I am annoyed.

I picked up a copy of the Times today on my way to get breakfast (maple bar and an eggnog latte. I was very happy) to peruse while the caffeine worked its way through my system. I was reading the article about the health care bill and how the House passed it when I got to this couple of paragraphs:

"The Republicans skipped out of the chamber mid-debate to join several hundred activists at a protest on the Capitol lawn. 'My vote is just no; I wish there was a place for "Hell, no,"' Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, told the crowd. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, led a chant of 'Hell, no!' Demonstrators shouted out 'Tyranny!' and 'Down with Mao!'

"Activists then wheeled a giant toilet-paper roll, made from a printout of the health-care bill, toward the Capitol steps. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., gave the demonstrators passes to the House gallery, a gesture that may have been related to frequent disruptions that occurred later."

ARE THESE PEOPLE FIVE YEARS OLD??? These people were elected to represent their respective states at Congress, and this is how they act? I don't care if they don't support the bill - the accepted manner for a politician to voice their opinion is to find the nearest reporter and say "Hey, I think this is a stupid bill! I'm going to vote no!" rather than give a herd of ravenous protesters a pass to the fecking Congress building where MATURE PEOPLE are trying to WORK!

And don't even get me started on the people who are calling Obama Hitler or Mao, or claiming he's turning the country into Soviet Russia. Don't even get me started.

Now on to more lighthearted adventures!

Yesterday I went walking in the rain to try out my new umbrella, because the tag said that it was tested at the UW aerodynamics lab for wind-proof-ness. They certainly did their testing well. The problem with having an umbrella that doesn't flip inside-out when a gust of wind hits it is that the thing becomes a SAIL and I swear my feet touched the ground TWICE on the walk down to the sidewalk on Pacific Street. It was kind of windy.

So after going down to the nice little park on the water to watch the ducks act all miffed at the rain, I started heading back up and noticed that one of the drains along the gutter of the road was all clogged with leaves. I kind of stared at it for a while and then decided to unclog it, more to satisfy my random little compulsions than out of a sense of public service. And of course there were five more drains that were clogged with fallen leaves, so I got to do those too.

I admit that the thought of what I looked like kind of kept me going because it's been a while since I did anything really eccentric and I felt this would settle that particular debt. Can you imagine driving along in the rain and seeing random aspiring physicist with an umbrella digging through the leaves in the gutter? I even giggled to myself a couple times with just the thought of it.

I feel very satisfied with my eccentricity now.