Meanwhile, we leaned on the fence outside the guard house and read John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley: In Search of America." A steady trickle of reporters passed by, and we spent several minutes chatting with an old friend, AP's Nedra Pickler, as she went in for the day. After about twenty minutes, another officer came out of the guard house and explained that he had just talked with the Press Office: Fishbowl D.C. had officially been denied access for the day. No further reason. He presented us with the Media Affairs phone number scribbled on a napkin. We thanked him and departed.

The last time we called yesterday, we thought we'd employ a little trickery: Call late and hope that someone other than the interns were answering the phones by then. Unfortunately, perky Caroline headed us off at the pass: the mysterious spokesperson we needed was finally out of his marathon meeting but now he had already left the office. Damn. The plus side? We knew wer were making progress because Caroline at least recognized Fishbowl this time. She seemed more amused than annoyed, thankfully.