Overactive imagination...

The FBI is warning again that terrorists may attack U.S. interests, possibly this week, and that Americans and police should be on the highest alert.

This announcement does not ease my mind, especially as I shall be on three separate aircraft tomorrow, heading ultimately for LAX, and again on Sunday, heading back home. There is a little part of me that wants to forget about flying to L.A. and just take the car. Heck, it's only 817 miles or so - I researched it - and I can drive that distance... well... not exactly in my sleep, but... you get the picture.

One of my greatest fears, though, is that once I start down the path of letting every figment of my imagination spook me into doing Something Else, it will become harder and harder to retrace my path back out to the sunlight.

I am reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode where a couple that's stopped in a small town for a minor car repair finds itself in a diner, dropping pennies into a fortune-telling machine that has a propensity for vending disturbingly accurate fortunes. The male lead (William Shatner, of all people) is drawn in by the machine and begins to subordinate his sense and reason to its pronouncements. He doesn't want to leave his new-found oracle.

His wife eventually snaps him out of it, and in the last scene, as they are leaving the diner to go get their car and leave town, they are passed by another couple - elderly - who quickly seat themselves at the same table with a look of religious awe on their faces, and bring out a handful of pennies.

Sometimes, I think there are just too many opportunities in life to keep returning to such a table. I have to fly tomorrow.

Cheers...

All is right with the world, except...

I don't really care to go into it, except to say that I'm really glad the country wasn't saddled in 1942 with the crop of journalistic cretins that we make do with today. On the negative side, we seem still to be saddled with military types who believe that any military campaign can be won "from the air."

* * *About 60 hours from now, I shall be finished with my presentation at the ATA conference. I did some additional work on the project this morning (between making a bank deposit and going back for the afternoon), and managed to fill out the part in my presentation where I discuss Internet research, which makes for a more balanced talk, except that I probably devote more time than is necessary to the issue of fonts.

On the other hand, when you deal with Russian documents, fonts (and the inability of a client to display them) are very important. In any event, I shall fill in the speaker's notes on the plane(s) tomorrow. We leave Pagosa at around 9 am for the two-hour trek to Farmington, where I cannot imagine it taking 2 hours to make it through the formalities for my flight to Albuquerque.

* * *Dinner was nice. Drew made some chicken breasts in a sauce that comprised mushrooms, mustard, and heavy cream. Wild rice was the side dish, and I broke out the Ruffino Chianti to go with the repast.

* * *My next post will likely be attempted from L.A., via NetZero. Wish me luck.

Cheers...