We've all had long days. But that's all in your head. Hours are the same length every day, although it doesn't always seem like it. Maybe you thought the longest day of your year was that day you were stuck in that eight-hour company ethics meeting. Or maybe it was on the final day of your week-long "vacation" at your in-laws, when you were forced by your wife, at imaginary gunpoint, to help her Aunt "Large" Marge, unabashedly wrapped in spandex, plant petunias in front of her house.

Scientifically, today is actually the longest day of the year. It's the summer solstice, the first day of summer, the day the spaceship is stopping by to pick up your cult (if you're into that). It also means it's the peak of a time of year that seems somewhat out of whack to those of us who are already awake when Mother Nature crawls out of bed. There's something odd about looking out the window and seeing full daylight at 5:45 AM, which is what happens for approximately a week before and after this particular date.

However, this time of year was even stranger when I was living in Michigan. Being an East Coastite, I was used to certain things -- the sun rising over the ocean instead of setting on it like it does on the West Coast, being able to drive to said ocean in no more than two hours, and the word "beach" meaning natural sand at said ocean placed there by real waves, not a bunch of dirt and crap dragged to the edge of a big lake like they have in the Great Lakes State.

However, there was a phenomenon in Michigan around this time of year that caught me by surprise. Because Michigan is so far west in the Eastern time zone, there's a notable daylight difference. The sun typcially tends to set about 45 minutes later than it does in Delaware. Therefore, at this time of year, you can actually still see outside when the clock strikes 10pm. It tends to knock you off your stride a bit.

-- Breaking news today: Iran has apparently seized several British naval vessels. Does anyone else find this to be just fundamentally wrong? What did they use, a big floating camel? God, that's got to be embarrasing. This is probably worse than when England didn't qualify for the World Cup in 1994. I mean, just say it once... Iranian Navy. How can you not chuckle?

-- I know that we need to be vigilant and what not in this day and age. But sometimes, people seem to over-react a little bit, especially in Washington. Part of the DC Metro was shut down for a while this morning because of a "suspicious package" on the tracks. It turned out to be a sleeping bag, one that probably rolled off some poor homeless guy's cart. Now I'm no terrorism expert, but I think I can tell a sleeping bag's not a bomb without a whole lot of examination.

-- Joan Rivers is currently on the television behind me. I'm jealous of her. It must be nice to not need a costume at Halloween.

I'm off to procure homeowner's insurance. Have a lovely Monday.