The Ombudsman with the red shark. He thinks his friends make a bigger deal out his convertible than he does.

Earlier this year I griped that the weather over New Years was not a good as it had been the previous two years. The reason was obvious — the WWN Ombudsman was not in town. The past two years, he had been around and the weather was beautiful. This Jan. 1 he found himself in Bloomington, Ind. and reported that the weather was a unseasonable 69°. We were significantly colder here.

Anyhow, after a long absence from BeltwayLand, the Ombudsman made a triumphant return this past weekend, ushering in beautiful days of higher than normal temperatures. So, if you enjoyed the weather, go ahead and thank him. Warm weather seems to follow this guy.

POSTSCRIPT: Now that I think about it, there were also above average temperatures the last time I had seen him, in July for my wedding. In fact, on the day of the rehearsal, it was about 105°. The moral — only have him around between late fall and early spring or you could get burned.