I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Stuffed nose, taste buds shot. Kids are germ merchants.

I was out working in my yard in suburban Baltimore when I hear this woman screaming "aaaaahhh. aaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaah". Before I can turn around and look, I hear the a dog barking, "ruff, ruff, ruff." More screaming. I wheel around and see the woman is a jogger and who is in fact quite close to me, and she's literally screaming at the top of her lungs. "aaaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaah." The woman runs into my neighbors driveway and jumps on to the back of their mini-van. She's standing on the bumper screaming, "aaaaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaah." I hear the dog, again. "Ruff, ruff, ruff". Across the street, I see the beast and its owner chasing after it. This monster, which I have now identified as the "standard schnauzer", has moved to the edge of its yard "ruff, ruff, ruff" "She's very friendly," the man calls out. "aaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaaah. aaaaaaaaah." I'm not sure if it was the owner picking up the great beast from across the street or if the jogger actually saw the dog that was menacing her, but she stopped screaming, hopped off the minivan and continued to jog down the street. The man, my caddy-corner neigbhor whom I've never met, with the dog now subdued in its arms, moved towards his backyard. The whole thing was absurd.

I just saw this, "Rep. Tom DeLay will announce on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election and will leave Congress within months." This makes me happy.