Fire drill, etc

I was on the phone when the alarm went off. I'm a fire marshal, so grabbed the flashlight (?), went around making sure people were out, then grabbed my coat and headed out myself. I'm still amazed at how slowly some people can walk... Then there was the fight to get people to move all the way to the end of the parking lot; it may be sunny, but it's *cold* out, and some people hadn't been able to grab coats, either (who decided today was a good day for a drill, anyway?). We still haven't heard if we were quick enough.

The commute is so much quicker by car. I'm getting better at driving stick, too. Not perfect, by any means, but definite improvement. More time not in transit, plus I listen to the news, but less time for reading, and less walking. If it were only a one bus commute, I'd tend to say public transportation would be the way to commute.

Bank One of New York: was anyone thinking when they wrote letters using the abbreviation BONY for their institution?

Oh, the horror! (Powell's newletter again)

New hardcovers on display in Powell's Couch Street windows last night could only watch in horror as an unfortunate young paperback fell from an open car door and drowned in the deep curbside current. "This time of year every book dreams of being someone's holiday gift," a stunned copy of "Why I Am a Catholic" told reporters, "but then you see a tragedy like the one we witnessed yesterday and you realize the bookstore's not such a bad place to while away the winter."