Dateline: my realtor's office, Greenwood IN, 17 May 2005, 61 days til the move
Blogged a bit in the morning at my mother-in-law's, and then sped to Indy in her Audi A4 to meet our desired builder at the desired lot. It's a beautifully big pie "wedge" off the cul-de-sac that rings in at about 4/5ths of an acre, with trees covering the lot. The old growth forest here features trees that are easily 50-70 feet high, many of them oak. The plan would be to clear out everything less than about four inches in diameter, cutting just enough for our house's footprint. We should end up with a great tree-lined lot and shaded back yard that's perfect for a big playset and room to run around.
After talking to our builder and setting up an afternoon meeting at his place tomorrow, I shot a load of pictures of the lot, and ended up meeting the elderly woman whose property abuts what will be the back of our lot. Wilma has lived in her house since 1960, and like most of the older people with original houses on the country road just beyond the backside of the development where our lot is located, she says she likes the peace and quiet of the location. Of course, that changes slowly over time as sub-developments push southward from Indy, but unlike in the north, the growth down here seems measured and unfolding at a reasonable pace. Plus, Wilma wants to see children running around, so I think she's going to like the playset.
Then I did something to make me feel at home at the new homestead before leaving: I gave a phone interview over my cell. Yesterday I was contacted by a Paris-based correspondent of the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) for an interview about alleged American war plans for invading Iran. Was I willing to be interviewed? Sure, I said, call me on my cell.
So he called me while I was in the wooded lot and I spoke with him for about 30 minutes, trying to spot myself roughly where I figured my office might go. His English was bad, but better than either my Farsi or my decades-old French, so I forgave him. I kept asking him how he would identify me in the piece (fearing I'd be called US Government when I no longer am) and he kept replying that he found me on the Internet and that I shouldn't be so upset that I kept on asking him over and over again!
I finally gave up on that one and told him to simply fire away.
He asked expected questions and I gave my usual answers, basically saying that it's the support for terror groups that lands Iran in hot water on the nuclear issue. No support for terrorism, then reaching for nukes would still get Iran a lot of interest, but not threats of war or invasion. As for the ìsecret plansî to invade, I just said, ìCome on! It's called a global war on terrorism, you support terrorism, you want the bomb, and we put all that together and get nervous. When we get nervous we plan. How can that be a surprise to anyone?î I also said the mullahs were basically screwed: pursue the bomb to stay in power and you risk military interventions. Pursue economic connectivity with the outside world and you become politically marginalized. Either way, mullahs, your days are numbered as political heavyweights in Iran. So light 'em if you got 'em.
The journalist was very nice. He reminded me a lot of talking to Soviet journalists. They were always smart guys, otherwise they'd never get such good jobs overseas, but to keep those jobs they had to go through the motions. So the interaction always had/has a sense of fakeness or theatricality: you pretend to ask your tough questions, Mr. Journalist, and I'll pretend to give you answers you haven't heard before.
I ended by directing him to the Feb article in Esquire, saying it presented my ideas on Iran and the bomb most clearly.
I wrote up this post at my realtor's office later in the afternoon, penning the article posts below that I had left over from yesterday's catch. For some reason I neglected to grab my mother-in-law's NYT as I left this morning, otherwise I would have had enough to do to keep me busy while I waited on my realtor to return from a showing up north. I wanted to draw up an offer for the lot before heading back to Terre Haute for the night, otherwise I'd feel like I hadn't really accomplished anything by this day trip to Indy. With any luck we'll have a lot in hand before I fly back to RI on Thursday. Conceivably, our builder could be clearing the lot by the beginning of June. Exciting to think about.
Here's the daily catch:
■ The BRAC fight begins in earnest