Watching and Waiting

I did a two-talk day today. First to an advisory committee, and then to a group of delegates who have been working for a couple of years on a position paper about biofuels. I took a cab from the Crystal City Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia to Harry S. Truman Building. I couldn't get to the 21st Street entrance because the President's car had arrived just a couple of minutes before me - just a little bit of bad timing (1). If I would have caught my cab a little earlier, maybe I would have had a Kodak Moment. It was still interesting - the notable yellow

At the corner of 21st Street and Virginia Avenue

police line ribbon was stretched across the sidewalk, and I was standing at the corner of 21st and Virginia Avenue with a group of State Department employees who couldn't get back to their offices. The composite photograph done with the Photoshop software using the File / Automate / Photomerge commands shows the scene: flashing police and Secret Service cars and SUV's, officers with hand phones, and a line of police motorcycles. After a little while I was told that I could walk around the building the long way to the C Street entrance. My host met me there and got me through security. It is pretty cool the coming and goings that are a part of daily life in the Washington, D.C. area. I was pretty proud of myself - both talks for the day were finished last night before 11:30 PM. That was better than the situation I wrote about in Human Nature a couple of months ago. I was still up early finishing some paperwork and taking a conference call at 7:15 AM with folks around the D.C. area and in Beijing. I'm ready for bed and a few pages from one of several books I'm juggling at the same time. It might be nice to listen to a quiet song to relax with - watching and waiting for the next burst of effort to get ready for the next set of deadlines.
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(1) Both Jan and I heard on the radio (separately), that the President was going to give a policy speech at the State Department this morning. I figured it would be before noon, so was surprised that it was at mid-day, but I knew right away what was up when I arrived and the street was cordoned off.