BLAH BLAH BLAH: I got to hang out in the pits and the garages at the Chicagoland Speedway, in advance of last Saturday's Tropicana 400 (NASCAR) race. I met and shook hands with my favorite driver, Jimmy Johnson, and I stood about a foot away from most of the cars that would later hurtle around the track at around 200 MPH. Then I watched the race itself from a corporate box above the start/finish line, and I won $250 in a pick-the-winner pool. (I blindly drew race winner and controversy-hound Tony Stewart.)

I spent Monday and Tuesday in the Pacific Northwest, nestled in amidst mountains and tall trees. Oh, and there's water flowing here, there, and everywhere. Very pretty.

Yesterday I flew first class back from Seattle and sat next to a young, smart United pilot. He answered a bunch of my dumb questions about flying, and he told me turbulence to a pilot is just like waves to a guy driving a boat: no big deal, just something you have to maneuver through. He made several analogies between air and water, and said driving a plane is also alot like driving a submarine. Anyway, for this nervous flyer, it was a big help to hear from a guy who lives half his life aloft.

What else? I'm glad Bush's gay-marriage amendment got smashed. I'm glad Tony Blair is off the hook in the UK, just as Bush is (or should be) here. (I'm referring to the two recent intelligence inquiries that found that the pre-war intelligence was faulty, not the leaders' judgement.) Neither one of these guys acted recklessly in sending troops to oust Hussein. That's my view and I'm sticking with it. I think the two inquiries support that view.

I listened to the Smiths "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" in the car today, and I laughed out loud. "I was looking for a job and then I found a job/And heaven knows I'm miserable now." Indeed!