ford of TN in the last 24. Apparently he's a serious fan of PNM (some very kind words imparted) and as part of that he's trying--among others--to get me to Memphis for a talk. I will admit, his career intrigues enough to probably win me over. Ford is running for the Senate in 2006, for Frist's soon-to-be vacant seat. I'd like to see him win. Tennessee's had a long line of very strong senators in the past few decades, and seeing that I'll be moving in the direction of some sort of relationship with Oak Ridge National Lab, I suddenly find myself feeling proprietary about the state in general.
Geez! Between that and the buried nasty posts, I'm becoming more Midwestern by the minute!
Then again, maybe it was seeing my old friend. He's always had that sort of influence on my judgment.