Let a smile be your umbrella

I don't know how it is in your city, but here in DC, everything up to your front door is technically considered public land. I thought that should mean that a nice squad of landscapers employed by the city would come and take care of my yard, but it doesn't work that way.

So Washington is looking brown and crispy this summer. I think it could rain like this for two weeks and we'd still be dry.

I guess the weather fits, though. Washington lost out in the competition to be the U.S. city that gets the chance to compete for the 2012 Olympic Games. At first I was a little mad about this, but mostly that's because I'm just sick of hearing about New York.

Don't get me wrong, I like New York, but I think that at this point in time, it makes sense for New York to concentrate on the monster task of redeveloping lower Manhattan.

In other news, the Saturn is in the shop. It needs a new clutch, which will cost about $1,000. I just hate to have to spend that much on such a terrible car, but maybe it will run better now. Not that I would ever be the sort of person to work on my own car, but I think life was probably better before engines were too complicated to fix yourself.

I mean, oneself. I mean, well, you know what I mean.

before - after