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I was up before seven today, feeding the cat and doing a little work before a morning run, and that's when I heard the news.

You don't start too many days like this. Not before breakfast, anyway.

The indelible images of this event: the tape of Saddam being inspected for lice, the video from the "rat hole," the celebrations in the streets of Baghdad, the sight of the Democratic candidates vomiting in fear.

Okay, the last one wasn't on TV, but you know what I mean.

I think I'm gonna shut up now, because there's nothing I'd say that you aren't thinking already. Might as well just leave it right here. Today was a good day.

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Another L.A. Times article quotes me. I'm such an expert.

If you subscribe to the Times, you can see it here. If not, maybe it'll be reprinted in other Tribune papers with free web sites.

Go ahead, read it, massage my ego.

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... is at All Access, in the News-Talk-Sports section, under "10 Questions With..."

I interviewed myself. Seemed like a good publicity thing, since it'll be up all through the holidays and into the New Year.

Took a lot out of me, though, so more here tomorrow. Until then, go here. It's got a picture and everything (but don't let that scare you off).

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It's time to head east for a few days, which means it's time to dredge up the usual mixed emotions about traveling. It's the love/hate thing- I love the change of scenery, love the chance to see my dad and his wife, love the familiar scenery of South Florida, but I'm not crazy about the part involving lugging bags through the airport, waiting for the shuttle, waiting for a rental car, driving an unfamiliar little car on I-95 in rush hour traffic, being 3,000 miles from home. I'd like to be able to spend the day in Florida and be back in my own bed in L.A. at night, but they don't beam people from place to place yet, so I'll have to make do with a hotel for a few nights.

Packing is a pain, but I think I have everything I need ready to go. Half of the weight is electronic stuff- computer, camera, cell phone, radio, cords, plugs, chargers. I managed to get some clothes in there, too, and a toothbrush and some deodorant. I'm usually an overpacker- I'll bring 10 days' worth of clothes for a 3 day trip- but I restrained myself this time. Fran's less restrained- she's prepared for any weather emergency. If it snows in Miami this weekend, she'll be ready. She's also prepared for any kind of social event- if we get an invite to dine with Gov. Jeb, she can go. I can't, unless an Eagles jersey and jeans counts as formal attire. But I think I'll be OK.

The cat knows something's up. I think she can understand us now. The other day, when we had to take her to the vet for her annual shots, she started hiding before we even woke up. She absolutely knew she was going to be in for something unpleasant. This evening, the empty suitcases were sitting in the library, and I noticed Ella had taken one of her little foam soccer balls and placed it by the luggage. Later, Fran found her sitting in one of the bags. Ella knows we're not going to be here, and she'll spend the next few days hiding from the sitter. Poor kid- she has no idea where we've gone, or if we'll ever come back. I wonder how much she knows, or whether she has any sense of elapsed time. I want to tell her we'll be back soon, we're not abandoning her, it's just like the other times when we went away for a couple of days and then came back. If she senses we're leaving, maybe she'll understand that, too.

But for now, we're heading east to the land of retirees and refugees. First stage: the flight, which is not my favorite part. But there's a bright side: the plane has TV at every seat. Five hours and change is a lot easier when there's SportsCenter for distraction.

The next dispatch, if all goes as planned, will be from South Florida. Talk to you later.

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Uneventful trip to the airport. Uneventful wait, uneventful boarding. Uneventful flight- slept through part of it, watched ESPN through the rest. Uneventful car rental, uneventful drive on the freeway. Dinner with Dad and Lana, very nice. Checked in at the hotel, collapsed into bed.

Travel takes you out of the real world. Sure, you read the newspapers- I read the L.A. Times, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Orange County Register, New York Post, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Miami Herald today- but that's yesterday's news. I have no idea what the news has been today other than stocks were mixed and temperatures will drop for tomorrow in South Florida. That's about it. You travel, you're out of the loop.

Sometimes, it's better to be out of the loop. In fact, for the next few days, I don't want to be anywhere NEAR the loop. Can't help myself, usually, but I can try. I think I'll start... now.

If anything happens, save it for when I get back.

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It doesn't get cold in South Florida very often, but 41 degrees and breezy qualifies as cold pretty much anywhere south of, say, Minot, so it was definitely cold this morning along the ocean walk at Deerfield Beach. Countless pedestrians bundled against the chill did their morning routine- a little breakfast with coffee and the Sun-Sentinel, then a stroll by the waves. They do this every day.

I sometimes wonder what we'll be doing if we're lucky enough to make it to "elderly." Every time we go to Florida, I see the old folks on their walks, crowding into the deli for the early bird special, driving their Caddies and Lexii 25 mph in the left lane. It's annoying to us as younger people, but I can't get too upset at them. If we get to that age, I hope that'll be us- gray-haired Perry and gray-haired Fran taking a slow walk on the beach, grousing about the wait for a corned beef on rye and a Dr. Brown's, creeping along Glades Road while the whippersnappers honk and curse behind us. We'll have earned it, just like the shivering seniors I saw this morning have earned it. So they're kinda unfriendly and set in their ways and slow. If you're lucky, that's you, a few short years from now. There are worse fates.

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54 degrees, zero percent humidity. Going down to 44 tonight. South Florida.

No. Not possible. At least we're not here on a fun 'n' sun vacation. If we were, we'd be... not pleased.

But it's OK. We're OK. Let it snow.

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Went to a hockey game. Too weird. After all, I'm in Florida. There are two NHL teams in Florida, of course, but as in Los Angeles it's surreal to walk past palm trees to a hockey game. More surreal, though, is when the weather outside is hockey-cold AND there are palm trees and pastels.

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