Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." - Peter Drucker

Reading: Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years

Listening to: The Bobs, I Brow Club

Decluttering accomplishments: finished cleaning out the file drawer with magazine clippings, shredded all the 1991 financial records, started on the map drawer

3 February 2002 - I Saw Dick Cheney's Feet

The highlight of my week was my trip to the Naval Observatory. Dealing with star catalogs is always a fun change of pace from the mainstream of my work. And I like the more central parts of Washington, D.C., as opposed to the endless miles of blandness that make up suburban Virginia. This time I stayed at the Wardman Park Marriott, which was about a half hour walk away. It was a really pleasant walk, too, though a bit more aerobic than I'd expected since I misinterpreted the map. What I thought would be the most direct way required climbing a fairly steep trail through Normanstone Park to avoid what three local women out for their nature walk said would be a lengthy detour. It's a good thing I don't wear high heels. I ended up getting a ride with a colleague going back at night and the next day. When he told me that the hotel hit him up for $19 a day for parking, I was even gladder I hadn't bothered to rent a car.

There wasn't really much more security than on my past trip there, although the guards at the gate were checking the undersides of vehicles with mirrors. There were also several guards standing around when the vice president's helicopter came in and left. (The vice president's house is on the Observatory grounds and his helicopter pad is right next to the building we were meeting in.) We could see perfectly well from the conference room, but Cheney got out on the far side. There were several jokes about being able to go home and tell people we'd seen the vice president's feet! (We could actually see his back, too.) A few people did go out on the terrace, which didn't seem all that wise, though none of the guards seemed to care.

We also got an excellent tour of the observatory. I'd seen the historic telescope before, but this time I also got to see the clocks. We also got taken to the library (despite several "no visitors" signs there) and shown part of the rare book collection. In addition, I was pleased with the work that got accomplished. So it was definitely better than most of my business trips.

While I was in the area, I delivered two more of the postcards I'd picked up at Post Office Bay in the Galapagos. The one for two guys at the Washington Post had to get left with a guard at the door. He wouldn't even call up to see if either of them was in. The other involved an excursion to the Chevy Chase area. The girl the postcard for was away at college, but her mother thanked me for it and promised to send it along.

At home, I've been engaged in a housework blitz. I did take some time off on Friday to get together with Penny for a chat and coffee. She's excited over her new used car and insisted on driving to Starbucks to show it off. After we parked, we noticed a new place in the same shopping center and decided that it was a better bet. It turns out that Champagne Bakery is also a chain, though a far smaller one and limited to Southern California. It was quite pleasant, with excellent coffee and French music on the stereo. She also dug out some yarn she wanted to get rid of that I can use for afghans.

I'd have liked to have gotten to Glendale today to see the L.A. Chamber Orchestra's production of a new piece about Tyrannosaurus Sue. The real attraction wasn't the music, but that the performance would be preceded by the Chamber Orchestra petting zoo. As I understand it, the "animals" that one gets to pet include the flutes and clarinets and cellos. I find the whole concept charming. But I got too late a start on the day and didn't feel like trying to set new speed records crossing the city. I'll have to check out their calendar and see when they do another similar event.