I updated my Windows this evening to all the latest stuff from Microsoft. This means new service packs, incorporating a bunch of new features. Don't know what half of them do, but I'll figure it out eventually.

Only things I've really messed with are the ones of immediate concern to me (read: annoying features). I fixed the pop-up blocker to not chime and throw a message up when it finds one. I don't need to know about the ad I just missed that badly. Just a little icon in the corner is all I need. I also fixed it where I can still play flash animations that I've got saved on my computer without an extra "OK". That was a bother before I found the switch to turn that off. I save flash animations from the Internet onto my computer when I find something interesting. I have my favorites that I watch periodically.

My comment above about "...incorporating a bunch of new features. Don't know what half of them do..." reminds me of Tim Allen's stand-up act. He says something like, "I bought a [tool]. What does it do? I don't know. Looks good on that pegboard, though." Then he goes on to say, "And where did I get it? Sears!" Tim Allen seems to like tools from Sears.

Otherwise, speaking of update packages, we finally got our big money board from the Wal-Mart gods today. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, go to your local Wal-Mart, and look at the Service Desk (or look at your MoneyCenter if you've got one of those in your store). The money board not only shows what money services we provide, but it also shows how much they cost. And it's a bit of a beast, too. That sign is BIG! About half my height both directions.

And with it being a big sign, guess who put it up? Me. Just as well. I put all the other signage up at the Service Desk. Might as well do this one, too. So I shimmied up a ladder and put that puppy up there. I also took the old sign down, which made an interesting "crunch" sound when I threw it in the trash compactor. The old sign was much smaller than the new one. I like this new one, though it took a lot of time to get it up there.

But the end result is really cute. Come visit the Service Desk in Waynesboro and see my handiwork.

I was up early, and in bed late, to say the least. What I did was cover two, count 'em, two political demonstrations on October 2, for a photo set I'm going to do for Schumin Web.

The first one was an anti-war funeral procession. Basically a rally and march, but with a more solemn funeral type atmosphere. They carried 100 cardboard coffins (designed to represent real ones, as you would expect) from Arlington National Cemetery to the Ellipse near the White House. At Arlington National Cemetery, speeches were given, and then the coffins were picked up, and the marchers marched. I photographed all over, and took movies. On the way into Washington, near the entrance to Arlington Cemetery Metro station (by the way, this is where I dropped out of the march, because I had other fish to fry that day as well), we encountered the counter-protesters, basically protesting the protesters. These are the ones who disagree with the marchers, and are voicing their dissent with the marchers' viewpoints.

So after photographing the counter-protesters, and taking movies of them, and unfortunately not being allowed by Park Police to venture in between the line of police in the street and the counter-protesters in order to get shots of some of the signage the counter-protesters carried, I headed into Arlington Cemetery station, to head over to protest target #2.

That second target was the World Bank. So I went from Arlington Cemetery around to Farragut West. That was interesting, to say the least. Usually, this area is a bustling area, and typical of Washington DC - full of people and full of traffic. But this Saturday, it was a complete ghost town. Large black metal barricades kept everyone at least a block away from the complex. The barricades actually reached all the way to the far end of Farragut Square, to the street right in front of the Farragut North Metro station. But in the park across the street from the World Bank, with barricades surrounding the park on three sides, there was the vigil group I was expecting. They had a tent set up, and were facing the World Bank. Their event was later on in the day. I was mainly at this point just checking out the situation. Still, I took pictures of the group, and also of what they had scattered around in front of them. In front of them on the ground were crosses showing the debt of various third-world countries, and large banners announcing their cause.

So after visiting them, and confirming details for their event later on, it was back to the anti-war group, to join them for their closing rally at the Ellipse.

So I took Metro to McPherson Square from Farragut West, and I was off! The upper half or so of the Ellipse was barricaded for police use (related to the World Bank meetings, perhaps?), and the anti-war group used the rest. There, the full 1,000 coffins sat, as well as what seemed like a larger group than was at Arlington Cemetery, listening to more speakers, and people were also playing music and singing songs. Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg, a US soldier beheaded in Iraq, was one of the speakers there. Mr. Berg also spoke on June 5 at that day's ANSWER rally (see the June 2004 journal archives for more on that event).

So I photographed there, and headed out. Back to the Metro. Based on where I had to enter and exit the Ellipse, I decided not to return to Metro via McPherson Square. Walking to the World Bank from the Ellipse was also out of the question, since who knew how much area south of the World Bank was barricaded, and how far west it reached, and thus how far I'd have to walk to get around it. So I went east, with a family from the anti-war march that was heading back to Vienna. The four of us (me, and the three people in that family) walked several blocks and then up one to Federal Triangle on Blue/Orange.

From there, back to Farragut West.

Now, the closing rally for the two-day vigil that was being held was preparing to begin. I got photos and videos of speakers, singing, and chanting. The chant the group did was the best, considering the wet weather, which, for the most part, cooperated, with it only raining a little bit just before the closing rally (and even that was light). The chant was, "We're here! We're wet! So cancel the debt!" Those people were a lot of fun. I stayed with that group for about an hour of the two hours that the rally lasted. So good stuff.

And all of this protest stuff will eventually make its way into a Photography set. When, I'm not sure.

From there, I was done for the day. I went to the Starbucks next to Farragut North Metro, and then did some of my usual DC stuff. Took Farragut North to Gallery Place-Chinatown, then took Green from Gallery Place to L'Enfant Plaza. At L'Enfant, I switched to Yellow, and headed to Pentagon City.

At the mall, I did my usual mall stuff, getting something to drink, and grabbing a newspaper, usually either the Washington Post or Washington Times. Depends on my mood.

So I did that, and then headed down to Huntington. For one, I wanted to catch a rehab, and secondly, I wanted to visit the Exeloo, which I still think is neat. So for the Pentagon City to Huntington run, guess what kind of train I got. A CAF. Not a rehab. So I went to Huntington, visited the Exeloo, and actually deliberately hung around a little bit to wait for that CAF to leave for Mt. Vernon Square. Next train? Rehab! Yaaaaaaaaaay.

So I took the rehab to King Street, then got a Blue Line CAF with a working interior LED. We found out two things at that time. First of all, this:



Yes, the interior display shows, for National Airport station, "REAGAN NATIONAL APT". It didn't surprise me, but it was presumably a recent change, since last time I rode a CAF or a rehab through National Airport with a working display, it said "NATIONAL AIRPORT".

The second thing we learned is that CAF trains get just as confused as rehabs about skipping Arlington Cemetery after it closes before the rest of the system. The train operator announced "Rosslyn", and the display showed "ARLINGTON CEMETERY". It then changed to the arrows, as usual. We then blew through the station without stopping, as planned. The display held to its arrows. When we cleared the station, it defaulted to "BLUE", and then got back in sync after Rosslyn, where I got off to transfer to Orange.

At Rosslyn, after I'd taken a little break, a woman and her daughter looked a little confused about where they were going. They wanted to go towards Vienna. I helped them out and told them that Vienna is where I was going, and that I'd help them find their train. We then also talked about the Metro, since I'd just taken a picture of the "ADDISON ROAD" sign on another Blue train. Look:



As you may know, you see, Addison Road is an endangered species on the side of Metro trains, as the Blue Line extension opens in December, at which time Addison Road will be replaced by Largo Town Center as the terminal.

I showed them the photo, and they were impressed. Presumably I made quite an impression with them, both with my personality and knowledge of Metro, since the mother wanted to take her daughter's picture with me. We took one with their camera, and one with Big Mavica. Here we are at Rosslyn, lower level:



I never got their names, but I did give them my Web site URL, and found out that they were from Indiana. They were a lot of fun.

