Dateline: In the Shire, Indy, 27 January 2006

Back home again after my nearly full-week jaunt.

Yesterday was sort of a quick morning at Oak Ridge before I left for the flight to RI. Got a brief on genetically-engineered threats that was very interesting (I see a column ahead) and another on working the IED threat (still another good column foreseen). Then I sat in on the beginning stages of the monthly national security department “huddle,” before racing out to my car and driving back to Knoxville.

Had to fly Continental through Detroit to get to Providence, and I must say that the new Northwest terminal there is stunning, like something outta DisneyWorld with that monorail that runs the length of the extremely long terminal, along the roofs of the shops no less!

Got picked up by a Coastie non-com who drove me to the Marriott at Mystic CT. Very spectacular pool, which I immediately did my fourth-in-a-row stint and some bike time in the gym.

Later picked up by my Lt. Cdr. Host and taken to the academy, where I addressed an audience of about 100 or so cadets, staff, etc. Was a bit beat, so my delivery a bit sloppy on pronunciation (swallowing the ends of words), so I found I really had to concentrate. I could tell I was tired because I offered up too many “vulgar” terms (as my Mom likes to say), and that sort of salty language happens when I’m fatigued—for some reason.

Remind me never to let C-SPAN tape me at night!

Bradd Hayes, who lives about 40 minutes away in RI, was able to attend, which was great, because this was the first time he could see me perform the brief he did the original slides for (since altered by me extensively but still, by and large, his PPT material, so credit where credit is due). It was really nice to give him credit for the slides at the end of my talk. It felt like the actor on stage saluting the orchestra director. But that’s how symbiotic it is for Bradd and me.

Got up this morning at 7am and got my last swim in for the week. Feeling pretty sore on that one, but enjoyed it immensely nonetheless.

Then caught a drive with my Coastie to Bradd’s house, where I spent the morning and over lunch brainstorming a development-in-a-box brief for Steve DeAngelis and I to use in the future. I really want to build that “peace is the ultimate aftermarket” concept.

Then two SWA flights home, going through BWI. Checked out the new house on the way to picking up son at Sylvan. The wood flooring has begun upstairs, starting in my office. Looks very nice. Bookcases going up all over, etc. Stairs down to basement completely done, with great railing, all oak like the steps.

Back home tonight and things are a bit tense. Some trouble at school while I was gone, which cast a bit of a pall on my absence. It was quite the trick to pick a school for all three of the older kids from afar last spring. With our move to the house late this spring, our commuting options change somewhat, and with one heading to high school, it has us thinking we ended up at too big of a grade school for the boys over the long haul.

But these are thoughts for another day.