My company's head honcho sent an blast email authorizing all employees and customers to watch the inauguration at work, wherever groups can be gathered around a television set (please no streaming video; our network can't handle it).

We're planning to gather at 8 a.m. Pacific Time in the Conference Room, bring coffee and munchies and watch this historic event.

I'll be wearing my tee-shirt (against company dress code, but so what?) that says "Inauguration Day 2009 -- Overthrow of the United States Government by Peaceful Means". It's a good reminder of how rare, historically speaking, peaceful transition of governments has been. And how vital to our polity this process continues to be.

I, of course, am the one who suggested the coffee, to which everyone agreed enthusiastically. We'll no doubt wrangle a bit over who has to go answer the telephone (how dare anyone call at such an historic moment?).