Most amusing is what the girl I was photographed with did. After we stood next to each other, I did the arm-on-the-shoulder thing, as you see me doing. She put her hand right on my butt. I said, in a way that showed I was amused about it, "What are you doing touching my butt?" She and her mother both were amused by it. Still, there we are.

After I got to Vienna (they got off at West Falls Church), I headed on home.

A few observations about the day...

First off, it must have been Rohr day. Of the twelve trains I rode Saturday, six of them were Rohrs. Normally the lion's share of the trains I get are original-style Bredas.

Secondly, every time I have a successful protest day in Washington, I have a mishap on the way to Vienna. On April 12, 2003 (A Protest Against the War), I got pulled over for speeding at the Prince William County line. On June 5 of this year (ANSWER march covered in the journal), I hit an unexpected pooling of water on the exit ramp to the Vienna station's south access road (Saintsbury Drive). That caused me considerable concern driving into the North Garage, as the car was straining at 25 mph with the bottom of the car quite waterlogged. Now mind you, it was less than a mile from the puddle to the garage, but still, I was concerned, because I still had to drive home. I parked on the covered parking level 3 at the station (vs. my usual open-air level 4) to give the car a chance to dry out. It was fine when it was time to go home.

This time, instead of the mishap being car-related, it happened to me. Leaving home, I felt just fine. At Sheetz in Mt. Jackson, where I got my usual road breakfast, I was also fine. At the Wal-Mart in Manassas, where I usually grab a soda and pay with debit for cash back, I felt fine. After the Wal-Mart, stopping at a rest area, I all of a sudden got nauseous, and then threw up. I did a great job, too, leaning way over so as not to get any puke on me, and doing it on the grass. Still, though, yecch. I did find out, though, that right before the event, that your salivary glands shoot a massive amount of spit into your mouth.

As I said, gross. But as I said, I felt good just before the incident, and felt good after the incident, and it did not affect the rest of the day.

Still, I'm paying for Saturday, as I'm sore all over from all the running around I did. When I'm chasing protests, it's a different kind of activity than when I'm railfanning, and so I'm not as used to it. But my next trip to DC, October 17 (a Sunday!) will be another protest, and so we'll see how that goes.

Finally I found out what ß means! It's only found in German, a language which I have not studied seriously. I studied Spanish and Latin in high school, and in college had no formal foreign language study (the benefit of a Bachelor of Science degree), but I did become quite proficient in Foul while at JMU.

Of course, "Foul" only consists of about seven words, and you're not allowed to say it on the air.

But anyway, ß. For years, I referred to it as "that funky-looking B that they have in German". And that got me some very confused looks from just about everyone. But think about it. ß does look like a B. See? ß. B. So my description is understandable.

Turns out, though, that ß is not related to B at all. It's actually related to S. And like most language elements, it has a very long history, and a big description of how it's used in the German language.

Still, at least now I know what ß really means, and how it's only a lowercase letter. It has no uppercase equivalent.

I am very pleased with myself for finding out about ß, a letter which has puzzled me for years.

I may not know how I managed that, but I'm not complaining! It makes working seven days in a row somewhat less painful. Of course, this is being said on a Friday - only day #5. We'll see what I'm saying come Sunday night, at the end of day #7. Right now I'm like, "Oh, yes, this is just wonderful!" By the end of the seventh day, I could be like, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" We'll see.

Meanwhile, I watched most of the second debate this evening after work. All in all, I think John Kerry did the better job of the two, and George Bush looked like he was about to explode a few times there. One time he nearly did, jumping right in after Kerry was finished, and cutting off the moderator (Charles Gibson). We'll see what the news says about it tomorrow morning.

Also, I'm looking at my journal from a year ago, and it's interesting. This Saturday, October 9, will be the one-year anniversary of my "What part of 'crosswalk' do you not understand?" pass through JMU's campus. That was a very unpleasant trip, and it was because college students don't know how to watch where they're going when they cross the street. I look back at it, and I'm amused by how quick I was to break out the obscenities. But at least I found parking.

Here's what's downright scary to me as a Webmaster. My Transit Center project.


(crickets chirping)


Why is that so scary? It's not the expansion that I'm working on right now, that I'm about a day or so away from finishing. That's easy. Right now I'm working on putting descriptions to pictures of Metro trains and stations.

The scary part is what I'm doing to the Transit Center after that. While the recently-expanded site is out doing what it's supposed to, I'm going to be working behind the scenes to completely rebuild the site organizationally, since expansion of the site beyond its original bounds (adding several new transit systems) has proven to be a pain. Let's just say that the site is a mess under the surface.

The funny thing is that for the user, the site works great. Everything works, and it navigates fairly well. In fact, I only have one navigational feature that I want to add, and it's fairly minor.

What I'm actually working on is brekaing up the big database into more workable sections, and within those big sections, making everything work together. Right now, due to poor design, there are a LOT of redundant features - features that can be consolidated and done only once instead of several times over. I also want to shorten internal URLs, because after the main page URL, the page addresses are just over-long. This, for instance, is the URL for Metro Center:

http://transit.schuminweb.com/rail/washington/stations/red/metro-center.asp

If you ask me, that's one long URL. Now it all logically makes sense. To find Metro Center, we have to go to The Schumin Web Transit Center. In there, we're looking for rail systems. From there, we're searching for rail systems in Washington DC. In Washington DC, we're looking for Metro stations. We're looking for Metro stations on the Red Line. Then on the Red Line we're looking for Metro Center. Make sense?

We're trying to compress that and still make the logic fit.

And most importantly? Keep the user's experience the same! The look and feel on the surface is good. It's what's under the hood that is getting fixed. I can't think of a great way to explain it, except that while I'm working on it and then after I'm done, you shouldn't see a difference in the site. That's my goal.

Let me tell you, though. This whole thing with the Transit Center is an a learning experience about my organizing skills. It seems I'm better at improving existing organization than I am at creating new organization from scratch. Look at the organization I did for the Transit Center. A disaster. Now, even though it's my organization, I'm fixing it. Now I can really shine...

I'm looking for the font that JMU uses for their athletic logo and that JEM Transport uses. I'm looking for it as a Windows font. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

That's the Duke Dog, and the "JMU" letters are what I'm looking for. Also go to JEM Transport of Harrisonburg's Web site, and it's the same basic font.

I've also seen the same font over the Guest Services desk at the Ocean Holiday in Virginia Beach. Unfortunately, I never got a picture of that.

I just hope I can find that font somewhere as a Windows font. Would be very nice to have.

I went to Charlottesville this afternoon! Fun times. I ran into a few people that I knew this time.

First of all, I went to Sbarro at the mall for dinner, and guess who I ran into at Sbarro? Sarah Jones! You may recall that Sarah lived in Potomac Hall for two of my three years there, and was a good buddy of mine. So she, her brother who I met for the first time today, and I all had dinner at Sbarro. That was fun. Especially since I hadn't seen Sarah since we left Potomac. And Sarah's expecting! She's going to be a mother before you know it - the proud mother of a little girl.

And while I was visiting with Sarah, a coworker from Wal-Mart heard me and stopped by to say hello. After Sarah and her brother headed off to do some serious shopping, my coworker, his girlfriend, and I took a few minutes to chat it up, mostly about work.

Then later, someone recognized me from Schumin Web, which I thought was neat.

