I chose poorly
Dateline: In the Shire, Indiana, 8 September 2005
Yesterday saw Steve DeAngelis and I pay visits to the world of intell in Northern VA and the world of Joint Forces Command down in Norfolk. Lotsa driving, two nice meals, two nice conversations.
Got up this morning and strolled over to Rayburn where I briefed about 20 House Armed Services Committee staff members. Gave them the full show.
Then the Metro to Reagan National, arriving at around 2pm for my 4pm flight. Buy a new fanny pack, sign books in bookstores, eat a nice meal, and then see that my flight is delayed.
Here's the kicker: whole reason I flew into and out of Reagan was to catch this 3:55pm flight back to Indy so I could see Kevin run in his first grade school cross-country meet. With time shift, I would land around 4:40 with USAir and about 5:00 with Northwest, even though both left Reagan at same time. Weird huh?
So I chose USAir.
Guess which flight left on time (exactly) and which left 2 hours late?
So I'm pulling up to the school after Kev's race has just ended. He does very well, finishing 5th among about 30 boys, so a nice ribbon.
But I'm pissed with USAir for having missed it. My bad.
Still, very proud of his race. I knew he'd do well. Just have a natural racer's instinct. His teammate, grade above him, won the race. The school's two girls in that age range also got ribbons. As assistant coach in charge of the younger kids: I feel good about the outcome, but was very sorry to miss the event.
Doing good stuff for my country by spending time with Hill staffers, but doing well by Kevin is important too. All of the other meets are on Saturdays, so this will be only tough one for me to make.
I am beat. Allergies brutal today in steamy heat. But brief went well. Expect some follow-up. Told them I want no jobs, no contracts, no money. Important work, happy to help, get other people to pay me.
Congress, of course, is notorious for never having money for anything. You're always expected to just show up on your own dime and your own time. But I believe in the work, so I put in the hours.
Here's the daily catch:
■ Sturm und Drang on Katrina is a bipartisan affair■ Katrina's perturbation hits it stride
■ On China, Pillsbury well read, but Zoellick well versed
■ The Russian election scenario is already being gamed by Putin
■ The Iraq-Vietnam analogy explored