Morning excitement....

This morning I was at the Federal Building getting my Captains license renewed.

The Coast Guard Merchant Mariner office is on the first floor, overlooking 1st ave.

I was waiting to be helped, gazing out the window. I saw my Eye doctor walk by...

Then, this woman with a dog on a leash comes up to the window and starts tapping the glass, she is saying something but we can't hear it. The glass looks to be at least 8 inches thick.

A couple of Federal agents come up to her and get her away from the window. I lose sight of them briefly and figure all is well. Suddenly white suburbans with Homeland Security emblems on them come out of nowhere and block off all the intersections surrounding the building. I see agents running back and forth. We all look at each other and wonder if we should leave or get down or something..

The agents keep the intersections closed for 10 minutes or so, and they are diverting all northbound traffic on 1st ave down to the waterfront. I feel for the people on the busses as they have no idea where they are going!

Some agents with dogs move in and the dogs are sniffing everything in site. I look over at the Suburban in the middle of the intersection and its rocking violently. Someone inside must be trying to get out or something.

Then, the Suburbans drive off and all is returned to normal.

I understand crazy people probably don't know what they are doing most the time, but they shouldn't be crazy around the Federal Building because its clear those guys are on red alert all the time. Defending our freedom one crazy lady at a time!

Finally I was called to fingerprint. They scanned my fingers 10 times each with an electronic scanner. It was pretty cool, but I wonder what is gonna happen to all my prints now? I am in the system.

After the computers were up, my license renewal went through. Another 5 years before I need to go into the Federal building again...

Note: I didn't take the picture. I was afraid to reach for my camera, for fear of violating national security. I google searched to find that image then quickly edited it in photoshop to remove the name of the building and the id number of the vehicle. I hope that's enough to keep me off some list...