So that made for a nice day. This is starting to get like Rogers. I say that when I see a whole bunch of people I know while I'm out. By the time we left Rogers (Arkansas), we would always see at least one person we knew any time we'd go out somewhere. It was odd not to see someone we knew when we went out.

So that was fun. And tomorrow, work at 7 AM. I'm just glad to have a day off here and there.

In the third debate, which just ended at the time of this writing, George Bush used a word that I didn't know the meaning of when he was talking about the availability of flu shots. I don't know what "priortize" means. That's pronounced PRY-er-tyze. That's what Bush said.

I know a word that's similar to priortize. It's "prioritize". I know what that means, and it's pronounced pry-OR-ih-tyze.

Now I don't get flu shots as a rule. So I am personally not all that concerned about the availability of flu shots, as I had no intention of getting one in the first place. But I'm just amazed that after almost four years as president and having been made fun of time and time again for mispronunciations, that he totally mispronounced "prioritize" on live national TV in the last debate.

Otherwise, though, it was a good debate. And I'm still voting for John Kerry. And I think Kerry did a better job than Bush in the third debate, like he did in the other two.

So now we have some last-minute campaigning, and then on November 2... we vote!

Yes, my sister's home this weekend. And she brought Chris, her boyfriend, with her. And she and Chris are going to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg tomorrow for Howl-O-Scream, which is some event over there.

Me, I have no interest in theme parks. I get the same feeling of excitement railfanning the Green Line in Washington. So I have no need for rollercoasters. And I also have no need for the crowds of people and roadshow prices.

But anyway, Sis is back for the weekend. Fun. Though our paths have probably crossed for the only time this weekend. She and Chris are going to be in Williamsburg on Saturday, and I will be in Washington on Sunday. As such, when they leave for and come home from Busch Gardens, I will be sound asleep in my bed. While they're at Busch Gardens, I'll be at home. Then while I'm getting ready for Washington, they'll be sound asleep. And then while I'm in Washington, the two of them will be going back to Blacksburg.

And I kind of don't blame Sis and Chris for not staying around Stuarts Draft. When I was at JMU and would come home, it would be like, "Hi, Mom, hi, Dad, hi, Sis, let's unblock my car, because I'm going out!" In fact, it would often be the case that I was staying overnight at the house, leaving early, stopping back at Potomac to grab my camera and accessories (and confuse the heck out of my residents who thought I was gone), and then off to Washington! Then stop back at Potomac on the way home from DC, drop off camera and such, set the Mavica to recharge, and then go home. An alternative scenario was to go home, say hello, grab the car, return to Potomac, spend Friday night my usual way, then on Saturday morning, leave Potomac at the crack of dawn (or even better, before dawn), and head to DC. Then return to Potomac from DC, sleep, and then return the car on Sunday afternoon. My parents can tell you that for those Sunday drop-the-car visits, I usually looked like hell. Sweatpants, old shirt, unshaven, hair kind of whatever. But I had plenty of Washington DC to show them afterwards, usually through the Web site, and had stories to tell.

By the way, let me remind you that Harrisonburg and Stuarts Draft are only about 30-40 minutes apart, so it's not like it's a long drive or anything. And it's not like the parents didn't visit me since it was so close. So everything was cool.

Otherwise, it's a bit cold out this evening! According to Weatherbug, it's 45 outside. Actually, it's 45 at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD) in Weyers Cave. Close enough. It sure felt cold, and since it was windy, even colder.

Note to self: Bring jacket to work.

And one more thing... Sheetz has come to Fishersville! Right off I-64, at Exit 91, Sheetz has arrived. It opened Thursday night, and so I visited it in its second day. It's only five miles away from the existing Sheetz in Staunton, but this one is worlds different. It's a lot bigger, for one, as the consensus is that Staunton was built too small. It has MTO items that Staunton wasn't fitted for like Fryz (Sheetz's spelling of "fries"), since Sheetz didn't offer french fries when the Staunton Sheetz was built. It also has "Sheetz Bros. Coffee", which is basically MTO for coffee. Kind of like gourmet coffee, plus smoothies and such. I had a peach smoothie, and I think I just found a new beverage to swear by. It's good. Trust me. This Sheetz also has a full-fledged dining area, which I thought was going away after Sheetz, in remodeling its locations in Harrisonburg (Main Street) and Haymarket, removed the original dining areas, and replaced them with bar-style seating along a new beer cave and a couple of tables, in what seemed like an afterthought. This is the real deal now. Handy! And they also have it where you can order MTO food and Sheetz Bros. Coffee at the pumps, with a touch-screen interface. All I have to say is wow…

Well, so far in my going about fishing for opinions for my test area for the site redesign (a bit incomplete), it's been positive so far, and a change has been made to the header based on feedback. I love getting feedback.

What's interesting, though, is the difference the little things make. Compare:



The left image is the "before", with the ad banner at the top in leaderboard style. My logo was a bit crowded around the top. The logo on the left image is the same size as on the existing site (blue-cream fade). On the right image, we fixed it. The banner is back to its old, smaller size, and my logo is a bit bigger. Much more prominent.

I describe it like a bit of a reality check. The first one looks like I've sold out to corporate interests with the leaderboard overpowering my own logo. Then the other one is where the reality fairy comes by and waves its magic wand and normalizes everything with a touch of "get real". And I like look #2. But we'll see what else changes before it's all said and done.

Meanwhile, I'm finally doing away with the scroll-box navigation for a more traditional side menu. Though it will be a little racier than before. Now it's left-aligned! It's a little different than before, and it ought to be fun. And somehow, I'm going to drive it all from a database again.

And then that white box will be a smaller version of the header banners that tell you what section you're in. And notice that "College Life" and "Web Cam" are missing, as one is now a full-blown subsidiary site, and the other was discontinued.

I'm also keeping meticulous notes on everything, so that if somehow in the course of designing it, I manage to damage my prototype beyond repair (we don't have the premade templates at this stage), I have all the specifications written down somewhere to redo it all.

So anyway, I'm fishing for compliments, as the saying goes, but also fishing for constructive criticism, since this is a test area, and while some stuff is incomplete, it's complete enough to get a realistic idea of what is going on.

Yeah, fan-bloody-tastic. It's early. Just the right time to bust a move to Washington DC, too.

As soon as I finish this journal entry, I'm hopping into the shower to make myself all fresh as a daisy. Then I'm getting dressed, getting gathered up, and then... I'm going out!

It kind of reminds me of what Jeff Hyslop sang in Today's Special's episode "Live on Stage" about going out. It went like this:

My home is in the store,
I like it here... I'm happy.
My world's on every floor,
My friends are near... I'm happy.
But out there a world lies waiting,
Out where I cannot be,
Just once I'd like the freedom,
To see what I can see!
If everyone can go there,
Is it wrong to ask why not me?
Just once, just once,
Is it wrong to ask... why not me?
WHY NOT ME?

Why don't I take the chance...
No more debating!
Outside that big front door...
The world is waiting!
Get ready, 'cause tonight... tonight!
I'm going out!

The theater will be my destination!
What will I need to take for this occasion?
Get ready, cause tonight... tonight!
I'm going out!

A new umbrella in case it rains...
Like Cinderella, my turn to dress up!
A coat made of leather,
Boots for snowy weather,
My turn to dress up!

I wonder if I'll need...
A woolly sweater?
I guess we're all agreed...
That two are better?
My star will shine tonight...
ALL RIGHT!
I'm going out!

I've gotta go now, off to the show now,
Take these below now, you bet!
It's time to follow, follow my rainbow,
'Cause I haven't (can't understand it) yet!

