Lots of time constraints on Uncle Crappy this week, so I may not show up as frequently as I normally would. First, there’s Monday, the unyielding deadline for our pre-election package o’ stuff for the paper. Only three stories for me, but there’s capsules on every contested race in our respective areas, and that, my friends, takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 phone calls in the last couple weeks alone.

And then there’s Friday, when we get up early and drive to Philadelphia for an overnighter. Going to Philly accomplishes a few things:

@ We finally get to see the National Constitution Center in the historic district. We’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Pathetic, perhaps … but we think it’s going to be really cool.

@ Equally cool will be the chance to meet Phil Lesh a second time, this time at a book signing thing Phil’s doing to promote his new book. There will be pictures of this. Soon.

@ And then there’s dinner on Friday night. As my payoff for getting my ass kicked in several recent season-long football bets, The Wife will escorted by Uncle Crappy out to a nice dinner. A really nice dinner. We’re going to Morimoto, the restaurant owned and operated by the Iron Chef of the same name. We’ve only been talking about it for two years, now … so on Friday, we finally get to do it. And it’s going to be spectacular.

Southwest Airlines starts service in Pittsburgh in about a week. After that, no more driving to Philly — not when we can fly there for, like, $30 a person. But that luxury isn’t available this weekend: We’re driving back home on Saturday, so I can work on Sunday without too much trouble.

It’s going to be fun. And I’m tired already.