This is the personal weblog of Aakash Raut, established Sept. 2002. It will cover current affairs, worldwide & national topics, local & university events, and provide insight and commentary on contemporary issues and the news from his perspective. Enjoy!
--------------- ARCHIVES Sept 2002 - Now
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A Brief Note while I'm trying to dig myself out of this mess, to commemorate 'Mole Day'
I noticed, before bed last night/this morning, that my blog had gotten two hits in a row from people who were searching for the 'Mole Day' song lyrics; I thought that was quite a coincidence, and then saw that my latest hit is also a result of this.
It then struck my why... Because today is 'Mole Day'!! (Duh! - Perhaps this is why I wasn't able to make much progress on my work yesterday... ;-)
Today is when my Graduate course is, and I have to get going, but here is this year's tribute to Mr. Szabo:
Note (10/21/07): The trip went alright; I'd like to blog about it, in my next entry... and the issues that arose, during just my short time in Washington. I am currently still 'mired in quicksand' however - and it was getting worse, before I went to D.C.... I am still in a hole, and it has been a struggle to make headway in this. The night before last, my frustrations spiked somewhat, which was reflected in my dialogues with certain others; I need to apologize for that (though the points I raised were very legitimate, and I hope that they realize this). Please pray for me, as indicated at the bottom of this entry, and I hope to be back here soon.
Rough Blogging (from the Airport)
Last week, I wish I could have been where everyone else seemed to be.
I was so pissed off about no one from the UIS CRs being there (we were all set to send our new Chairman, but that fell through, shortly before the event), that I decided to come to Washington, D.C. this week [despite being endlessly swamped with things I need to get done, including from prior semesters, and getting myself deeper in the hole by the day].
Well, it wasn't just for that reason... But when I was looking at D.C. events coming up soon, I was wondering when the next meeting of the great Robert Taft Club would be, or when the next event featuring someone like U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) would be.
I was surprised to see that both of those are happening at the same time!! [ Facebook page ] It was at that time that I realized I should probably make the sacrifice (though it doesn't make much sense, considering what has been going on, with me during the past several months - and especially in the past week!)... This trip will be partly theraputic (it's complicated...), and also, I will use this to attempt to arrange an event, here at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), featuring presidential candidateRon Paul - someone who is quite popular among many college students, and younger Americans!!
I will also be visiting my old friends at Team America PAC, and perhaps speak to the campaign of U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO), another great 2008 GOP candidate for President of the United States... Maybe we can get him to speak at UIS, as well.
There is SO MUCH that has arisen, just within the past week or so... And with all that I already had on my plate, it has been much too much.
For some reason (partly because I had to use Hotwire, to get a rate that wasn't $600+ - considering that I didn't purchase my ticket until Monday evening, and partly because I had so much to do, before leaving, that I didn't look that closely, I suppose), I thought that my flight was to leave this morning, at 5:58 AM. I stayed up through the night off course [I've had to pull several all-nighters, during the past week... it's been horrid :-( ], but when I left my house, it was already after 5:00 AM, I was terrified of missing my flight [and facing the wrath of my parents, when they found out... but certain students may then have faced my wrath... at putting me in this situation, where I had to deal with so much by myself].
When I rushed into Capital Airport [SPI], I saw a HUGE line at the United terminal, and I realized that if I had to wait in line, there was no way I could make my flight. I thought maybe those people were in line for a later flight, and if they knew that I had booked the one that departs in 20 minutes, they would let me check in (I don't have any bags to check, and had the Hotwire printout in hand). I approached a nice-looking couple of ladies, who were like fourth in the line, and asked if they were on the flight that leaves at 5:58 AM. For a moment, they weren't sure, but the Indian-American lady in front of them prompty answered "yes" - that all the people in were on that flight. I began a sigh of relief, and said - "So we're not going to miss our flight." One of the women answered that they don't even know if that flight is going; it's been experiencing mechanical problems.
I had prayed, while rushing to the airport, that I would not miss my flight. But imagine my surprise when, after going to the back of that line, I looked at my Hotwire flight itinerary printout again, and saw that my flight actually departs at 5:58 PM!!
I was then a little irritated, but honestly, it might work out better this way, than if I had known the correct time. I did lose some sleep... But if I had gone to bed last night/this morning, it would have been quite late, considering all that I had to take care of, before leaving today. And if I had fallen asleep at some point, would I have been able to have had everything prepared, and have been in time for my evening flight [especially after several all-nighters this past week]? This way, I was totally ready (well, actually I forgot something very important, at home... which I now had the opportunity to go back for!) and packed, in plenty of time for my flight.
Also, that early morning at Capital Airport, I saw County Board Chairman Andy Van Meter, who I had just cc'ed on one of the [MANY!] e-mails I had sent the previous night/this morning - this one was to the Hon. Jen Dillman, a former member of my College Republicans organization who was recently appointed to the Sangamon County Board... her first major event - an Open House hosted by Bill and Susan Enlow - is on Thursday, and I was looking forward to attending, but that's the same day as the Robert Taft Club event, in D.C. (where I'll soon be). I also ran into Dr. Diane Rutledge, who remembered me, as she was the Principal of my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade school, and later moved up, I think, to major positions in District 186. I then went home, ate something, got maybe one or two hours of actual sleep, and got back here... I was upset once again, about not leaving earlier, and being in rush hour. However, this flight was delayed also... The plane just arrived back at this airport I think [it is currently 6:49 CST], but this has given me time to blog about these events - which is one thing that I wanted to do, but didn't have a chance to, before I left.
I see that my prayer has been answered, in a way that was even better than I expected.
Please pray that this trip goes well [I am still woozy, from what's happened this past week], and that I succeed in convincing at least one presidential candidate, such as Dr. Paul, to speak at our capital-city Illinois campus. I also need a great deal of prayer for health and energy, during this difficult time period.
They are finally beginning boarding on this flight, to Washington-Dulles. I don't know if I'll have web access (or much time for that, considering that my return flight is on Friday), but I will try to at least post an update, after I get back, about this event. posted by Aakash at 6:00 PM
