By the time you read this we'll have pulled out of the driveway.

We almost had a major snafu. We went to get our marriage license today at the Blount County courthouse. We filled out the paperwork, and they submitted the claim on their computers. We wandered around the courthouse, looking at old photographs while the job was processed.

While we were wandering, the lights went out. We went back, and luckily our approval had come back just before the power failed. Another minute and we'd have been sunk.

Power was out across Maryville. Melissa's parents in Seymour are without power, too, though the lights were still on when we got home to Louisville.

And we haven't even gotten to New York yet. Youch. Wish us luck, and think good thoughts.

COLONEL JEFF COOPER: It is related that when the ship was in deep but not obvious distress the captain could not persuade the passengers to man the life boats, so he resulted to cultural remedy. To the Germans he said, "It is an order." To the English he said, "It is a game." To the French he said, "It is sinful." To the Italians he said, "It is forbidden." And to the Americans he said, "It is new."

COLONEL JEFF COOPER: Our travels remind us again of the linguistic advice that one should do business in English, diplomacy in French, command troops in German, make love in Spanish, and sing in Italian.

OLD JOKE: Heaven is a French cook, a German mechanic, and an English policeman. Hell is an English cook, a French mechanic, and a German policeman.

I've added Colonel Jeff Cooper (as opposed to Professor Jeff Cooper) to my blogroll. Among other things, Cooper fought in WWII and Korea, and founded the Gunsite Ranch shooting school. His monthly missives are worth reading for what he has to say about guncraft and the state of the world. Like most conservative bloggers that I link to, I don't agree with everything he says (particularly in regards to religion and "ragheads"), but overall I think he's right more than he's wrong, which is never a bad average.