Rain

So, one of my personality traits that I always score high on in tests is loyalty.  Usually, I consider that pretty good.  However, when you combine that with a situation that calls for adaptation, then I get in a jam.  Take for instance, this afternoon.  I had in my mind that I would take the FSI shuttle to Rosslyn after training tonight and ride to the Clarendon station.  There are some nice restaurants, Barnes and Noble and the Whole Foods market in that area.  I ran out of peanut butter and I wanted some quick dinner foods for this weekend.  Not a bad plan to have for a Friday night.

When I left FSI and looked up, the clouds were getting thick and dark.  But I didn't really think it was going to rain.  The sky had been like that for most of the afternoon.  I get out of the subway station at Clarendon and it was sprinkling.  Now, if I had not been so wedded to my plan, I might have recognized that it needed a bit of tweaking -- say, not walking all the way down to Whole Foods and instead, just going to Barnes & Noble and browsing for a while.  Did I reevaluate and change course?  Of course not.  I'm loyal!  I strode down the street with a purpose and went into the market.  After I checked out, it was pouring.  I mean, pouring so hard that there was at least a 1/2 inch of water running down the road.  So there I am with my heavy bike messenger/every-day bag and a tote bag of groceries and no car to hop into.  I'm so lame sometimes! 

I walked the two blocks to the bookstore.  My feet and pant legs got soaked but I did have rain slicker so most of me stayed dry. I waited out the worst before moving on up the street to have dinner.  I picked up the new Daniel Silva paperback that is the latest in the series.  The review on this one is that it isn't as bloody as some of the previous.  I'll be happy with that.  For a while there, I had to skip sections because they were to graphic.  And I also got a couple of romances in case I don't feel like reading a tense story before bed.

During dinner I spread out my map of DC and read one of my guidebooks.  I think I'm going to walk around the Capitol tomorrow.  The Supreme Court isn't in session, but I hear that building is worth seeing.  If I start south of the Capitol and walk around it and north, I can end up at the National Building Museum.  I think that is a reasonable plan for the day, not too ambitious.  My feet really healed over last weekend and I'm not interested in developing another round of blisters.  If it rains, I will try to remember that reevaluating and changing course is not necessarily a character flaw.