U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's announcement of Iraq's decision to allow the return of the inspectors caught me lugging my accordion in between carriages on the uptown E train, in a concerted effort to catch up to my fellow Mariachi musicians. I knew the spoos would spike and as we struck up the opening strains of "La Cucaracha", tears rolled down my cheeks as I thought of the 1-ES-point scalp that had eluded me. The fact that I only trade mornings was no consolation and by the time we hit 57th Street, our point of alighting, I was weeping unashamedly. All this was apparently too much for an elderly lady who pushed her way through the crowd and stuffed a 2-ES-point note under my sombrero. No slippage, no brokerage. I should have been satisfied, but it's not the same.
