Tag Archives: In the News

How I learned that Cokie Roberts lives nearby

Humor, Pets, ,

So, on Monday afternoon I got a phone call. The ID on the phone display read:

FIND TOTO

I didn’t answer, but later was curious and listened to the message. Notice that the message did not say “This is a message from your neighbor Cokie”. However, I made a note to be on the lookout for a scared looking black lab if and when I was out and about.

Katie the Missing Lab belonging to Cokie Roberts
Katie — photo courtesy http://www.lab-rescue.org/

That evening just before I left for Alexandria (to teach a class on document accessibility the next morning) I checked the news on my phone. I have a “Bethesda, Maryland” section on Google News and noticed that the Baltimore Sun had an article about Cokie Roberts and her lost dog, Katie. I was a little amused that a newspaper like the Baltimore Sun ran an article about a lost dog. Then I was kind of excited to learn that Ms Roberts lives within a few miles of me. The article (and the message) mentioned Bradley Boulevard which is very close to me as well as Walt Whitman High School (not the one from Room 222) which is where my children went  to school.

I now wonder if perhaps I have passed her in the grocery store or cut her off while driving on Wilson Lane. Truth be told, I would not recognize her. She’d have to accidentally put her groceries in my cart and then launch into a monologue about the benefits of avocados. (I know she is on some TV news program now, but I’ve never really watched it.)

By this morning the news about Katie the dog was on at least 10 media sites including the Washington Post and Huffington Post.

While I sincerely hope that Katie is quickly and safely returned to Cokie (I can call her that, she’s my neighbor and Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs is a mouthful) I do find it amusing that it has made such news around here.

UPDATE: I am sad to report that Katie was hit by a car and killed near our local middle school.

I’m lucky it’s just low water pressure

Events, ,

Turned on the shower this morning and I got a trickle of water and assumed Dean was showering or running the dishwasher. I felt sorry for myself and wondered why Dean would use water when I needed it.

Turns out he wasn’t doing anything with water. The weather was — there is a massive water main break a couple of miles from us — along a road I’ve often traveled. 18 cars are stranded, according to the news reports. My mom called this morning to say it was on national news. I can hear the helicopters — probably transporting people to and from the hospital up the street.

I think these people have it a little worse than I do.

What’s this woman’s problem?

Events, , , , ,

LA Times OP-ed Columnist Meghan Daum has an issue with an entire generation. She complains that the media attention on baby boomers is stealing the limelight from the GenXers. She goes so far as to suggest that she’ll look forward to 2050:

“And on and on it will go until, say, 2050, when, if they’re lucky, the last of the boomers will be living out their days in the Young at Heart Chorus. Something tells me they’ll bring a little something extra to ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?'”

I think Meghan is a whiny spoiled brat who needs to chill a little. Who gave her a pen anyway?