I went into Manhattan on Thursday and Friday to attend a rather large conference on permissible pharmaceutical promotion -- I've been into Manhattan several times since 9/11, but until Thursday I had either driven or taken the bus. This time, I took New Jersey Transit into Hoboken, and then the PATH to 33rd Street. As the train rolled into Hoboken, I looked over to my right and was once again taken aback by what I saw. The Hoboken train station is just across the river from lower Manhattan, and this was literally the closest I've been to Ground Zero since the attacks. My brain *still* wants to fill the World Trade Center into the skyline, believe it or not. You'd think that by now, almost six months later, I would get it, and internally would somehow flip the switch that lets me accept that those buildings are gone, but apparently not. I wonder how long it's going to take.

In happier news, I was utterly ecstatic about the results in the Olympic Ladies' Figure Skating the other night. While I have always liked and respected Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes' long program was amazing and she absolutely deserved the gold medal. Notwithstanding the pissy whining of the Russians, the judges got it right, for once.

I've also been watching most of the men's ice hockey, and I cannot begin to explain how excited I am to see the final game between Canada and the United States tomorrow. In the meantime, we're putting up some new window blinds, pricing refinishing for the hardwood floors on the other side of the duplex (our tenants are moving out as we speak), and heading out to buy some new storm doors for the front of the house (currently, the doors are hideously ugly and dilapidated, with the house numbers written in MAGIC MARKER). We want the front of the house to be as lovely as possible when the realtors start bringing potential tenants by.

In other news, this incident occurred in my hometown, and I don't think that I have any words that can adequately express my revulsion and anger. I will never, ever understand what kind of alleged humn being could kick a dog to death, especially a gentle dog provided as a companion animal for someone with a disability. Unfortunately, in this case, I tend to believe that the dog is better off, but I wish that someone had been clued in to how the poor dog was being treated before he died of his injuries.