A Visit to the Whitehouse
A very nice day, clear blue sky although a little breezy with a southerly wind. Only two weeks earlier there was severe flooding in Carolina and Virginia.
Anne and I was worried our visit to Washington DC would be a washout. We had nothing to fear the weather could not have been better for the time of year, Sunday the 9th May (Mother's Day in the USA).
We were on the second leg of our tour and now in Washington DC, on a month long tour of the United States from the east coast of America to the West coast ending in San Francisco.
Our journey started in New York a wonderful city vibrant and so much to do. Anne and I packed in so much in the short time. A harbour cruise around the Statue of Liberty to the top of the Rockefeller building, Times square, the John Lennon memorial and a Broadway hit remake show (Hair) and so much more.
Today is Sunday afternoon on the 9th May Anne and I had a sandwich for lunch we visited the American Museum of Natural History which is very impressive I could have spent all day going around but Anne and I wanted to get to the White House before it got too late. I had been told that President Barack Obama was at home and we were keen to see the White House.
The White House has opened the grounds to visitors on special occasions, Michelle Obama's kitchen garden is very popular maybe the gardens would be open today especially being Mothers Day. As we arrived at the White House it was disappointing to see that the gates were closed and with tourists taking snaps from the perimeter fence.
However just a little to the right of us there was a small group of people getting very excited. Anne and I made our way to the group, as we arrived we saw this person on the other side of the fence all dressed in full dress uniform walking towards us it would appear this group of people were expecting something special to happen.
I assumed at first this person was a guard but I discovered he was a high ranking Aide to the president a Lt Colonel Bradley Harvey-Smith. He opened the small gate and welcomed the group which Anne and I had joined.
It would appear that this group of people were to have a private meeting with the President. Colonel Bradley gave a small identity pass to each person and as Anne and I walked towards him Colonel Bradley said to both of us "Welcome to the White House Mr. and Mrs. Booth" and gave us identity passes Well I was gob smacked how did this colonel know our names.
I am aware the security around the White House is very secure and not any Tom Dick or Harry could possibly gain access to the White house. What I didn't know was that Anne and I had been scanned with Iris recognition a method of biometric authentication that uses pattern-recognition technique not to be confused with another, less prevalent, ocular-based technology, retina scanning as we stood by the small gate.
The data from the scanning device had actually down loaded all the information we had submitted to the government prior arrival to the USA. This information was embedded onto the security pass which allowed Anne and me a personal meeting with the President of the United States of America.
You might ask how the hell did we get chosen to get into the White House and Meet the President well Anne and I have sworn to honour our meeting with the President so we are not in a position to say anything about how, what and mention anything discussed. We have been allowed to have the photograph which is shown above but hope I will not be in trouble for publishing it.
