They said it couldn't be done, but we did it in two months. (Note I say "we" as if I helped. Well, I did buy that $2.00 flag.) What any of this means in the long view is still unclear, but I do feel a bit of tribal pride at what's happened. That's not my only feeling--I also feel ashamed, afraid, at peace, all kinds of things. But the pride thing is the most surprising and, for me, new. I was a post-Viet-Nam kid, I was raised to believe that all war is wrong--both tactically stupid and immoral.

And speaking of morality on a much smaller playing field, in one of my cover letters last night, I claimed to know a software program that I don't know now, but that I'm confident I will know by the time I interview for the job (the program is free to download for a trial period, and I've got nothing but time). Is that technically "lying" or benignly extrapolating in order to give my future self the best chances of getting the job? That's a question for my favorite columnist.