Checking In

A catch-all, catch-up post

There are 1,132 posts filed in Checking In (this is page 82 of 114).

Friday night at the blog

I’ve got a quiet household tonight as the kids are safely in bed and Kelly’s enjoying a much-deserved night out with her friends. Even the cat’s sleeping, somewhere around here. I’ve got a half-full glass of wine at my side and an urge to write something – not just post a link somewhere.
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The CIA and the cocaine plane

Cristobal pointed me to the latest news on the CIA-connected cocaine plane that crashed last month. As Cristobal hints in his post, the article explains how easy it is to muddle the ownership of a plane caught trafficking drugs. We should certainly close these FAA loopholes if we’re serious about the other Endless War: the “war on drugs.”

As for whether the CIA’s actively ferrying drugs, I cannot say one way or another. But I’m getting mighty suspicious of all the drug busts that seem to occur so soon after the CIA allegedly owned these aircraft. There’s definitely smoke here, if not outright fire. I’m glad McClatchy’s got two good reporters on the trail.

Twenty five year reunion

I had a bit of a twenty-five year reunion tonight here in Charlotte, where I’m working for the next day or two. Remember how I tracked down some old friends last month when their high school reunion was held? One of those old friend was my buddy Doug Yoch, who happens to live in Charlotte now. I wrote him an email this morning letting him know I was in town and tonight we met up for dinner and drinks.
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hhgregg opens today

I read with interest in today’s paper that hhgregg is opening up two stores in Raleigh today. Being a geek, the more electronics stores the better. Then I read further in today’s article that the salespeople work on commission.

Whoopsie.

That’s the very reason I don’t go into Circuit City anymore (well, that and their disastrous backing of Divx): no one wants a salesperson hanging on you like a cheap suit. While you may sometimes have trouble finding a salesperson in Best Buy, if you’re clueful about what you need you can save yourself a bunch of hassle.

I’ll give hhgregg a try but the minute I get hassled in the store I’m switching back to Best Buy.

My mind is the *only* thing on the water

There’s been a change in plans. As much as it kills me to see the wind picking up we’re staying close to home.

The big downside to working from home is the rapid onset of cabin fever. I’ve got the strong desire to be out of the house but my sailing crew has mutinied. Perhaps I can talk everyone into a nice long day in the park as a substitute. Anything but these four walls!

My mind is already on the water

According to the NWS’s awesome graphical wind forecast tomorrow’s shaping up to be great for sailing. We’ve got a few spots left on the boat, so if you’re in the Raleigh area (or better, closer to Lake Gaston) and want to join us, drop me a line tonight.

Reunioned

We got back last evening from our Herndon High School reunion weekend in Virginia. Lots of fun was had. Herndon’s football team won the homecoming game against the Yorktown Patriots 35-31, too.

More on all that when I get a chance. For now I gotta get back to work.

Amtrak

I had unusual travel plans for my recent business trip to Annapolis. First I flew to BWI on Southwest (which curiously didn’t have all of their new line arrangements yet in place). I rented a car for the Annapolis leg of the trip. When I got done with work today, I returned the car to the Baltimore airport (via the Baltimore-Washington Parkinglotway), where I planned to catch a train south to Fredericksburg.
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