THE CANARD RETURNS

This town, huh? I mean really.

I'm glad to be back and all, sure. While I had two fantastic weeks in Oregon going to friends' parties and wedding parties and favored watering holes, eventually I was ready to throw myself back into my work. And said throwing is why I haven't updated this blog, though I've been back for the better part of a week.

Still, this town. My first day back, I was overtired from travel and, since it looked like I'd be a little bit late if I took the Metro down to Foggy Bottom as usual, I decided to hail a cab. Except, the ATM machine at the 24-hour mart a block away was out of commission. I had to walk several blocks to get money out of 7-11, and ended up being more than a little bit late.

I've been working like almost non-stop on a major freelance project, and despite using the name of a highly respected news organization to land the proper interviews, a surprisingly large number of important places have completely failed to return my calls. (Heritage, this means you.)

Then early Saturday morning -- 4am -- early I got a call from Beltway Buzz, on his way to the airport. Turns out a water main at the bottom of the street went bust in a major way. This is on one corner of the mercury-ridden Cardozo High; I think the block is cursed. I walked down there with a drink in hand and chatted up the officers on the scene. Water rushed out of broken concrete, flooding the intersecction. The good news is that I slept late into Saturday afternoon and missed the water outage. The bad news is it's now just before noon on Sunday and I still don't have hot water.

This morning I also woke up to another not-so-pleasant surprise: no Internet. Apparently Comcast decided to schedule a service "upgrade" for the same time I had planned to finish up this freelance work. A notice ahead of time would have been appreciated, thanks.

Which is not to say the week has been all bad: I managed to squeeze in a midnight showing of Episode III this week, and like the man behind Blog, I enjoyed it. My reaction will be posted soon enough. On Friday I picked up my first new television in over seven years, going from a 12-inch TV that hasn't worked properly since forever to a 32" behemoth that makes everything else in this apartment look miniature. And I became a convert to the "alc/energy" drink Sparks, which tastes like Orange Jell-O and works like a vodka and Red Bull. Worth a try, if you can find a bar that carries it.

It's back to the project for now. Regular posting should resume later today or tomorrow. And I should have a couple of interesting announcements before too long.

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posted by WWB at 10:33 AM |