I accomplished a fair deal at work today. Some phone calls, some reading, some writing.
I even planned to stay late, until I randomly discovered that Connie Schultz was having a book signing this evening at Politics and Prose.
I dropped everything. After jotting down the bookstore's address, it occurred to me that I was headed to Rique's neighborhood. I gave her a call, and she agreed to come see Connie with me.
We had a blast! Hearing Connie speak is always a treat, and I got my copy of ...and His Lovely Wife signed. Rique and I said hi to Sherrod, who (of course) was in the audience.
I also got to meet Amy Klobuchar! Halfway through the event, I noticed a woman who looked just like the Senator from Minnesota in the audience. Knowing that Senators Klobuchar and Brown were recently in a panel together at the Take Back America 2007 conference, I figured that there was a decent chance that this could actually be her. I was right!
Rique and I had a lovely chat during the walk home from the bookstore. I'm so glad that I decided to call her spur-of-the-moment!
Monday spending total: $16.45 (Giant run and two wine glasses from Pier1)
Tuesday, July 10
A bunch of the WISE guys and I went to a Capitol Hill forum sponsored by the IEEE on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. I found the event to be boring. I did take some photographs, though:
I remember chatting with Professor Buchner three years ago about his newly-purchased Toyota Prius. I asked him if he had to plug it in at night, and he shot me a "How stupid are you?" look. (I felt totally embarrassed for asking such a question.) Well, now in 2007, they DO make hybrid autos that you can plug in:
I also saw a Hawaii license plate:
I got caught in a rainstorm on my way back to the office and got drenched.
Later in the evening, the WISE gang attended a cookout in suburban Maryland. The highlight of my evening was playing on our host's 1901 Steinway piano. The sound was heaven on Earth. I only wish that my left/right hand coordination hadn't gone to shreds...
Here's a bunch of us on the porch:
Going home, we got to ride the longest escalator in the western hemisphere at the Wheaton Metro Station:
Tuesday spending total: $0.00 (YAY!!!)
