I'm all energetic and jittery today, which means one or more of these things is
true:
Probably all three, though I'd
rank the influence of the caffeine higher than I'd thought because I just knocked
over my Coke. This race is going to be fun; the people in my boat are
hugely excited because they haven't raced in a while and it's their first big race
independent of the moribund city program. Their enthusiasm (and willingness to do
lots of the organizing work) has made this more exciting for us old hands too.
Also, we'll get to see some of Rudder's family. Not only are my in-laws way cool,
but it's always heartening to have people cheering for you during a
race.
This morning we loaded up all the boats, which went better than
expected. We were afraid the oars wouldn't fit, but as it turned out, we were able
to stash them under the biggest boat, at She-Hulk's excellent suggestion. The
riggers and seats also fit inside better than expected.
God thing I
do have that extra energy today, because plans for the rest of the day are to
leave work a bit early, shop for lunches and trip munchies, finishing loading our
gear, and see how far we can get toward Sacramento before we poop out. (With all
this talk of leaving the house, this might be a good time to mention my catsitter
is married to a cop. If any hardened criminal types are reading this, don't rob
me. You don't want to mess with my killer cat, anyhow.)
I'm still
listening to MLK on my commute, and still keep thinking how it relates to the
situation in the Middle East. Tom Clancy, who is certainly a better strategist
than writer, has a plot somewhere in which a Palestinian leader educated in the US
persuades his people to stage a sit-in, singing "We Shall Overcome" in Arabic. I
have a suspicion that if that had been tried in real life, they might have their
sovereignty by now.