Visit the kelpforest....

I can only think this little protest was written before the last election, as the numbers seem a bit low and it's a year til the next one. I'm a little surprised it's still in circulation.

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It's rare to learn a new word from a comic strip. Chickweed Lane seems to be rather erudite, considering the one of the main characters (the mom)has a doctorate in mathematics...

http://www.livejournal.com/users/chickweed_comic/45135.html

pan·jan·drum
Pronunciation: pan-'jan-dr&m
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -drums also pan·jan·dra /-dr&/
Etymology: Grand Panjandrum, burlesque title of an imaginary personage in some nonsense lines by Samuel Foote
: a powerful personage or pretentious official

I think I've found a new euphemism for the Shrub.

Got to see AF1 take off this time. It is a pretty bird, even if I don't care for its present passenger. Man, that runway was dirty. Never seen a 747 leave such a dust cloud.

And the Secret Service is so unobtrusive. We didn't notice them at all. Not. There was a big black car parked on our lawn, filled with guys with big black sunglasses, big black suits, and big black body armor. Much conversation about how they must have been running through the backyards of every residential neighborhood surrounding the base, and infiltrating the Target at the end of the runway. We probably had one on our roof, too.

Shrub's here again. I'd heard he was going to make a low key visit, but when I left work last night, the park behind our office, which butts up against the Air Base, appeared to be closed and all the little soccer kids were running around on our office lawn instead. And now that blue and white bird is sitting over there. I did notice the noise of a bunch of military helicopters making a low flyover while I was in the shower this morning. This is really more close brushes with him (or his decoy) than I really want.

The view looks about the same as last year.

Yes, that was Air Force One a couple of entries ago; I got one comment on oc that someone got a 404, but others could, so I don't know what CompuServe is doing. At lunch, M. was showing us her new hybrid Civic, and we noticed a cop in our parking lot near the fence. We thought that was a little strange, but didn't think any more of it. Later, I was sitting at my desk and thought I heard a jet, somewhat unusual, since the National Guard base we overlook is more host to helicopters of various agencies which seem to do training there. Not unheard of since there is the occasional C5 transport flying in and out. A few minutes later, I stood up to stretch, and noticed a jet parked in of the control tower. "That's a 747," I remarked, somewhat mystified - there are never passenger-type planes over there. S. remarked, "Is it Air Force One?" "Nah," I said, then I pulled my binoculars out of my backpack, and sure enough, the plane was blue and white, and said United States of America along the side. This caused a bit of excitement, not necessarily for its passenger, but just because it's a famous plane. Several people came indoors, and said FBI or Secret Service had told them to get out of the parking lot, and someone came into licensing and told them "Keep your people inside and we mean it." Come on, we're a state agency, we're supposed to be carrying guns around?! Well, some of us do, but they're enforcement as well.

Shrub left by helicopter to wherever he was going, fundraising for whoever the Republicans are fronting for governor, and didn't leave until the next morning. So you could've seen The Plane sitting there all evening until yesterday morning if you drove down Lampson to Seal Beach Blvd.

The view out my office window, all afternoon....

a shrub.