The upset in the investment banks is feeding-forward in all sorts of ways.
And the round after round of hurricanes isn't helping. Evacuating takes time and money. Watching the news/weather alerts/etc. isn't so good for making decisions to spend money.

Of course, the beat of economic life here is determined by awarded contracts and the federal budget. Congress is in for a short session, before the election. Target adjournment is Sept. 26th (for the House).

If you want to know the status of the federal budget, this is NOT the place to go. Although it seems sensible!

Here is a link about parents planning to get their children in the event of an emergency.

Now, that makes sense in small towns or rural areas (I think, I haven't actually lived in either enough to be sure). But the major cities better get on this more.

I wish that this was broken down into areas that have been through it before (NYC, DC, Oklahoma City, and maybe San Francisco) and areas that have to prepare seriously anyway, like LA and San Diego (for earthquakes). I would hope that those areas have a greater awareness of what to do.

In our schools, emergencies are classified in three ways (and I only know two of them) Code Red and Code Blue. Code Red is get the kids out and Code Blue is cower in a safe(r) place. 

This is called inside-the-Beltway poker. But it's more fun than regular poker.

If McCain wins this year, what will Sarah Palin do in 2012? McCain probably won't run for President again at 76.
a) run for President. She'll have four years of vice-presidential experience under her belt. McCain *should* give her a foreign policy portfolio to train her up and ensure that she can run credibly then.

b) run for governor of Alaska again. More executive experience. Might shore up her family-values image.

c) Run for Senator from Alaska. This is arguably her best bet. She could probably have her choice of committees to sit on, The big-name ones are Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Armed Services, Energy and Natural Resources (not so big-name in the past, but a good match for her state and previous experience). Other interesting ones are Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (a grab-bag, but good for a family-values image, maybe) or Appropriations (more appropriate if she wants a name cutting pork). Ones that I don't think would be useful for her--Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Budget; Commerce, Science and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Indian Affairs; Rules and Administration; Small Business and Entrepreneurship or Veteran's Affairs.

To figure what she could do, we'd have to figure out who'll be the governor (Sean Parnell is the Lieutenant Governor, BUT he is currently in a race for Representative), and who'll be the two Senators. Can she displace one of them? Remember that Ted Stevens is up for re-election this year and may be fatally tainted, or he may not be, who knows what lurks in the minds of voters. Lisa Murkowski (R) is the junior Senator. She will be facing re-election in 2010.

If McCain loses this year, she'll spend the rest of her term as governor. How long is the term for governor of Alaska (different states have slightly different rules)? I can't find this information in Wikipedia. Should she run again? Should she see if she can run for Senator from Alaska?

Who should she pick for a running mate when she runs for President at the head of the ticket?

Warning. This is going to get detailed and long.

We did go there after all.

The NASA exhibit was pretty fun, especially for Emily. There was a children's book with 6 activities. If a child did 4 of them (or the parents helped), the child could get a pin.

We also saw the Bhutan exhibit. We enjoyed the Bhutan food.

We didn't get over to the Texas exhibit.

The pope is in town. Well, he arrives this afternoon.

Last night a pair of people came in at Gallery Place and sat behind me. One was wearing a jacket over some sort of box on the back (looking like a hump, but with corners). The jacket zipped up to the hood, exposing no actual face. Over the "face" part of the jacket, was painted a smiling face with two actual holes for the eyes. The person was wearing shorts and his/her legs were shaved, so I think it was a woman.
The other person was a woman and was wearing a tank shirt that said, "tattooed white trash". She had a video camera.

It seemed like they were testing the reactions of the people riding the Metro. I really wanted to call the Metro police for them. Especially with the unusual shape of the back hump.

I do have nothing important to say, but maybe I'll think of something.

I have a plan to get together with my brother and his kids on Saturday and go to the Brookside Gardens kids' event.

Emily napped a chunk this afternoon. She was tired at the babysitter's house, but gave no trouble. She watched Elmo. She wanted to watch WordGirl, but something got lost in the communication between the babysitter and me. Or PBS (WETA) changed the schedule. I am going to find a Spanish-language version of Disney's Little Mermaid for the babysitter (not the movie, but a book).

I set up a playdate with her friend that is moving to NC in two weeks. I am going to make the two of them memory books (or something) because they were best friends for about a year.

I met up with Frank D. to catch up with what has been happening in his life. His main contract is done in October and he is looking to add to his other contracts, either more contracts or more work with the ones he has. He's getting married also.

My sweetie is celebrating his birthday next week. Happy Birthday to him!!!!

Got my paycheck today. So nice. It's a good part-time non-Monday-Friday non-9-5 job. You can't put in the hours to make a living, but you can get money for saving if something (or someone) else pays the mortgage.

Speaking of saving, I am writing the checks for my IRA and Emily's 529.

Spanish starts on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it, even if I didn't study a lot this summer.

I don't think I am going to get any food out of my garden this year. It has been so dry. But the morning glories did pretty well.

Next year, I may only do a compost heap/pile. I think that the soil is pretty depleted also, so it could use a compost heap on top for a while.

I am getting myself involved in several other people's job hunts. Why? Because I am friendly and think that I know the right people. Or should know the right people. After all LinkedIn says I know 127,000 people.

So I have a bachelor's degree chemist looking in the Washington, DC area. I think the preferred location is Arlington,VA.

I have a public-health, government-service expert, looking to relocate to Chicago.

I have a PhD MRI expert, looking in the Washington, DC area.

I have a PhD NMR expert, looking to transition to MRI and do more health-related research.

I think that's it, but if you are looking, just email me the specifics and I'll add you to my mental list. :)

Actually, I thought of one more. A PeopleSoft expert looking to relocate to the Washington, DC area around Jan. 2008??