Well, Ted [Kennedy], we’re a long way from Vietnam, when American irresolution condemned millions to the gulag or to exile. Maybe we’ll get to that point, but as you might say, we’ll drive off that bridge when we come to it. But thanks for telling the troops that we’re going to lose, and that they’re dying for no reason.--- Lileks.

I've been wanting to take Casey to the Jelly Belly factory for some time. This involved getting permission to take the kid out of the county, from my supervisor, the social worker, and the foster mom. This took some time, especially from the social worker, but she wrote out a permission. I took the kid's medical card, and after a half-hour waiting for the foster mom, away we went.

Casey was really good. There were questions occasionally. "Are those mountains?" (Yes) "Is that a desert?" (No). The kid only asked if we were there yet once. When we got to the factory, there was an enormous line stretching the length of the building and out the doors, and we joined it. We occasionally left to stretch a penny or otherwise goof off. We'd gotten to the group that was going to be the next tour when suddenly "What are we waiting for?" "A tour." "What's a tour?"

On the tour, the kid would watch the monitor when all the excitement was on the floor, and the floor when the monitor was explaining stuff. They weren't giving tastes along the way, probably because of the huge numbers of people there today. I wasn't sure if Casey was really with us, nor whether a good time was being had, but fingers crossed. When the tour was over, the kid bought lunch for us both. I had a jelly-belly-shaped hamburger and Casey had a peanut butter and jelly belly jelly sandwich. I finally pointed out the nice washing facilities (automatic water and towels) in order to get the child to go to the restroom.

Then it was time for the gift store. Casey had a list from the foster mom. Of course, it was all expensive, but I didn't have to help out too much. I bought toys for the foster kids and for mom, and then we were off in the car again. "That was FUN!" Casey spontaneously said. Whew.

After the last couple of cache-blitz days, I was really tired when I got home.