"Happy wife, happy life." the secret to 30 years together.

It was dark and the temperature was dropping. Picked up a joyful couple from Bay City, Michigan on the last day of their 30th anniversary trip. So the 1/2 hour tour started from the Washington Monument. "Foundation laid in 1848 but the civil war interrupted things. See the two colors of stone 1/3 of the way up? They ran out of money and it laid unbuilt for a couple decades until a Federal Commission was appointed and it was finally finished in 1884, at 555 feet it was the tallest building in the modern world until the Eiffel Tower surpassed it in 1889."

Then off to my favorite, the Jefferson Memorial, where I learned the couple was on an anniversary ride.

I pointed to the Tidal Basin and told them about my first anniversary 4 months earlier.  I used to tell my wife several times as we passed the blue paddle boats, that while I have been here for most of 30 years (permanent tourist, eh?) I had never taken a rideon these little boats. So Trish started our amazing anniversary soiree with a ride on the paddleboats and a picnic.

Then, from the Jefferson, we went to the Capitol and time was well passed the 1/2 hour so I stopped the clock and drove them partly back as I was late to return my pedicab.

I asked this happy couple, she a nurse installing cardiac stents and catheterizations, he a school janitor, the secret to their 30 years?

She ginned and said"Happy Wife, Happy Life!

I had to call my wife on that one....

Old cell phones traded at Natural History Museum for 3D Movie

Traded three old cell phones for three IMAX tickets at Smithsonian Museum of Natural History 3D Wild Oceans movie! Nokia doing this special for one more week! Save your coltan, a mineral used in cell phone metals. San Diego Zoo warns of relation between cell phones, coltan mining and extinction of Great Apes.

Milano, Amsterdam and Mexico City

It was a beautiful day to pedicab today - cloudy and not too hot, not too cold, like the three bears porridge. After taking an American mother and older son to the Grand Hyatt, an Italian woman from Milan here for business with the pet food part of Mars asked for a round trip to CVS. We chatted in Italian about La Scala and our recent honeymoon in Italy.
Then Richard, a kind financial analyst from Amsterdam took a tour from me and I snapped a few pictures of him on my cell phone to send to my wife so I could send to him via email.  I love the 21st century sometimes!
Finally on the way back to the shop, found a happy Mexican couple near the Capitol, managed enough Spanish to give good tour.  He works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent a nice note.

All spoke English very well. Too bad most of us don't speak their languages.

More than 2,000 children from D.C. area trick-or-treat at the White House with the Obamas

Picked up a white ghost faced little 3rd grade girl and her Mom and took the short ride up 15th Street from the front of the White House to the back so she could go trick-or-treating at the White House. I was told she was chosen by lottery out of a pool of local students who participated in sports.

And I had to send a note to my sister in law who once helped the engineering of a process to print on the tiny face of M&M's. The kids got dried fruit and M&M's with President Obama's signature!

http://www.startribune.com/nation/67981162.html