Whether the weather

Well, in truth it depends where the warm front and the cold front collide, but I like the idea of a computer somewhere controlling the weather.

Today I went and had brunch with Ed, then we went out to Potomac Yards, home of the secret government railroad. Really. I mean it.

OK, so the gubmint railroad is only on teevee. In real life, Potomac Yards is the home of a strip mall that contains a Target and a Petsmart. Petsmart carries Lola's new food, and they have the litter I prefer in large tubs. (No, I do not ask the cats what they think of the litter, although I did permit Hecate to reject one variety... Herself wouldn't go anywhere near the pearl litter, so consider that a heads up if your cat is picky with regard to litter and you were thinking about trying the pearly kind.)

Target on a Saturday afternoon is an undertaking that ought not to be undertaken. It's filled with people you don't want in your world, and all their offspring. Oh, and they all want to stand in the same three lines closest to the shopping area. If you are willing to fight your way through the swamp of them, you can stand in a line for three minutes and be gone, but you will spend twice that time getting tothe line.

My purchases were fairly pedestrian: cotton pads, Gatorade, toothpaste, Benadryl. Maybe there was something else, but not anything exciting.

I felt old today, because four hours of any kind of activity is still my limit. By the time we left Petsmart I was about ready to collapse, but I was not so tired that I couldn't talk to the dog in front of us in line. The dog was supremely mellow; he was laying down on the floor in line, and he looked like he was about to start snoring. The dog's person said something about how he learned the Japanese words for all the commands the dog needs to know, so he speaks Japanese to the dog, and the dog responds, then he did a demonstration.

He told the dog to lay down, and the dog laid down. Of course, the dog was sleepy, but I bought it. Basically the guy's rationale was that the different language meant he didn't have to yell at the dog.

That was very cool.

My plans for the rest of the night are to stay up for a little while and then head to a 24-hour grocery store to buy provisions, just in case. I have plenty of TP, but not really enough food.

OK, I probably have enough food, and I know Eastern Market will be open even if I didn't have enough food, but I'd feel inadequate if I didn't go to some kind of lengths to get provisions in the face of a potential blizzard, although there is also a potential for the storm to be a non-blizzard.

Whenever possible, I like to avoid feeling inadequate.

before - after