DAY 61

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 14, 2009
Sun 12:33 AM

wow, the west wing... a truly fantastic television show. so i worked today... again. closed... again. work all day tomorrow. hurray. i'm getting punished for having an open availability... i can work anytime, so, naturally i'm closing thu, fri, sat, sun. it's already gottan old, and i have the same thing tomorrow. dammit, i know, i said i'd never write about work... but this sucks, a lot.

thank goodness for the west wing, i've already finished the first season, although, the last episode skipped an awful lot, i'm gonna have to watch it on my ps3 when i get home, and if it skips there take it back and exchange it. i will not allow the last episode to skip, this cannot stand. not the episode where the president gets shot. shot in rossyln. that's in northern virginia, it is part of arlington to be exact. right across the potomac from georgetown. you can see it's skyline from across the river, very urban versus dc. it's also the first virginia (if you're going west from the district) station on the orange and blue lines on the metro. i miss the metro, such a great thing. i'm glad that i still know the geography of dc, or at least northwest dc, where i lived. dc is divided into quadrants... almost everything worth seeing/going to is in northwest dc. and gw hospital, where the president is taken on the show, and where in real life president reagan was taken after the assasination attempt on his life. and where they'd probably take the pope if he got a cold while visting or something. they do good work there. and man do i miss that metro, such a great thing. i've said this already, oh well. the escalator at the wheaton station (second to last station on the red line in maryland) is the longest escalator in the western hemisphere. i used to go there a lot, there was a mall there that had normal stores (unlike the "fashion center" at pentagon city that's full of stores i can't afford). that's what i did on many weekends. riding the metro was so relaxing too... you can just sit, be alone with your thoughts, listen to music... it's great. well, it's relaxing unless the money train goes by.

yeah, i got to see the money train. it's, well, it's hard to describe. it's not like the loch ness monster of dc, it's not that rare, but i'd say it's rarer than seeing a presidential motorcade- that's pretty common. it's just one of those cool things about dc that everyone should experience at least once. i saw it go by twice, it's a train that doesn't stop at the stations, it flashes red lights, and the windows are dark and the lights are out. and if that wasn't enough, trust me, it's crazy when you're on the platform and the money train does stop. it doesn't stop much, but i witnessed it. and i was the only one on the platform that day, i had just come back from winter break and i was on the platform at national airport (it's NOT called reagan national airport... but that's a blog for another time) and this train goes by. and i'm just waiting, with my bag, and i noticed that there was no destination listed on the front so i just stood there, waiting. and off comes a guy packing an automatic shotgun and he points it right at me. then, a few other guys with guns escort a small cart that a guy pushes from one train car to another. the first guy with the auto shotgun is fixed on me and says, "Don't move." He really didn't have to say that, the shotgun pointed at my head already said that. and i may not know anything about guns, but i can identify an automatic shotgun when its pointed right at me. i had never heard of the money train until that day, but i just figured it out on my own... only money would have that kind of protection.

look it up, i'm sure you can find info on the metro money train. that's one of the more interesting things that happened to me in dc... besides seeing the Queen, two presidents, two first ladyie, the entire democratic leadership, james bond, several great comedians and getting yelled at by secret service for not walking close enough to the white house. yeah, that happened. i'm also convinced that a secret service agent was preparing to shoot through me to get my father, or in the least use me as a human sheild. this wasn't in dc though, this was at a kerry (yeah i'll admit, he wasn't the greatest candidate- but he still was better than the alternative) rally in 2004 in green bay. i saw the agent come behind me, and i thought he wanted to get by so i was moving out of his way, but then he stopped and told me to "stay where you are" and i noticed his eyes were fixed on the curly-haired guy next to me, aka, my dad. and he never took his eyes off him. apparently my dad is sketchy and/or suspitious looking. so, there's that.

man, reminising about dc really makes me miss it a lot. and, i can't believe i'm thinking this, but, as much as i'm set on moving to california, i could see myself living in dc again. it's a great place, really is. it was number three for young singles. and i'm both. the winters are mild (in fact, i think calling them "winters" is rather innacurate), the public transportation is fantastic, and there's tons to do. tons. the only thing missing is palm trees. and in-n-out burger. and beaches. and it's not on the west coast. but it doesn't have earthquakes, not that that's a dealbreaker. and i'm a business major, or, graduate... i have a degree in business. not politics. so, i'm not sure what i could do in dc. i don't know, but its still a cool place.

salbrent