So, after a filling lunch at Mackey's on L Street, where we said goodbye to our team member Dan Smith, Ted and I strolled over to the White House to have a look around, get some coffee and take advantage of the unusual weather.

Above, you can see them dismantling the "fish bowl" where President Obama and the First Lady stood to greet the crowd just a couple weeks ago. It's taking surprisingly long to tear down, which implies that some aspects of its construction must have anticipated something worse than mere bullets.

Another shot of the aquarium. Leaf blowing guy is making life difficult because Ted can't hear me asking him not to block my shot. J

Here's the front of the White House from the fence. Will lasers and death robots emerge if I put my phone between the bars for a better shot? Let's not try that out today.

Lawn numerous deux.

Here leaf blower guy makes his return appearance, and you can see the rest of the reviewing area and fish bowl tear down. It's hard to say, but I would guess they are taking great care in the demolition, since they seem to be stacking the pieces up on palettes. Perhaps they keep all this stuff so they can reuse it in another four years?

A final shot of the construction. Now it's time to get back to work.

A view up Pennsylvania Avenue lies before us, as we return to the office. From this vantage point, you can just barely see my building a few blocks from here. It's the one that's tan and blue glass just below the third American flag from the left. By the time we reach the intersection, the building is looming across Edward R. Murrow Park, but the World Bank is still mostly obscured by other structures. The view of the White House from our office is reciprocally unflattering.