[rollei_list] US Patent and Trademark Office

Every year, my wife has to attend a two-day conference on HETIS always held in Alexandria. I always hate going as these are invariably held in the sort of hotels which threaten you with a $500 additional fee if they detect ANY sign of you smoking in their rooms. But Pam always hauls me along, and I go.
My schedule is always the same: I go to the National Zoo and do a day wandering about the grounds. I a a "FONZ" a "Friend of the National Zoo", so I get to park for free which makes the trip one merely of navigating to the Rock Creek Parkway and Bob's Your Uncle. (There is no admission charge. Years ago, my then wife asked me in wonderment, "so we don't pay for this?" to which I replied, well, we pay our admission fees all at once, every April 15th.) I spend the second morning finding a smoking-permitted portion of the lobby and park myself there, and read. This year, the conference was held in a venue especially hostile to nice guys like me, so I, at a number of the other derelict spouses, wandered about outside on occasion to smoke.
I went around the block and discovered that I might well have passed up the Zoo for once, as the four new buildings for the USP&TO were immediately behind the hotel in which we were staying. Brand new -- two are still under construction. I have never done primary research at the USP&TO or, for that matter, at the National Archives, but know many who have done so, and all advise to go in with VERY focused goals. As I had not realized the opportunity, I had nothing prepared but, now, at least, I do have the site set on my wife's Nav1 GPS thingy, so I can get back there without much of a problem. (Well, I could get there, anyway, as it is immediately off of Duke Street, one of Alexandria's main drags -- get on I-95 North about two miles from my front door, drive 120 miles (3.345 degrees Kelvin or somesuch, for the metric in our midst <he grins>) and then get off on Duke Street. It is something on the order of two left turns and five right turns to get to the USP&TO front door, although on the street parking might take some driving about.-- $2 for two hours but, if you drive on down to 221 King Street, they will give you a free pass for out-of-towners, renewable one time.)
My wife and I did get to have dinner last evening at Mruphy's Irish Bar, an Alexandria standard where the Scottish Christmas Walk inner-circule normally convene afterwards for a double single-malt, done neat, of course. It's been a lot of years since I've done this but with my wife's Newly Mechanized Left Knee, we might do it in 2009, if I've not been called back to active duty in the interim.
I did take my Baby Grey to the Zoo and shoot off a roll of Kodacolor 200 there, long past its use-by date. I wish my darkroom were set up, as I have a set of Kindermann 127 reels but the thought of dong C-41 on a hit-or-miss basis is arguably more of a challenge than I am willing to confront. So I will mail this off to some specialty lab.
So, Richard, if you would like some direct research done, and I shall try to fit this in prior to 20th January next, as I can work a free lunch at the Chief of Staffs' mess at the Pentagon as well. 

Marc


msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!

---
Rollei List

- Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

- Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe'
in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org

- Online, searchable archives are available at
http://www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list

Other related posts: