It's a lovely day here - sort of warm and slightly damp.I should be doing stuff, but I'm taking a break.

Good luck, juliana! I hope you have a good day.

Thanks, everyone. I'm here, and runnning around like a chicken sans head.

JZ, I'll email you. I don't think I can do lunch today, but maybe tomorrow.

Good luck, juliana! Deep breaths.

I slept through my alarm this morning and got to work an hour late. I hate feeling "off"...and yet that is how the day is going so far.

In 20 minutes I go into a conference call where I get the pleasure of fighting to get some help between now and July. Why, oh why is this a battle?

Yay for good dates!

Boo for depression, but yay for juliana having buffistas and other peeps around.

My cartilege piercings are long since closed, so I'm not going to be much help there.

I'm fighting a strong desire to link the French anti-obesity campaign [link] to the "French Women Don't Get Fat" book Amazon keeps trying to sell me.

Fay, have you checked Tales from a Small Planet? [link] I use their Real Post Reports whenever we go somewhere TDY or permanently. It's written by and for Foreign Service spouses, but you should be able to sift through for useful info about Caracas. [link]

I know that the main road to Caracas from the airport just closed due to landslides (due to heavier than usual rains). We advise against driving anywhere at night there, due to security and road conditions, and there is a narcotrafficking problem. That said, everyone I know who's served there loved it!

Wow. Big!Boss just came in and told us that he doesn't have to have dialysis any more. Remember, this man is 74 (or maybe 75). He got the freaking flesh-eating bacteria, lost an arm, had massive infections (I don't know if it was officially septic shock), and was in what amounts to a coma for at least a month. His liver and kidneys basically said, "Screw you guys; we're going home." And then they stuck around and got better.

No bookie ALIVE would have bet against the odds of this man surviving, getting off dialysis, and coming back to work every day.

Amazing. Just amazing.

Drat. I grew up going to her plays.

Wendy Wasserstein, who spoke for a generation of smart, driven but sometimes unsatisfied women in a series of popular plays that included the long-running Pulitzer Prize winner "The Heidi Chronicles," died today after a bout with lymphoma, Lincoln Center Theater announced. She was 55.

Amazing. Just amazing.

Enough to turn you into a jesus freak.

Oh no, Poor Wendy. Her poor daughter-- the daughter can't be very old.

Drat. I grew up going to her plays.

Oh, my God. She's always been one of my favorite playwrights. That's so sad.

Amazing. Just amazing.

Enough to turn you into a jesus freak.

I'm already a freak. That ought to be good enough.