This will be my last entry from Central America. If all goes well, at this time tomorrow I will be in an airplane over the Pacific on my way to Quito, Ecuador. Just before we land I will cross the equator for the first time in my life. I'll be sure to report on whether the toilets really flush the wrong way.

I went to the Miraflores Locks today on the Panama Canal. I wouldn't say they were disappointing, but they definitely don't reflect the grandeur that one tends to ascribe to the Canal. It looks like most locks I've seen on other rivers. The problem is that the Panama Canal is famous for reasons that are impossible to see when going to one particular place. There's no viewing platform that lets you see all 50-whatever miles, four locks and hundred years of turbulent history.

"We could go attack the other tourists."
But it was cool. I arrived on the bus with a group from Australia and England. When they met me they announced that since we now had the coalition of the willing together, we could go attack the other tourists. I was amused. There was a giant cargo ship of some kind being raised through the lock just as we arrived. It was rather stunning to see such a huge thing being moved vertically so quickly. Interesting, also, to look at the walls of the locks and know that the dimensions of every big ship in the western hemisphere are based on the size of this canal.

Did you see David Bloom died? The NBC White House reporter who was in Iraq. Didn't get shot or anything... had a pulmonary embolism, whatever that is. He was 39 and really good at his job. I only mention it because I met the guy once when I was covering a visit by President Clinton. I was working for an NBC station and he and his crew needed some kind of help I can't recall. He was the nicest guy and wore a perfectly pressed shirt, jacket and tie... along with ripped, faded jeans and sneakers. We only talked a minute or two and he surely forgot all about it a minute later, but I remember being impressed that such a nice guy can make it to a position like White House correspondent for NBC.

"The Bloom-mobile."
I guess he wasn't always nice to everybody, though. Tim Russert this morning talked about the "Bloom-mobile," the device towed behind his military vehicle in Iraq that allowed them to broadcast live video while rolling through Iraq. (Remember the live video of tanks rolling into Iraq that first night? That was him.) Russert said it wasn't enough for David to get a company to build the technology to do it and to get the military to let him take it along. He made sure the company wouldn't build any more for the next network that asked.

Oh, and happy 29th birthday to me.