A perfect way to reach... my destination!
Please, magic hat, don't stop... the celebration!
I'm as ready as can be... tonight,
Ha-ha, TONIGHT!
I'm going out!

And the world will hear me shout...
WHY NOT ME?

I just love that song, and it's fitting. I may not really need to go out, but I want very badly to go out, even though others might say that I shouldn't go out.

And this is for a big protest that I'm going to this time. And as we all know, I'm cursed when it comes to protests, as I've been to three big protests, and had three mishaps. A speeding ticket once, soaking the undercarriage another time, and most recently, getting sick at a rest area and launching it on the grass.

It's also funny... Sunday is one day I usually never go to Washington. I think I've only been to Washington on a Sunday once before, and that was last October 26, when I railfanned the Red Line for the first time, from end to end. That and Monday. It's rare to find me in Washington on a Monday. Usually the days I go are Wednesdays and Saturdays. I had a streak from June to August where I actually was in DC every other Wednesday, like clockwork. That was broken at the end of August when I took a third trip during August on a Saturday. That also reminded me of why I like railfanning during the week instead of the weekends - more trains!

So anyway, time to hop into the shower. I'll have to let you know how things go when I get back...

All I have to say was that I had fun at the Million Worker March, an event to bring the plight of workers into the spotlight. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I'd been planning on attending the Million Worker March in Washington DC for some time - since about July or August, I want to say. Now I research these events way ahead of time to find out what is planned in and around these events and keep a tab in any new developments. Then I set my agenda based on that as the date gets closer. In this case, I found out a few things ahead of time. Number one was that there would be no actual official march like on June 5 or previous events that I'd been to. I also learned that there would be an anarchist feeder march meeting up at 16th and Eye Streets, a block away from McPherson Square station, in front of the AFL-CIO headquarters (an organization that did not sponsor the Million Worker March). I also learned that it would also be embraced by anti-war groups. As you know, I am very much anti-war. So anti-war lent a familiar touch to an otherwise new topic to me.

So my plan was to basically join up with the anarchists for the day. I'd start out with the anarchist feeder march and join the main rally that way. Then in the main rally, stay with them. Basically, the idea was to follow my June 5 strategy, where I joined a small Black Bloc for the duration of the event. The people in that group were my soul mates for the day, and it worked out really well.

This time, it was mostly successful once again. I also made sure not to repeat the biggest mistake I made during the June 5 march. That was in packing Big Mavica, my real digital camera, in my backpack, and instead using my cell phone as the main camera. My rationale for packing Big Mavica was that it would be too much for actually participating in a march, vs. staying on the sidelines like I did on April 13, 2003 (A Protest Against the War). So for the Million Worker March, I kept a supply of CDs on a spindle in my pocket, and kept Big Mavica loaded and around my neck, where it belongs. The phone was packed in the backpack, and considering how much hunting I did in my bag to find it again later, I packed it pretty deep in there.

Now let me tell you this up front. I am not an anarchist. I consider myself a left-wing moderate and a major pacifist. However, when it comes to marches, I go with the anarchists. It just seems to be a good match for me. Everyone's on equal footing there, based on the theoretical underpinnings of anarchism. And they're a very welcoming bunch. So I went with them. And I really enjoy their company.

At the meet-up site for the feeder march, people were making noise through drums, both real and makeshift. The makeshift drums were primarily large buckets that had rope or string tied around them to make them suitable for beating with some kind of drum-stick (also usually makeshift).

I also encountered the Radical Cheerleaders for the first time in person. Radical cheerleading is cheerleading with a radical political twist. Plus the participants' outfits are designed to be loud, and look a bit rough by design. I will tell you this, they definitely make an impression on you, which means that their mission is quite successful. Check 'em out:



All in all, they were a very spirited group. The group seen here is the Resistin' Radicatz. Another good Web site about radical cheerleading with a bunch of cheers is one appropriately called Radical Cheerleaders.

Many people there, including myself, were dressed in all black, and ready to use the black bloc tactic if the situation arose. Lots of black and red-and-black flags waving in the air, carried by protesters. According to the Washington Post, there were about 100 people in attendance at the feeder march.

Now the feeder march that the anarchist contingent participated in was unpermitted, as in no permit was obtained to have the march. That made it quite interesting. You have a good-sized large group of people (eyeballing it, I'd say probably around 100 people), marching in the streets. Metropolitan Police knew that a feeder march would be occurring, but not exactly where it was going, so they couldn't prepare ahead like for marches where a marching permit has been obtained. It was fitting, too, as we marched right into traffic on our way to the Lincoln Memorial, where the main rally was being held. Cars were literally stopped in their tracks, as a bunch of black-clad protesters passed by them. Some drivers expressed support for the movement, while others were upset (and rightly so) over a group deliberately blocking traffic. As with any political protest event, there were people distributing literature, and I definitely got my fair share of literature passed to me, which I saved. People were also passing out literature to the drivers of the cars we'd blocked, which I thought was neat. Police attempts to shift the marchers from the street to the sidewalk failed, both by vehicular movements where cars and bikes tried to corral the marchers to where they wanted them, and by direct announcements where they said, "If you do not have a march permit, you must be on the sidewalk." So to ensure the safety of both the marchers (i.e. us) and drivers, police blocked off streets so that we could safely pass through, all the while with people in the group yelling the always-popular "WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!" chant, along with a number of others.

The route took us to the Lincoln Memorial, by way of the World Bank, George Washington University, Constitution Avenue, and the Vietnam Memorial. People in the march were pointing out the location of the World Bank, which, two weeks ago, became the target of protesters once again over third world debt cancellation during their meetings. I've got a photo set tentatively entitled "Day of Activism" that covers the events at the World Bank, as well as an anti-war march from the same day. But that's besides the point here. We passed by George Washington University really only out of necessity - the campus is right next to the World Bank. Then we hit Constitution Avenue, meeting it at 17th Street. We crossed behind the Vietnam Memorial from a distance (the wall itself was not visible to us because of our location), and then there we were.

From there, the group kind of split off. I first went up to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with part of the march group, where I sat down for a bit to listen to the speeches, and talk with some of the other people in the group. I also saw some familiar faces, interestingly enough. Remember this girl, who I quickly interviewed with on-the-fly questions in April 2003? She was there. I recognized her voice, and we talked. I gave her my Web site URL and encouraged her to visit my site to see the interview clip.

After that, I headed down and kind of wandered a bit. This is the only time where I really felt "lost", as I'd temporarily become separated from the group I was with previously. During that time, I kind of did photo set photography like I was accustomed to doing, while looking for the group again. A few highlights from this time:


These two were part of a group of creatively attired and made-up people. Some played instruments, and others didn't. All in all, though, pretty neat.


The Lincoln Memorial was hopping, as you can see. While not a million workers by any means (10,000 was the number I'd heard), it was still a good amount there, but nothing like the stock photo the organizers used showing the National Mall full up to the capitol.


This lady was traveling, and was having her photograph taken at various places with her paper cutout, whom I don't recall the name of. It reminded me of The Great Metro Adventure, where the people rode the Metro to all 83 stations and photographed their robot "Galactron" at all the stations. But that's besides the point.


The restroom situation was adequate. They had ample port-a-potty space, in two clusters. The Lincoln Memorial also had its own facilities, which I'd used three years ago while shooting photos for The Schumin Web Salutes America.

