End of an Era

The other weekend Al and I wanted to go to the Dime Museum, but it was closed and getting ready to auction off all its weird artifacts (elephant man, mummies, etc). Now everything's sold. Fortunately some of the stuff will wind up in my boss's sister's new restaurant across from the Charles Theatre, so we'll still get to see it eventually.

Baltimore passes smoking ban!

Read all about it.

Card-Carrying Non-Members

Shootin'

We went shootin' Saturday with Thuy and Wes, Mary Beth and Meghan. And Thuy's friend Stephen. First two targets I got 7/13 in the black (at 15 feet), and the next two targets were slightly less great. We were shooting Thuy's 9mm service weapon which had NO SAFETY. That's right - he likes to live on the edge. Instead it had something called a decocking lever which served more or less the same purpose. The picture here is pretty close to what it looked like. For those that haven't shot before, it was loud (we were in the NRA's underground range), and actually there were a lot more women this time than last time (Dec 05). I attributed this to the new Democratic Congress but you may have your own theories. It was a little scary walking in there and handinling the gun again for the first time, but of course pretty soon we were shooting off rounds and loading clips like it was nothing. MB unfortunately caught a shell down the front of her shirt and was waving the gun all over as she shimmied to get the thing to drop down out of her cleavage, but no one was hurt and she just has a little burn on her neck. I think everyone should shoot a gun at least once in a range - although then I wouldn't get those looks of 'OMG' when I tell people at the office what I'm doing over the weekend.

Guns and Shovels

Feeling pretty proud of myself for getting the car out of the parking spot it's been iced into since Tuesday. Peter and I were making fun of this girl in a sportscar the other day who got stuck, and generally, of people who don't know how to rock and not spin their wheels. My car was in an angled parking space pointing slightly downward - but I had a secret weapon. At some point, perhaps before I moved to Baltimore, someone gave me a military shovel, the kind that folds up and you dig foxholes with when the enemy is firing at you in a) icy tundra or b) a forest setting. I guess I thought I would use it for camping but of course I never did. Now it has finally served its purpose, slicing through sheets of ice and carving out a nice path for my front wheels to grab. It was nice using my hands, the snick and crunch of blade through snow and ice, and the satisfying crack as the blocks broke up and skittered away under the car.

Now I can use the car to go to Virginia and shoot guns at the NRA Range, and then go skating. Supa-dupa.

Ghana's Golden Jubilee

Did you know Ghana's 50th anniversary of independence is March 6? Neither did I! To celebrate, our project is creating a one page flyer about how far the country has come on malaria control since 1957, and where we still need work. I have like, 10 days to do this. Awesome.

A few more

Boy. I'm really bored.