Date: 2005-02-24
To: A Snowy Day
Miles today: 0.0

I was up early this morning because of the threat of snow. The weatherman was predicting 3-6 inches ¢ more than enough to paralyze Washington, D.C., which remains essentially a ¢southern¢ city. Combined with all of the non-U.S. citizens living in the national capital area, the driving skills of the local population are dicey in the best of times. Add a bit of precipitation, and things get even more hazardous. Add frozen precipitation and you take you life in your hands if you venture out onto the roadways. I thought it wise to leave extra early today. Besides, I had an important meeting I couldn¢t miss. As one of my last tasks for the Department of Institutional Integrity, I helped to put together our first-ever annual report. We are releasing it today, and had a press conference scheduled for 10 am, so it was kind of important for those of us involved to show up. The report outlines the World Bank¢s investigative and sanctioning activities over the past five years as part of our fight against fraud and corruption. Crime is always a good story, so we expected the wire services at least to come along and we weren¢t disappointed. Can¢t wait to see what they actually write about us. Before I left for the office I waited at home with the kids (all of whom were still sleeping) while ¢She-who-knows-me-best¢ hit the local super-market for snow-day supplies. All the schools are closed and we were running dangerously low on critical things like hot chocolate mix ¢ the kind with those little marshmallows in it. It¢s important to keep the natives happy on a snow day. When she got back, and before I hit the road, I got a morning hug. I like hugs. So does she, but we don¢t often have the chance with both of us going in opposite directions most the time. And when we do, one of the kids will be lurking somewhere and make snarky remarks like: ¢Eeeeeeuuuuu¢¦..get a ROOM!¢        I think it is beginning to occur to her that I am really going to do this hike thing. She was saying mushy stuff, like: ¢I¢m so lucky to have you¢ ¢ which always surprises me when she says it, especially when that ¢Worrier Man¢ guy has been hanging around. He can be a real pain in the butt. Frankly, I don¢t know how she tolerates him.        I said, ¢No, I¢M the lucky one¢ ¢ which is demonstrably true, of course. I added that I was really going to miss her while I was gone. She said she would miss me, too -- a lot, and hadn¢t really wanted to tell me that. I asked why, and she said she didn¢t want me to feel badly for her while I was away. (You see what I mean about her being a ¢trophy wife¢?) So, being a smart-a$$, I replied, ¢Why? Afraid I might not go?¢ But I recovered enough to suggest that we take some time this weekend to go over my mail drops and figure out which ones might make good ¢spouse connects¢ as well. I promised her I¢d put ¢Organizer Man¢ to work on that, and he¢d get back to her.        If it keeps snowing like it is right now, I¢ll be able to work on that from home tomorrow. In fact, that would give me a three day weekend. Weather may not be good for the overnight hike I¢d hoped for, but maybe I¢ll try setting the tent up in the back yard. See how well the Big Agnes sleeping bag/sleep pad combo works in the snow. I should try the alcohol stove out in low temperatures as well. All last minute stuff. Basically, I¢m ready. I could leave tomorrow if it was time. Only sixteen more days!!!