I actually encountered what ended up evolving into my core group for this protest at the port-a-potties. The person who I struck up conversation with was a girl wearing a black-and-white horizontal striped shirt, wearing glasses, and went by the name "Teapot". Wonderful person. Anyway, it was at this time that her group and I got to discussing stuff. Turns out that they were from Chicago, and had been arrested at the Republican National Convention in New York City earlier this year, and actually were detained at Pier 57. More on its use during the RNC here. Normally it is used as a bus garage. Interesting stories nonetheless. And I was never alone for the rest of the march.

After this, we walk over to where the rest of Teapot's group is. Now, a word of warning for you: This is where it gets a little bizarre for a while.. Teapot gets a call from someone else that she knows, reporting that someone was dressed up in a hot dog suit. And we're told that they were at the corner of 17th and Constitution. So we walked the six or so blocks (we were roughly at 23rd and Constitution) to the alleged spot of the hot dog, asking some people coming away from that location, "Have you seen someone dressed as a hot dog?" This is how we found out about the hot dog's friends, someone dressed as the Hamburglar (yes, the one of McDonald's fame), and a chicken. At 17th and Constitution, we found no one dressed as a hot dog. Drat. Teapot calls her friend back. We end up RUNNING down the sidewalk back to the Lincoln Memorial near the reflecting pool, where we could get a good look over the whole general area for the hot dog guy. No hot dog guy. So we headed back to where we were, in the shade north of the Lincoln Memorial, wondering if such costumed characters actually did exist, or whether or not it was a collection of rumors mashed up together to create an alleged man in a hot dog suit.

I posted a comment on DC Indymedia regarding the hot dog, under the Demonstrators Gather at Lincoln Memorial article. Turns out we weren't imagining it, based on a reply to my inquiry, but their appearance was short lived.

So we returned to the spot under the shade of the trees. A few of us "masked up" (i.e. pulled up our bandannas) because of people taking pictures in the vicinity. I'm sure I looked like hell, and was still charged up from that sprint back down to the Lincoln Memorial to find the mysterious hot dog suit guy. Besides, I didn't particularly want to be seen on the news.

This is when I truly found my core group for this protest. Interestingly enough, it started out as a photo opportunity with Big Mavica. I was masked up, and doing some photos nearby. I asked a girl whom I remembered from the feeder march if I could take her picture. She first asked if she could see my face. So I pulled the bandanna down. Then she said that she would pull hers up for the photo. Fine by me. So this is what we got:



Excellent photo. I loved the "INDEPENDENT" sweatshirt, which is what caught my attention in the first place. We got to talking, and it turns out that her name was Jess, and she is from Washington DC. We ended up masking up due to people filming, and talked about DC, what we did in the world outside of the protest, and kind of got to know each other. We also mentioned that we both enjoy going to political rallies, marches, and such. We also talked about Metro, and how I want to move to Washington.

Then we were asked by a gentleman if we would be willing to participate in a breakaway march to a hotel whose workers were having a labor dispute and would possibly go on strike soon. We said sure, after finding out where the meet-up location would be. Then Jess, another guy from the group whose name I can't recall, and myself got up and walked around for a while. We went around the Vietnam Memorial's north side (behind it), in order to find a street vendor selling food and drink. We ended up finding a vendor selling sandwiches, which we bought. Jess and the guy shared a tofu-and-cheese sandwich, and I had just cheese. The cheese, I learned, was muenster cheese. Good stuff. Though it was hard going down since my mouth was bone dry. After that, we went around to the Lincoln Memorial, up the stairs behind the stage, near where I was sitting early on. We went down the same side we came up on, and went back to the meet-up location, as the rally was starting to wind down.

We found the group that would march on the hotel, which at that point was described as a hotel in Northwest DC right near the White House, whose workers might soon go on strike. So Jess, the other guy, and I all masked up, and off we went! Before leaving, though, Jess managed to score a "donations" bucket, attached some twine to it, and broke a wooden protest sign stick into drumsticks of appropriate length. So thus we had a makeshift drum.

I believe this march, consisting of "a few hundred" people according to an article in the Washington Post, was unpermitted as well, but police nonetheless cleared the way as we marched east on Constitution Avenue, past the Ellipse, to our still-unknown destination. Lots of masked up Black Bloc there, and lots of black and red-and-black flags flying. So this group marched down Constitution Avenue, with various things being chanted such as the perennial favorite of "WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!" and "The workers, united, will never be defeated!" and others.

As we turned up 15th Street, to reach the Hotel Washington, our destination, the chant changed to "WHY ARE WE HERE? TO SUPPORT THE HOTEL WORKERS!" and then as we arrived, it changed to "WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE FOR THE HOTEL WORKERS!" And here we are at the hotel:



At the hotel, a few short speeches were given, and there was lots of activity, as people were playing their makeshift drums, and dancing in the street. Most encouraging were three hotel workers standing in a third-story window, leaning out of it, supporting our march. Check it out:



The hotel knew we were coming, and prepared accordingly. They had guards at the door, and the doors had caution tape across them in a number of places. We had no intention of going in. Still, they prepared.

And after a strong show of solidarity, we were done! The marchers were slow to disperse, as it had been a long day for all. Trust me. So what do you do for a moment? Crash, of course, as Jess demonstrates for us:



So that was it. Jess and the other guy were headed for the Infoshop, an all-volunteer-run radical bookstore, where a benefit concert would be held, which is at the corner of 9th and P Streets. We were at 15th and H, and so we had some serious walking ahead of us. But first, a little refreshment. I said, "Where should we go to get a drink?" and the other guy said, "Support small business," as we headed to a street vendor near the hotel. We all bought Gatorade. I'm sure we must have been quite a sight, coming up to the vendor and buying our drinks while we were still wearing our masks. After walking a little ways away, making sure we were basically clear of filming, we unmasked for good, and enjoyed our drinks. Let me tell you, that hit the spot. I also put my glasses back on, which I had placed in a rigid case way deep in my backpack for the protest as a precaution. I can see well enough to get by without them if I need to, and with an element of uncertainty at protests, where things can quickly turn ugly, I packed them.

Our walk from the Hotel Washington to the Infoshop took us quite a ways. In downtown, we walked east on G Street just south of McPherson Square Metro, past Metro Center's G Street entrances, and then turned north on 9th Street at the 9th and G Street entrance to Gallery Place-Chinatown station. It was a part of Washington DC that I'd never seen before, and it was really neat. The three of us also took the time to talk about what we do outside of protests, and shared stories about work. We really got to know each other during that walk. We also found out that I was the oldest in the group by about four years. And we commented that it was interesting that it was called the "Million Worker March", yet the only ones who actually marched were the anarchists. Still walking up 9th Street, we passed the Washington Convention Center, and finally reached the Infoshop, in the basement of the Arthur Flemming Center. There, Jess and the other guy and I parted company after we all checked out some of what the Infoshop had for sale. We had our goodbyes, and Jess and I shared a big hug before I headed out. Jess and I exchanged contact information, including the address to Schumin Web (of course!) and so who knows? Maybe we'll march together again one day!

From there, I got directions to the nearest Metro station, which ended up being Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street-Convention Center. But before hitting the Metro, I dipped into a Giant Foods store to change clothes a bit. The clothes I wore to the protest were really sweaty and a little dirty, and so I changed into the second shirt that I'd brought. At Mt. Vernon Square, I ran into some of the radical cheerleaders, still dressed for protest. One of the radical cheerleaders needed help finding her bus outside Gallery Place-Chinatown to head home, since I was transferring at Chinatown anyway. I pointed her in the right direction, wished her good luck, and we parted ways.

From there, I went to a CVS to buy a soda, enjoyed it, and then descended into the world of Metrorail once again. And that was the end of the Million Worker March! I'll write about my other experiences on this trip that were unrelated to the march separately.

