How was I to know? Yesterday, I got to the lab at about 6:40, hoping to be first in line. That didn’t happen. I found the place open and already doing business, despite the sign stating that they were open from 7 to 5. I signed in and was #7 on the list. And when it was my turn, around 7:15, I had to endure two sticks of the needle, as the ‘taker of blood’; the phlebotomist was having a problem with my veins. Then she said, “Did they tell you that it was OK to drink water?” No, that hadn’t happened. I had been under the assumption that no liquids were allowed after midnight. Wrong. It turns out that the resulting mild dehydration makes the veins more difficult to hit and I really should have had some water. OK, now I know and next year I’m doing it right.
Later in the day, while Laurae was having her hair cut, I had to break my vow and I bought a coffee at Starbuck’s; the only coffee shop close to SuperCuts. And since it was Starbuck’s, I was able to buy a New York Times to go along with my latte. Why don’t other coffee shops offer it? It’s a great newspaper, a little too middle of the road at times, but always well written. The stories continue on to their logical ends, not stopping at some point where an editor thinks it might be best to insert an ad.
Anyway, I was reading the story about the Blackwater mercenary who shot and killed a bodyguard of the Iraqi Vice President. He was drunk at the time and ran away after the shooting. The next morning he was quickly flown out of the country by the State department. It was a lengthy story and one thing that stood out was the fact that the American ambassador’s office recommended that Blackwater pay $250,000 to the family of the slain bodyguard. Blackwater balked at that amount, saying that Iraqi’s would arrange to have themselves killed by Blackwater just so their families would get the big payoff. They settled on $15,000. From all of that, I guessed that the mercenary was definitely guilty (he was fired) and that the price of life in
"We have 1,000 guys out in the field. People make mistakes, they do stupid things sometimes." ERIK D. PRINCE, chief executive of Blackwater USA, which is under scrutiny for shootings by its employees in
These people who make mistakes and do stupid things are paid an average of $600 a day. What would it cost to get a good one? Inquiring minds…you know.
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