I know, it's been a long time since I was here. But life since the launch of the new website has been an unending whirling dervish. So many fixes and tweaks, so little time. Things might finally be settling down now — at least the remaining problems aren't mission-critical ones. Not time yet to relax, but maybe time to give myself a break every now and then.

And speaking of breaks, I played golf yesterday. It was a cold day to start, but by the end it was up in the 50s, and bright and sunny. None of the boys were around, so I went out a single and got hooked up with Sonya and Kim, this great middle-aged Korean couple. They're not the best golfers, but they have a great attitude — everything makes them laugh. I played better than I scored (shot a 95), and I think I finally worked out some important stuff with my putting and my swing. All in all a good day.

As usual, Paul Krugman gets it absolutely right. The Bush Administration wants to say the evaporation of the surplus is because of the war on terrorism. But: "The answer is that emotionally, morally, [the war on terrorism] is indeed a big deal; but fiscally it's very nearly a rounding error." The reason we have no surplus is because of last year's tax cut, which had no business being implemented in a time of plenty, and now that we know the real impact, has no business being implemented now.