Well! I told you about the Million Worker March that was held on Sunday, and all of my crazy adventures there. Now here's what happened during the rest of that day, which was also somewhat interesting.

First of all, on my way up to DC on October 2, remember how the Vomit Fairy came to touch me with her star-ended wand? Well, when I got to that rest area again, I stopped to see whether my mess had killed the grass underneath it or not. Turned out that they had never cleaned the mess up, and it was still there. I nearly had a relapse right then and there. I will be checking there again next time I go to Washington on November 4. If it's still there, I will be making a little fuss about it. Because then it will have been a month.

At Vienna, I ended up catching a train that, to say the least was interesting. The lead set was a Breda rehab consist, 3008 and 3009. I rode 3009, the lead car. The next two cars were regular Bredas, and the last two cars were CAFs. Talk about your odd consists. Rehab-Breda-CAF. Just as weird as the Rohr-CAF-Breda consist that I saw back in August at L'Enfant Plaza. One thing about this consist at Vienna, though, was the amount of wheel noise that was heard. From my vantage point at the head end of Breda 3009, I'd never heard so much wheel noise before. That was a surprise for me.

So my day's going like a normal DC trip thus far. So I stopped at Rosslyn for a pit stop and newspaper break. Interestingly enough, Rosslyn Center's regular restrooms were closed for "emergency repairs" (good, they need some repairs to fix some non-working equipment). As such, they had a second set of restrooms open on the other end of the same floor, just off a small service corridor, across from the bank. And then I went outside on the Rosslyn Center second-floor balcony to read the Express (compressed version of the Washington Post). I'm going to be sad when it gets too cold to do that outside, since it's neat since planes to National Airport fly directly overhead. Kind of neat.

At Rosslyn, getting back on the train to head to the feeder march, I caught a Blue Line train to McPherson Square. And a familiar voice was at the controls! It was the same lady who I had when I rode my first rehab consist back in January. I had given this particular operator my Transit Center URL when I rode her train in July in order to show my Breda rehab photos from January. When I got to McPherson Square, I said hello, and what did she think. She thought it was great, and that you could tell I was a real enthusiast and that I should consider working for Metro with my knowledge of the system. A good idea, indeed!

So after exiting McPherson Square, I was with the Million Worker March until like 6 PM or so. Which I've already told you about.

So after being with the march, and then walking to the Infoshop with Jess and crew, and then showing the girl at Mt. Vernon Square to her bus in Chinatown, I was kind of like, okay, what now? With it being a Sunday night, Pentagon City Mall would be closed, which is where I usually go to relax at the end of the day. So after having a Mountain Dew "Pitch Black" at Chinatown (it's actually a dark purple color and has an unusual taste - not a bad taste, but unusual), I took the Red Line to Metro Center and transferred to the Blue Line to go to Rosslyn.

Rosslyn for some reason is a good place for me to think out the battle plan for my visits to Washington. So I figured out what I was going to do with the rest of the evening. I ended up deciding to give the Exeloo at Huntington a visit. And to my surprise, that filled up a good three hours!

It took so long because Metro was single-tracking on the Blue and Yellow Lines between Pentagon City and Braddock Road. So from Rosslyn, I caught a Breda rehab, and we blew through Arlington Cemetery without servicing it, since the station was already closed for the night. However, that was interesting. Presumably, this rehab had some glitches, since we did stop at Arlington Cemetery. The doors never opened, but we did creep in, and stop at the platform. Sat for a few moments. Then we continued to Pentagon. At Pentagon, they also had a problem. Usually once we stop at the station, the doors open. Here, we were positioned incorrectly on the platform, and so we had to get positioned correctly. Then the doors took ages to open. I transferred to Yellow Line here. The Yellow came, and we were now fully involved in the single-tracking. We sat at Pentagon, then again in the tunnel just north of Pentagon City. Then it was smooth sailing to National Airport.

At National Airport, Metro managed to have four trains servicing the station at once on the inbound platform, making good use of the fact that National Airport has a third track through it. We arrived at the station on the center track, and cozied right up next to a Blue Line train (probably the one I was on earlier) on the same track. The two trains were maybe about six inches apart where they link together. So it was close. But you had a four-car Blue and a four-car Yellow on the inbound track, and a four-car Blue and a four-car Yellow on the center track, which is being used for outbound trains. And the normal outbound track is closed for track work. I was impressed to see that, and let me tell you - eight car trains are going to be monstrous-looking.

So from National Airport, it was back on the train to Huntington, crossing back over to the correct track at the switch north of Braddock Road. From there, it was smooth sailing straight back to Huntington.

At Huntington, the Exeloo was wonderful. The soap dispenser has gotten more liberal with the soap in the year or so it's been there. And that's good because it used to give you practically nothing in one squirt. Now it gives you considerably more soap. Good thing.

After the Exeloo, I got to watch a raccoon at work at Huntington. I saw an at-the-time unknown critter at Huntington roll down the side next to the retaining wall next to the tracks. Then I saw a raccoon's head pop up over that wall. I was afraid it would jump onto the tracks, and we'd have a dead raccoon from it hitting the third rail. Thankfully that was not the case. It ended up climbing back up the sloped stone to the top and started to eat at the ivy up there. At the left in this picture, you can see the area I'm talking about. See the ivy?

The raccoon ran off when the train showed up. I took that train to King Street, and transferred to Blue, with a Rohr car where one door was locked shut because it was malfunctioning (thus only one side of that door opened). And then we experienced the single-tracking again. I did get another familiar voice, though. This time, it was this lady up in the cab. We ended up sitting at Braddock Road for what seemed like eternity, as controllers sent four trains (two Blue, two Yellow) through the single-track area before we were permitted to proceed. Once we got a "proceed" from the signal, we were off without a hitch, blowing right through Arlington Cemetery without stopping.

At Rosslyn, I transferred to Orange to Vienna, and rode to Vienna. At Vienna, the operator announced that our train would be the last revenue train to New Carrollton for the night. And then from the parking garage, I saw the train leave at exactly 11:24 for New Carrollton - right on schedule.

On the way back, I made my usual stop at Sheetz at Haymarket. The place was hopping. But when I realized that I would be in line for ages, with the checkout line going almost to the back of the store and then still having to wait on my food, I told the MTO people to cancel my order, since I wasn't going to wait. Especially since I also smelled alcohol on some of the other customers' breath. Not a pleasant thing, remembering past experiences with drunk JMU students at the Harrisonburg Sheetz. I decided I'd wait and eat later.

I ended up eating at the Sheetz in Woodstock, which is off of I-81 at exit 283. Nice, quiet Sheetz, as it should be late at night.

And then from there, I went straight home, stopping at the new Sheetz in Fishersville for gas. That is a well-placed gas station, let me tell you. Right on my way home from DC. And also only about three miles and change from Wal-Mart. Handy location, indeed.

And then when I got home? Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. I love it. And now you can see the full picture of what an amazing day that October 17 ended up being. Major WOW on that one. It's going to take a lot to top it, I can tell.

I'm working 7 AM to 4 PM on election day. That's a very good schedule for me for that day. I can work from 7 AM until 4 PM. Then on the way home, I can go vote. Then after that, I can hit CNN and watch the election coverage, and see who on earth is going to be the President of the United States on January 20, 2005.

Will it be John Kerry, or will it be four more years of Bush? We shall see...

