November update

It's been a very busy few weeks, so instead of ranting about the election (not touching it, at least not right now) or getting into a big sturm und drang over Keith Olbermann (he was wrong, period. That's the way it goes), I thought I'd take some time to talk about what's been going on in my world since I last checked in a few weeks ago.

First off, I did make it down to Washington, DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity.  Want the truth? It was disappointing as hell. Not because Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert were bad. From what I saw online, they were great. It's just that somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 people showed up, and the Mall was, shall we say, freakin' PACKED. My little band of friends and I couldn't see the stage. We expected that. Unfortunately, we couldn't hear a damn thing, either. So instead of trying to get to a better spot....which wasn't possible, we walked away.  That's right. We left before the event really hit its stride. I did get some great shots of wonderful signs, though.

After standing around for an hour trying to discern what was going on up on the stage many blocks away, we walked past the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, up Pennsylvania Avenue, and eventually found our way to 2000 Penn (the back yard of the George Washington University -- a neighborhood I know well). We had lunch at Bertucci's, talked politics, and had a grand ol' time. It was a great band of folks, a couple of whom I've known online for a year or more but never met in person, and a couple I was meeting for the first time.  I had fun. We had fun. 'Twas worth it.  Ironically, the best parts of the weekend had nothing to do with the March, which was the ostensible reason for being there.

The best part was being with friends. Along with the folks I hung out with on Saturday, I had the great honor of staying in Virginia with old friends from Syracuse whom I hadn't seen in, well, a long time. I've known Bob since I was a pledge at Theta Chi, and probably met Sue right about the same time. I can't put into words how much their friendship has always meant to me, and continues to warm my heart to this day. Seeing them at their house, meeting their terrific kids, and reconnecting...the 18-hour round trip drive was worth it if only to see them.

I drove home Sunday (Halloween), and got in just in time to kiss the wife and dogs, unpack, re-pack, and go to bed by 9, and even that was late. Why so early? I had to wake up at 3:30 to be at Logan for a 6:30am flight on Monday to northern California. Work beckons.  Greene Means Go Consulting signed a contract with one of my very favorite clients for a project that required me to be onsite for the first third of November. So I'm on left coast time, and loving it. I'll be here until Thursday, and finishing up the project work a few days after I get home.

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge an anniversary that passed without notice recently. On October 24, my humble little blog celebrated its fifth anniversary (and you may have noticed I changed the page's look to freshen it up a little).  To all of you who have been loyal readers since the blog's inception, and for those who have joined my personal soapbox in the years since the fall of 2005, thank you. I'm honored you still care enough to read my ramblings, and flattered that when I haven't posted anything for a while, you send me notes to ask if everything's ok. I have no idea what the next five years will bring, but it's good to know I have friends who are happy to come along for the ride.

In the meantime, don't forget that at least twice a week (Monday and Thursday mornings), I post news updates on all things furry and feathery over at my main writing home, Pet Connection. Important news on the pet world, great people, and stories you might not see anywhere else. If you haven't checked it out already, give it a try.