I know Mindy doesn't read my blog (or any blogs, for that matter) so I can tell this story with no fear of reprisals...

This morning, I was sitting in my room at around a quarter to eight, doing some reading on NATO and alliance theory, when the fire alarm went off. With a sigh of frustration, I picked myself up, pulled on my parka (I was already wearing sweats), and headed outside...

... to be greeted by the sight of Mindy wearing what looked like a robe, a huge sheet, a large towel in her hair, and slippers, all bundled up against the cold, and with an expression on her face that alternated between murderous rage, weary resignation and rueful amusement. Worse yet, she had been in the middle of shampooing her hair, and so there were suds trapped in the large towel turbaned and perched on top of her head.

You had to be there. It's an image I will never forget. I said as much to Rich, whose sleepiness disappeared at the shock of the image he beheld.

"I'm already trying to forget it!" he replied.