Meanwhile, it feels very strange writing this journal entry. This is the first new journal entry since I redid the journal as part of the site redesign. And the verdict is... I'm not used to this. I enter my journal entries into an online form and submit them online. So I do use a Web browser to do this, via a Web page. But when I did the journal, I updated my journal form. So while it's the same basic form, it's bigger, and it's a different color. And even though I did all the changes myself, it's still going to take time to get accustomed to it. We shall see...

Otherwise, though, do you like the new look for the Journal, now that the production version of the site is finished over there? Everything is so... blue. Very blue. So one section is finished! I'm pretty pleased with myself. Now I only have six main sections to go, along with the unofficial "Quote and Introduction" section. Meanwhile, Life and Times looks really weird. Like remodeling in progress in a building, when a system is disconnected or something is ripped out, it leaves a little hole until that area is finished being renovated. Now when my redesign work reaches Life and Times, and it gets its full refit, it's going to look just wonderful. I'll make it look like the Journal was always in its own section from day one, and that it was preposterous to ever think that the Journal was ever in Life and Times.

Now I don't know which section I'm doing next. The Online Store's going to require some thinking, since it, by its nature, requires a different design, as well as a white background. So we shall see...

I've determined that the next section to be redone is going to be Photography. So far, I've brought all the photo sets from 2000 into the new design, as well as the first edition of The Schumin Web Salutes America.

And this is the first time I've redesigned section-by-section. Usually when I redesign The Schumin Web, I do the whole thing behind the scenes. Then I take several hours and upload the whole thing again. The downside to that method is that while I'm redesigning, I can't have regular updates, since I've completely converted over to the new template at once, making any updates more trouble than they're worth.

This time, doing it by section, of the eight sections of the site, seven of them are operating normally, as if nothing's going on. One section, Photography, is currently under the knife getting remodeled. So no updates there until I'm done. Then when I finish, I move on.

You know what I like about this, the 2004 redesign? The loss of the scroll-box navigation, which started to get on my nerves after two years. It should have tipped me, when I found it necessary to create an "Alternate Navigation" page for the site, that this was not the greatest navigation method. But for two years it worked out for me. Now the menus will be down the left side. Plus I created space under the menus for other things, intended for the extreme bottom of the page. What I'm going to do in that space, I don't know yet, but it's going to be page-specific. There's going to be nothing standardized in there, except for the fact that the space is available for use. And I really have no idea what I'm going to put in there, so it's going to enter this world blank. But it's there.

Now, though, I must get ready for work.

To drive home the importance of the upcoming election, I actually took my picture off of the main page, in favor of a photo from The Schumin Web Salutes America embellished with red, white, and blue striping and "VOTE NOVEMBER 2" in large letters. Just my not-so-subtle way of getting out the vote. And nonpartisan, too. I'm just saying VOTE in that area. Here in the Journal, however, I'll tell you that I'm voting for John Kerry and that you should too.

Meanwhile, we can tell what Darby Conley's feelings are about the election, as well as who to vote for. For those of you who don't know, Darby Conley is the one who does the syndicated comic strip Get Fuzzy, which I read in the Staunton paper. It's a very amusing comic strip, with Satchel the dog and Rob the human both being bossed around by Bucky the cat, the cat with that one big fang.

So why do I mention this? Look at today's strip:



Satchel seems to be firmly in the Kerry camp, there. However, Rob is leaning towards Ralph Nader. Now while we don't find out what Bucky's choice of candidate is in the strip, we do know who he doesn't support. I was laughing out loud when I saw the last frame, as both Bucky and Satchel were demonstrating to Rob how much they were against Ralph Nader. "BAD ROB!" says it all right there.

It reminds me of a pin I saw at a DC souvenir shop across the street from Freedom Plaza. It said, "A Vote For Nader Is A Vote For Bush" on it. And that's the rationale we have here. I personally wonder about the Nader factor - that being that if Nader hadn't have run, whether it would have been President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush on January 20, 2001.

Still, with the election a mere eight days away, the thing you need to do is vote. My father always says, "Vote early, vote often."

I really hope I'm not coming down with something, because this would be a heck of a time to come down with something. Though it would serve me right, since I've overextended myself lately, going eight days without a break on a number of occasions recently. Most recently, I had the Million Worker March followed by seven straight days at the Service Desk. That's a recipe for fatigue.

And so today and yesterday, my nose has been stuffed up. I don't know what to tell you on that one. I hope I'm not getting sick. Since that would just be unpleasant. The last time I was truly sick, as in feeling bad enough that I actually had to miss something was back in 2002. Usually when I catch something, it manifests itself as a sore throat and then goes away on its own. No big deal.

So we'll see.

Meanwhile, yesterday I spent the day making progress on the Web site. Good thing to do on a day off of work. Yesterday I finished the work on Photography, and also took the time to do Odds and Ends and Major Areas. So now on the redesigned side, we have Journal, Major Areas, Odds and Ends, and Photography. Still in 2003 colors are Archives, Life and Times, Online Store, and the quote/introduction area. I just can't wait for it to be finished. I'm actually "over the hill" as these things go, since Photography is the largest section. So it's all downhill from here. And I'm really digging this blue color scheme I came up with.

Oh, and I retired College Life as a section! I find that more amazing than anything, really. That drives home the point - I'm a JMU alumnus now. College is a thing of the past. It's still a subsidiary site, though. So the content isn't missing, just moved.

And now this is the troublesome part about a redesign - that period while the search engines can't find you. Usually, I end up moving something around when I redesign. Last year, we shifted things out of Photography to more appropriate places in College Life and in Life and Times. We also shifted some things out of Writings to College Life and Odds and Ends. And we renamed the old "Photo Essays" to Photography. So a lot of URLs changed, but most remained the same.

This year puts a face on why I highly recommend linking to the splash page and not an internal page. This year, I needed to change the file extensions from .htm to .asp because the database connections will only work with a .asp extension. So most (but not all) internal URLs will change for that reason.

I mainly try to keep Google knowing where I am, since it's numero uno when it comes to search engines. For Google, I actually resubmit my site whenever there's a major URL change, so that Google can crawl the modified area.

I still think it's interesting with the whole thing of Googling one's name, though. I find everything. It's kind of neat.

You know where to go if you need to get some serious laughing? Homestarrunner.com, of course. I looked at Strong Bad's three most recent Emails - The Facts, Time Capsule, and Extra Plug.

"The Facts" is about why Strong Mad should not have a cartoon of his own. "Time Capsule" is where Strong Bad sets up a time capsule with a cassette tape and dry ice in it (the dry ice so it will go "froosh" when someone opens it), which Stinko Man from 20X6 (pronounced "twenty-extee-six") then proceeds to eat. That one also has a song about Grumblecakes as an easter egg.

The one that really had me laughing, though, was "Extra Plug". Strong Bad was asked what he could use the extra plug under his desk for. Turns out he had bought some light-up shoes, which he believed could attract women to him solely on the basis of his shoes. He managed to flip a breaker, since the power went out. Seems those things really do suck up the juice. They're also really loud. They finished the Email, however, in an unusual way. And they ended up also sucking up all the juice at Club Technochocolate. They ended up powering the shoes from the King of Town's place. Fun.

Now what I'm going to have stuck in my head all day is that Grumblecakes song. It's definitely an interesting song, being quite catchy. And my dirty, filthy, sordid little mind has read two interpretations into to that song.

World's worst pickup line: "Hey, baby, want to share those Grumblecakes?"

As of right now, most of my search results are bad. Specifically, at this time, it affects all pages in the Life and Times, Major Areas, Odds and Ends, and Photography sections. That's because all my pages now end in .asp and not .htm, since the new menus require the new extension. And the aforementioned sections are the ones where the redesign has been completed. Journal, being a new section, is different because there are no old results. It just needs to be crawled for the first time.

