Out of Office?

In the last several days, I've been sending out a bunch of emails to various people, mostly those with whom I have not been sufficiently diligent in maintaining contact.*

*Note the minor self-flagellation there. However, let me point out that this is a two-way street. What, did most of you forget how to type? Is there some sort of massive US-wide internet failure that I'm not aware of? I get a better response time from the people I know in Beirut and Singapore (you know who you are).

Anyway, here's the thing: four times in the last 24 hours, I have received automated replies stating that the recipient is "out of the office until....." some particular date. Must be nice. I expect this sort of irregular work schedule from Europe, but not from the U.S. Aren't we supposed to be the hard-working ones?

With all this downtime, if anyone has some uncommitted vacation time, I'm hoping to be in Beirut around the end of the month, or perhaps early in June. Perhaps someone would care to join me? I know, Beirut is not exactly a prime tourist destination, but it's supposed to be better than most people think.

I hear the Lebanese have got this rebuilding thing down. Every few years, the Israelis blow it up, and then the Lebanese rebuild it better than before. Then the Israelis come back and it starts all over again. Nice symbiotic relationship they've developed.

So, any takers?