Our meetings this afternoon didn't start until 1:00 so this morning Tim and I headed down to the mall to look around. I've been there many times but it still fascinates me. Our hotel is probably about a mile away but I love to walk and I haven't been able to run for a while so I needed the exercise. I talked Tim into walking but he didn't mind. It is so interesting walking around DC because there are many things that you hear about but never imagine that you will actually see them. Today we walked past George Washington University. I kind of feel sorry for the kids who go there though because it is just a bunch of buildings spread around the city. They have no real campus. I also walked by the Federal Reserve Building today as well. That is a picture of me standing in front of it. I wanted to go up onto the steps but they had security guards who stopped me. That is the building where they decide what interest I'm paying on my loans. Weird eh? Some of the other places I saw today were the department of state and the Naval Medical Center. What do they do in the department of State?
I have no idea. Is that the same thing as the State Department? Isn't Condolesa Rice the Secretary of State? Oh, I also saw Johns Hopkins but I don't think it was the medical center. I don't remember all the other places I saw before but I do remember the national geographic society and the Washington Post. Of course there are all the Smithsonian Museums, the White House, the capitol buildings, Washington Monument and the Treasury Department. I really wanted to go see if they would let me in the Capital building while they're fighting over the bailout. I'm glad they voted it down, I know it will hurt me but I can't stand the thought of rescuing those
thieves with my tax dollars. I really think the market will be better in the long run if we just let the free market run it's course. Speaking of George Washington , I saw him on his horse today. They have statues all over this place. We headed down 21st street from our hotel and hit the mall right at the Vietnam memorial. That place is so simple and yet powerful. It is so well designed that you can't help but feel reverent when you are there. I felt a bit strange explaining the memorial to Tim. I know the Vietnamese were not the Chinese but China was on the side of the north so I almost felt like I was explaining a war that was fought against him. In reality he is from
Taiwan so China is also his enemy too. One of my favorite parts of the Vietnam memorial are the two statues. They are so realistic and they capture the moods of the soldiers well. There is a statue depicting three soldiers and you can almost see them marching through the swamps. You need to double click on the picture to see a close-up of the detail. Look at the expressions in their faces and the veins in their arms. It is amazing. There is also a statue honoring the women who were involved in the war. The nurses and communications controllers and the translators. The women served in many capacities. The statue shows a woman caring for a wounded soldier.
As I was looking at the two statues I could almost picture this soldier marching in the jungle for months without ever seeing a woman. He then gets wounded and evacuated to a first aid station where he regains consciousness in the arms of the pretty nurse. He would think for sure he was looking at an angel and that he had died and gone to heaven. Wouldn't you almost wonder "why didn't I get wounded months ago?" From the Vietnam memorial we walked around the corner and saw the Lincoln memorial. It is so majestic and awe inspiring. There were a ton of kids on a field trip today and the steps were covered with them. That is good though,
they are fortunate to be so close to this place where they can get so much history. I also explained to Tim who Lincoln was. He thought perhaps he might be one of the founding fathers of the United States. They have Lincolns inaugural speech on the wall and I had Tim read it. I had to tell him what four score meant. It is kind of fun having to explain all this stuff to someone. Being educated in a Canadian school and managing to graduate with only one social studies class in all of the High School I know very little about Canadian or US history. It is nice to have someone around who knows less than I do. Anything I know about history (US or otherwise) I've been taught by my kids.
I thought I was so lucky in high school but I now I think I missed out. We should know our history and we should learn from it. It has taken me thirty years to admit it but I should have been forced to take more history. It would have done me good and I may have ended up enjoying it. Once we were done with Lincoln I took a good long look down the mall. You can see the reflection pool and the Washington memorial (the big tall thing that looks like a rocket) and way in the distance you can see the Capitol building where Nancy Pelosi got what she deserved yesterday. Unfortunately we ran out of time and had to head back to the hotel for our meetings.
The meetings, as usual, were very boring and I did my best not to fall asleep. We then went for some dinner and now I'm back in my hotel room. For those who may not know, I'm on the committee that is developing new battery standards for Li ion batteries. This is the standard that all battery suppliers will be required to meet when they sell a battery into the United States. It is a very difficult task to get fifty people to all agree to a single standard, especially when they have conflicting goals. The customers like Verizon and AT&T want very strict requirements and the cell suppliers like Sanyo and Sony want simple requirements. Progress is slow but we are making progress. We have these meetings quarterly. Tomorrow our meetings start at 8:30 so no sleeping in for me. I guess I'd better head for bed and watch disk 2 of Heroes.
Our meetings this afternoon didn't start until 1:00 so this morning Tim and I headed down to the mall to look around. I've been there many times but it still fascinates me. Our hotel is probably about a mile away but I love to walk and I haven't been able to run for a while so I needed the exercise. I talked Tim into walking but he didn't mind. It is so interesting walking around DC because there are many things that you hear about but never imagine that you will actually see them. Today we walked past George Washington University. I kind of feel sorry for the kids who go there though because it is just a bunch of buildings spread around the city. They have no real campus. I also walked by the Federal Reserve Building today as well. That is a picture of me standing in front of it. I wanted to go up onto the steps but they had security guards who stopped me. That is the building where they decide what interest I'm paying on my loans. Weird eh? Some of the other places I saw today were the department of state and the Naval Medical Center. What do they do in the department of State? 