So as a result, I can expect to see some of my site traffic dip until Google finds me again. I've done my part, though, and resubmitted the home pages for the changed sections, where all the links live.

Otherwise, I got out of the house for a little bit today. I actually went to Staunton Mall to get my glasses adjusted, and then went to the Staunton Wal-Mart to do a little shopping. In this case, Staunton Wal-Mart is crucial here. I don't shop in the Waynesboro Wal-Mart on my off-days. Feels too much like going to work. So I went to Staunton. I hadn't seen them in a while, and so that was nice. Staunton has now turned their Garden Center patio into a full-scale greenhouse like we have in Waynesboro, which I thought was cool. It definitely beats the heck out of the open-air patio that it used to be.

And then tomorrow, we go back to work! Yaaaaaay. I could use a few more days off. I get a lot done on my off-days. And I was able to give my face a rest, too. Right now, I have what could best be described as a two-day beard, since I didn't shave today or yesterday. Tomorrow morning, I shave once again. See, if I know I'm not doing anything major outside the house, I don't shave, and give my face a rest for the day. And after a couple days of not shaving, I start to look at it and think. I try to imagine what I'd look like if I kept it and grew a full beard. Or what I'd look like if I grew a mustache. Hmmmm.

Speaking of facial hair, this is why we're glad that Mom is Mom and not Dad. This is Mom on facial hair: "If I were a man, I'd grow a beard, and then shave it off. I'd grow a mustache, and then shave it off. I'd grow a goatee, and then (you guessed it) shave it off."

Talking to Mom, you'd think that beards grew on trees. I, being a man, with the capability of growing a beard, know better. These things take time and patience. I could just see Mom as a guy with a beard. "Whoopee! It's that perfect length! Get the razor!"

But we love her for it anyway. And we're glad she can't grow a beard. And shave it off. And grow a mustache. And shave it off.

And don't ask me why, but after it grows out a little bit, that's when I really get the closest shaves. If I'm just doing a normal shave, it runs the full range from a really bad shave to a "good" shave. Or there's the occasion where I'll be halfway to work and then realize I missed a spot. (Oh, by the way, I use an electric, so it's not like we're using shaving cream as a guide or anything.) But after a day of letting it grow out, that's when you get the really great shaves. I go from rough to baby-bottom smoothness.

And besides, a good close shave is part of my look.

See the problem, circled in red? A little bitty problem here. They addressed the wrong "Mr. Schumin" entirely. My father, Ray Schumin, owns and operates Evolved Quality Consulting LLC. Instead, Myron, the company that sent this, sent it to ME, Ben Schumin. Right household, wrong face.

Now if it were addressed to me with the company name "Schumin Web Design" on it, or even the outdated "Almond Street Image Service" on it, that would be something else, since those are business names associated with me at The Schumin Web. But nooooooo. This is the father's business name with the son's name attached to it.

Needless to say, this error spoke volumes about this company, especially in sending it to a quality consulting company. Though the little notepad and holder was much appreciated. I can use that.

Still, this was just amusing to find. And I'm not a stranger to mistaken identity when it comes to these things, either. For a while, I was receiving offers for business credit cards in the name of THE SCHUMIN WEB in big, bold letters. It was actually quite amusing to get that, too. The first one was a novelty, but then after that I just started filing them. Specifically, in "File Thirteen", which sits next to my desk and usually has a Hefty bag in it (get my drift?).

Most amusing was when I got a telemarketing call from Dun and Bradstreet back in 2000 or so. This was before I organized my Web site as a small business. They're trying to get me on board as a customer. Now I'd heard of Dun and Bradstreet before, and knew it was somewhat prestigious. Boy, it was sad to burst their bubble. They're talking big on the phone, and I just told them, "I'm really just a guy who has his own Web site." I mean, I was nice about it, and was indeed a bit flattered that they called me, but I had no use for their services.

What's funny, though, is that I have NEVER gotten a single shred of mail addressed to me under the "Almond Street Image Service" label (which I carried for nearly two years), nor my current "Schumin Web Design" label.

There is indeed a reason why I make sure that my business's formal name is different from the Web site. It helps separate legitimate requests from junk ones. Anything addressed to "The Schumin Web" is filtered on out. If, God forbid, I actually get something marked "Schumin Web Design", then I might just have to throw a party.

And by the way, if you're wondering why I call my company "Schumin Web Design", reverse the name for a moment. Schumin Web Design is the company that designs The Schumin Web. A bit circular, yes. But it works.

This evening, after unveiling a beautiful new Online Store, I did a little photo research online. I went looking for photos that other people took of various protests that I've been to.

The first one I looked for is the Million Worker March. I found a few groups of photos. I even found one photo with me in it. I was just like, "Oh, my gawd..." Even though I was a participant in a feeder march, the main rally, and the breakaway march to the hotel, I still find it interesting to find myself in a photo of the group. Especially since I usually never find myself in these photos. In another photo off of an Indymedia site (not DC's, and I can't remember which one), I was just barely missed. The people next to me were photographed, but I somehow ended up behind a banner. But in this one photo at the hotel, I found myself, and I was in the process of taking a movie with Big Mavica. I checked the movie that I was taking (I'm probably going to use it), and the photographer came into frame and took the image. Cool!

I also looked up the April 12, 2003 ANSWER march at Freedom Plaza that I turned into A Protest Against the War. For that one, I was strictly a photographer. I did not march, instead choosing to meet up with the marchers at two locations along their route. As such, the photo set I found showed a lot of stuff I never saw due to the way I covered it. Of course, I had less than a day's notice on it to begin with on the event. But still, it's neat to see others' perspectives of the event. I did not expect to find myself in any of the April 12 photos, and no surprises turned up there.

I also think it's neat to find the people I have pictures of in the other people's photographs. I just think it's neat to find other vantage points and such. I found the girl I interviewed back at the April 12 ANSWER march in one of the photos. I found myself in a photo at the Million Worker March from a few weeks ago. All in all, it's just kind of cool.

And once I get my site redesign finished, I intend to get caught up on my photo sets. Unlike when I did my Lights of the Night photo sets, which were mostly older photo sets that were just now finally getting used, these new Life and Times and Photography sets are actually new material rather than "new old stock". Then you can see a full presentation on the Million Worker March, my vacation to the beach, and the two demonstrations on October 2.

Oh, and if you haven't changed your clocks for the end of Daylight Savings Time yet, you are late...

It's WAY past when I should be in bed, and I'm still researching protest photos. Do you remember, from the journal entry I did about the Million Worker March, where I said, "This is where it gets a little bizarre for a while"?

Well, that was because for a while, I, along with "Teapot" and her group, went chasing after a group allegedly wearing a hot dog suit. We then learned that there was also a guy dressed up as the Hamburglar, and a chicken. After the march, back here at the computer, I wrote this about our unsuccessful hunt:

...where we could get a good look over the whole general area for the hot dog guy. No hot dog guy. So we headed back to where we were, in the shade north of the Lincoln Memorial, wondering if such costumed characters actually did exist...

Well, they did exist, as confirmed by posters on DC Indymedia. And now, in hunting around, I landed on sootoday.com (a newspaper in Sault Ste. Marie). On their Web site, I found this:



So there you go. We weren't imagining it. Posters on Indymedia couldn't figure out what their deal was. I believe that they were counter-protesters. They were definitely short-lived, though.

But there you go. The hot dog suit. Bizarre, indeed...