Day 1 of Inaugural blog

I have finally descended onto my home of Washington, D.C. - two days before the world shall see the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. I can't say that getting here was as smooth as I would like it to have been, but I am here. I left Los Angeles where it is at least in the comfortable '70's, and I am now dealing with temperautures with highs somewhere in the thirties. When I left Saturday to come to D.C., I was really tired. I had been out late Friday night having drinks in Old Town Pasadena, and Saturday morning I had my martial arts exam. Having had the wine I had Friday night, the martial arts exam I had Saturday, and the lingering head congestion I've been dealing with due to extreme temperature changes, my energy was sapped for journey to D.C.
I'm not the biggest fan of flying, although any fool would understand the convenience of it. If you're anything like me, you're probably not too cool on flying if, once you've arrived to your destination, you feel as if you've just cheated death as opposed to being nonchalant about having just flown. It also doesn't help my conscience to know that two days ago, a plane went water skiing on the Hudson River. Funny side note: you know how the flight attendant always goes through the safety mumbo jumbo at the beginning of a flight? On my connecting flight, as the flight attendant was going through this very procedure, it had made it to that point where it is announced, "in case of the very unlikely event where there is a water landing..." And I was thinking to myself, "unlikely event? Oh, you mean like that unlikely event that JUST happened 48 hours ago?" Screw that! I want to know if this plane comes equipped with optional water skis, and a pilot from Top Gun...flying wouldn't be half as bad, if it weren't for the strip search, slash destination interrogation, slash cattle herding at the screening process.It's just too much pressure going through the metal detector. It always feels like a Survivor challenge to see which group of people can move faster and be the first to complete the challenge - your group or the groups at the other detectors. And you have to use a different tray for everything - your shoes, your coat, your laptop, your camera bag, your hat, wallet, change, keys, belt, bluetooth, cell phone, jewelry, and medication - have documentation out and prepare for delousing and branding...because my flight was a night flight, I wound up arriving at JFK after the airport had closed. I essentially had to 'sleep' at JFK until my connecting flight was to leave in the morning when the airport re-opened. You haven't known roughing it, until you've been burdened with carrying too much stuff, traversing airport terminals in order to find sleep zones, and that 'bed' of yours winds up being some kind of concrete food bench. To top it all off, my trip reservation acutually included an airline change - not to be confused with a gate change. Yes, I went from American Airlines to United Express. This type of situation just begs for luggage displacement and delay, which is exactly what happened with my only piece of checked luggage. As I write this, I await at home for United to deliver my luggage which pretty much contains ALL my clothes. This situation has prevented me from going to an affair with my best friend tonight...there was one small nicety - my connecting flight from JFK to Dulles. A short and smooth flight aboard a much smaller plane, the Embraer, I highly recommend that type of flying as opposed to the cattle herder planes where you must contend for bathroom usage, appreciate the position of the person at the window seat, and deal with the Bebe's kids of any race. My plane must've had at most fifty or sixty seats.

Once I had arrived to Dulles and submitted my luggage claim, I was on my way home in my uncle's car. I found myself fighting to stay awake on the drive home, as I was getting de-briefed by my uncle on all the family goings-on. Looking out the car window however, I was able to take notice of some inaugural preparations in downtown D.C. A police blockoff here. A national guard set up there...D.C. looks wintry - as it should right about now. Winter in places like D.C. have a look of despair, and at about 8:30 in the morning, when no one is out on the streets, loneliness adds to it. It's sometimes hard to see beyond that look in the winter time even in the best of neighborhoods and other areas of the city...

...I am proud to be home though. I was too tired to muster energy to attend the inaugural concert at the Lincoln memorial today, and the luggage situation botched my evening plans. Without a car right now, I found myself bound to home watching the AFC and NFC championships. I shall be ready for what comes tomorrow, Tuesday, and beyond. Even through this winter wonderland, you sense the excitement and energy building up for this very big day on Tuesday. There are life size cardboard structures of President elect Obama setup at the airport that people are more than willing to use as a substitute for picture taking of the real thing. Businesses of all sorts are selling Obama souvenirs...and with pride, our community is showing up in great numbers in support of our first black President. I will be one counted amongst the millions of people who felt the need to travel from wherever, to be a part of this. Travel, which however tedious, was a small sacrifice to pay for something once in a lifetime, that I will always remember for a lifetime.