I have no idea. Is that the same thing as the State Department? Isn't Condolesa Rice the Secretary of State? Oh, I also saw Johns Hopkins but I don't think it was the medical center. I don't remember all the other places I saw before but I do remember the national geographic society and the Washington Post. Of course there are all the Smithsonian Museums, the White House, the capitol buildings, Washington Monument and the Treasury Department. I really wanted to go see if they would let me in the Capital building while they're fighting over the bailout. I'm glad they voted it down, I know it will hurt me but I can't stand the thought of rescuing those 
thieves with my tax dollars. I really think the market will be better in the long run if we just let the free market run it's course. Speaking of George Washington , I saw him on his horse today. They have statues all over this place. We headed down 21st street from our hotel and hit the mall right at the Vietnam memorial. That place is so simple and yet powerful. It is so well designed that you can't help but feel reverent when you are there. I felt a bit strange explaining the memorial to Tim. I know the Vietnamese were not the Chinese but China was on the side of the north so I almost felt like I was explaining a war that was fought against him. In reality he is from 
Taiwan so China is also his enemy too. One of my favorite parts of the Vietnam memorial are the two statues. They are so realistic and they capture the moods of the soldiers well. There is a statue depicting three soldiers and you can almost see them marching through the swamps. You need to double click on the picture to see a close-up of the detail. Look at the expressions in their faces and the veins in their arms. It is amazing. There is also a statue honoring the women who were involved in the war. The nurses and communications controllers and the translators. The women served in many capacities. The statue shows a woman caring for a wounded soldier. 
As I was looking at the two statues I could almost picture this soldier marching in the jungle for months without ever seeing a woman. He then gets wounded and evacuated to a first aid station where he regains consciousness in the arms of the pretty nurse. He would think for sure he was looking at an angel and that he had died and gone to heaven. Wouldn't you almost wonder "why didn't I get wounded months ago?" From the Vietnam memorial we walked around the corner and saw the Lincoln memorial. It is so majestic and awe inspiring. There were a ton of kids on a field trip today and the steps were covered with them. That is good though, 
they are fortunate to be so close to this place where they can get so much history. I also explained to Tim who Lincoln was. He thought perhaps he might be one of the founding fathers of the United States. They have Lincolns inaugural speech on the wall and I had Tim read it. I had to tell him what four score meant. It is kind of fun having to explain all this stuff to someone. Being educated in a Canadian school and managing to graduate with only one social studies class in all of the High School I know very little about Canadian or US history. It is nice to have someone around who knows less than I do. Anything I know about history (US or otherwise) I've been taught by my kids. 
I thought I was so lucky in high school but I now I think I missed out. We should know our history and we should learn from it. It has taken me thirty years to admit it but I should have been forced to take more history. It would have done me good and I may have ended up enjoying it. Once we were done with Lincoln I took a good long look down the mall. You can see the reflection pool and the Washington memorial (the big tall thing that looks like a rocket) and way in the distance you can see the Capitol building where Nancy Pelosi got what she deserved yesterday. Unfortunately we ran out of time and had to head back to the hotel for our meetings. 
The meetings, as usual, were very boring and I did my best not to fall asleep. We then went for some dinner and now I'm back in my hotel room. For those who may not know, I'm on the committee that is developing new battery standards for Li ion batteries. This is the standard that all battery suppliers will be required to meet when they sell a battery into the United States. It is a very difficult task to get fifty people to all agree to a single standard, especially when they have conflicting goals. The customers like Verizon and AT&T want very strict requirements and the cell suppliers like Sanyo and Sony want simple requirements. Progress is slow but we are making progress. We have these meetings quarterly. Tomorrow our meetings start at 8:30 so no sleeping in for me. I guess I'd better head for bed and watch disk 2 of Heroes. 
3 comments:
I LOVE DC!!!!! If you find time, you should go find that series of paintings that I told you about. They depict each section of a persons life. Birth, Youth, Adolescence, adulthood and death. It is amazing!!!
Oh, I agree! I sure wish I paid more attention about history when I was in school.
Washington, D.C. Sure has a LOT of history. I had no idea! That was very interesting and I am glad you took the time to walk around and share what you knew with Tim. That way you can share with someone like me too, who knows hardly anything about that history.
Those statues are amazing! Much better than a lot of expensive "fru fru" stuff you see now. Art or statues that make no sense or have no real meaning to them .......just a lot of over priced junk metal.
I hope you can find the time to see the paintings that Kira is talking about. Now that sounds equally interesting! I would love to see that too. No pressure though. : D
Fun, fun, fun - the sightseeing that is not the meetings. :D
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