It's 11:30 and I'd be asleep now, except that the room where I usually sleep when I'm here is very hot. The ceiling fan is insanely loud and the windows lack screens. I'd rather be too hot than wake up in the middle of the night to find bats swarming around my head.
*****
No bats last night. It's Sunday night now and I'm back in my own bed under my very quiet ceiling fan. I have a busy few weeks ahead and a few projects that I need to work out in my mind. The heat isn't the only thing that kept me awake last night. I keep writing things down and trying to organize my days and my thoughts, but I fear that things are getting away from me.
The biotech company where I used to work had a GLP (Good Lab Practices) laboratory, and they had a saying: “If it isn’t documented, then it didn’t happen.” It’s a good saying, and I have adapted it slightly or my own use: “If it isn’t documented, then it won’t happen.” I’m going to make a few lists, and take a few notes (and of course, I’m going to write about making the lists and taking the notes) and then maybe I’ll feel a little more in control.
*****
It’s Tuesday and I don’t feel any more under control than I did yesterday; and strangely, I do not care. This will not last. I’ll be in my normal low-grade panic state any day now, but I’ll enjoy the feeling of being a person who doesn’t care for as long as that feeling lasts.
On my way to Philadelphia on Saturday, I passed a country homestead on U.S. Route 1, just north of Belair, Maryland. The front yard had a flagpole, and the flagpole was flying a flag, and the flag read “Trump 2020: No more bullshit.”
I don't support the pre-colon part of that sentiment, of course, but I’m all for the post-colon part. “No more bullshit” is a credo that I can get behind. Between “No more bullshit” and “If it’s not documented, then it won’t happen,” I have now not one but two solid life philosophies.
*****
So now it's Wednesday and I am multi-tasking. I had a meeting at HHS headquarters today, and I'm on the Red Line on my way back to Twinbrook. It's hot and humid and sunny, an ideal Washington DC summer morning. My meeting was short and productive and after it was over, I needed a soda to fortify me for the one-mile walk back to Union Station. Federal Center is closer but I hate changing trains. If it's not on the Red Line, then it's dead to me.
And that's another excellent life philosophy.
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| I take pictures of the Capitol whenever I walk past it. |
I stopped at a street vendor, because I wanted a soda in a can, and because a DC street vendor on a summer day is one of my favorite things. I found a diet soda in the cooler and I ordered a giant soft pretzel. The Korean vendor smiled at me. "Five hundred dollars," he said, hand outstretched.
I handed him a ten. "Can I owe you the rest?"
He nodded. "I send you a bill."
"Thank you," I said. "The check is in the mail."
"Ha ha! Good one!"
I ate the entire pretzel, making the walk to Union Station a necessity.
*****
I found these giant rock sculptures on my way back to my office from Twinbrook Metro.
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| "Hereafter" is kind of poetic. "Starsailor" is just silly. But "Field Rush" might be my favorite. |
I have no idea what they mean, but that is part of their appeal. They might be someone else's guiding signposts. For my part, I will stick with "No more bullshit," "If it's not documented, then it didn't (or won't) happen," and "If it's not on the Red Line, then it's dead to me."
Oh, and the most important of all: "The check is in the mail."
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