Where Do We Stand? February 4th

As I'm typing this I'm at the train stop in Quantico. Like, FBI/Marine Corps Quantico. I'm not sure there's a town that has a more "from the movies" feel than Quantico. It's a real place, and the FBI is here, and the Marines are here, but to me it's just "we sent him for training at Quantico and he came back a different man" or whatever.

Actually, maybe Langley has more of that feel than Quanitco. "I just heard from Langley and they say if you do this, you're on your own" and whatnot. Maybe "Langley" has more action/adventure to it than "Quanitco." Which might just say that I prefer CIA movies over FBI movies.

Either way, I'm in Quantico. The train stop looks like this:

What if, by sharing that photo, I've somehow revealed an FBI secret about the cars parked at that theater over there? And what if, when I get to my train destination in New Jersey, the train is swarmed by FBI agents who haul me off the train and drag me to some warehouse where they take the bag off my head and then scream "WHO TOLD YOU TO TAKE THAT SURVEILLANCE PHOTO"? And what if, after the rogue agent punches me in the mouth and knocks out a tooth, when asked one final time who told me to take the photo, I spit out the tooth and say "it was John Groce"?

(I have a vivid imagination. I even dream up scenarios where Illinois football finishes 10-3 and then is preseason #12 the next year.)

If you're curious why I'm talking about any of this, this is just who I am/how I write. I had a funeral in Virginia and instead of booking a flight to the funeral and back, I changed my Rutgers game flight. Instead of a flight to New Jersey today and then back to Champaign on Thursday I switched to A) a flight to Norfolk on Thursday night, B) a train from Norfolk to New Jersey today, and C) the same flight home on Thursday. That's why I'm on the train. That's why I'm in Quantico.

And that's why all of my I-N-I research is happening on the train. The wifi has been surprisingly good for Amtrak. Enough that I was able to get the entire I-N-I researched and compiled. It then crapped out a few minutes ago (maybe it was THE FBI) so I'm back to hot-spotting my phone.

None of this matters in any way. Let's get to the...