senior olympics

Today a guy at work asked me to guess his age. This was in the context of a broader conversation about his plans to participate in the Senior Olympics. This included a discussion of whether four minutes was a credible time for the winners of the 81-year-old walking 400 meters.

But when he asked me to guess his age, I refused, then guessed 37. I refuse to respond to this question, and similar questions like:

What do you think I weigh?

Do you think I'm fat?

Do you like my new haircut/clothes/nipple ring?

My general propensity to answer honestly to questions like these has been problematic at times. So I demure, or respond outlandishly. Turns out this guy is 62, and is apparently in terrific shape. Whatever.

Obviously my last days at work in New Orleans are fascinating.

it must be catching

On the heels of Kassie and CJ, Scot Hall and Kelly Betteridge are now engaged to be wed. Kelly even notified me via text message.

Who's next?

oops

Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong about New Orleans mayor. Oh well.

Election Day - New Orleans

Today New Orleans elects a mayor, and decides a few City Council seats. I think both candidates (incumbent C. Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu) are competent, but I believe the outcome will play only a small role in the future of this city. Polling on the race has been spotty and unreliable because the electorate has been dispersed. Despite being a tough race to handicap, I'm going out on a limb and predicting:

Landrieu - 58%
Nagin - 41%

I'm going to crash one of the parties tonight as well.

paid by your tax dollars

Ladies and gentlemen, new White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, in his May 17 breifing:

Well, as I pointed out -- I mentioned this yesterday, and for -- let me see if I can find my quote, because I pulled it out. Chuck Hagel, as you may recall, made a fair amount of news over the weekend when he first said that -- let's see -- "Well, I want to listen to the details and I want to listen to the President," said Senator Hagel -- he said this on "This Week" on a competing network.

a chronology of Katrina

The Times-Picayune has created some terrific flash animations to show how and when New Orleans flooded. Given all the chaos of the first few days, it is a good tool to look back and consider what went wrong.

Check it out.

coming soon to a city near you

With fewer than three weeks left in Louisiana, I've begun preparing for my travels across America. I'll be lots of places:

• Washington: 5.31 - 6.6
  
• Las Vegas: 6.6 - 6.11
  
• Minneapolis: 6.12 - 6.25
  
• San Francisco: 6.26 - 6.30

If you're in one of these places when I am, and want to see me, let me know. I'm sure there'll be some sort of BBQ-type activity in Minneapolis. Also, if anyone wants to go see We Are Scientists at First Ave. in Minneapolis on June 23, let me know. I'm buying tickets in one week.

Tales from NOLA: The night of sparkling teeth

People who stayed in New Orleans through the storm have varied experiences, but everyone talks about how dark the city was. With power out all over the region, the night sky was vivid and bright.

Those first few nights, we'd sit outside, and it'd be pitch dark out. I've never seen stars that bright in my life. Stars, galaxies, constellations, everything.

There were stars and there were helicopters. Flying back and forth, rescuing people and dropping them at the Superdome, and then flying back to rescue someone else. The first couple nights were long nights.

Sitting outside, you couldn't see across the street it was so dark. This old man who lives in our neighborhood has two gold front teeth. One night, he came walking down the street, and flashed a smile. The stars reflecting off his teeth sparkled, so we saw these two gold teeth, floating in the middle of the street. We waved to him, and as a chopper flew by he waved and walked away

an engagement

Not only is Kassie engaged, but she’s making an offer to buy my dream home. I’ve been coveting Minneapolis real estate for the past few weeks, in preparation for an eventual real estate purchase of my own. Today, I find out the property I most wanted to purchase is the very property on which Kassie and CJ are bidding. Bastards!

Seriously though, congratulations, Kassie, and I hope you get my house too.

a taco revolution

Taco Bell is having an awesome promotion where one lucky winner will become "El Presidente" of Taco Bell. The winner will receive one million pesos and get a free trip to Taco Bell HQ. I was very excited for this contest, but reading the fine print, I become a bit less enthusiastic:

Winner will be named El Presidente of Taco Bell and will not assume any official corporate duties as El Presidente of Taco Bell.

What the hell? Let's put Taco Bell on notice right now:

If I become El Presidente, we're having a revolución! Viva El Presidente!

attention all hands

From time to time, I received e-mails at work from Acting Director Paulison or Secretary Chertoff. I'm just waiting for the time that it reads:

TO: ALL FEMA EMPLOYEES

SUBJECT: THE INTERNET

ATTENTION ALL FEMA EMPLOYEES: STOP SCREWING AROUND ON THE INTERNET. WE MEAN YOU.

THANK YOU. THAT IS ALL.

Instead we get boring personnel notices. Sigh...