Downtown Austin is changing, and I don't just mean Ruta Maya Coffee House being replaced by something called Halcyon.

There are regular flyovers by jets and Blackhawk helicopters, for one. I'm not sure whether these are training flights, or patrol runs over the Capitol and surrounding government buildings.

There's also a sleek black car left running in the breezeway of my building (clearly marked "No Parking", of course) , almost all the time. It's precisely the sort of black car with tinted windows that I was very accustomed to when living in the tony, monied Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, home to many a top-ranking politician. Here, however, it seems very much out of place.

I'm curious—who in my building warrants a chauffeur? The flouting of the "No Parking" signs is de rigueur for chauffeurs and bodyguards—no surprise there—but I'm just wondering what kind of person with that much fame and/or authority would live in an apartment building like mine. The place is somewhat secure, but certainly not conducive to privacy.

My current working hypothesis is that one of our building's few furnished apartments is currently occupied by a celebrity who is just in town for a few days. Ethan Hawke is supposed to be appearing at Bookpeople, 2 blocks away, later in the week. Maybe it's him.

People have apparently been sighting Sandra Bullock in town again, so maybe it's her, too. I was under the impression she had already purchased a more permanent residence in the area, though.

Still, whoever it is, I must say I'm not surprised by the parking behavior but I am annoyed by it. Yet another example of the tendency of my fellow building occupants to completely disregard the implicit social contracts of community living.

I really am tired of the loud parties at 3am on the rooftop, the broken beer bottles in the stairwells and elevators, and the anonymous person who left a note on my door telling me my music is too loud at 5am and he/she has notified management. Never a knock on the door to say so, and besides I am asleep at 5am, so he/she has the wrong apartment, which a knock and a friendly request would have confirmed.

Can't we try to resolve problems without whining to management first? Isn't this what they taught us in kindergarten?

I guess I'm not so worried about downtown changing as I am about people changing. People are not civil anymore. Politeness and respect—left for dead.

In their place, helicopters buzzing over as I walk to Katz's of a Sunday morning, and sleek black cars left running, running.

What ever happened to civility?

Rain again, and a new flash flood watch. But at least rain has some good side effects. The trees by my building are blooming again.

Yesterday there was a little sun so I snapped this picture. Today, gray and wet again. C'est la vie.

I can't believe I've gone all this time looking at IdiotProgrammer's very sporadic updates, and never knew he had another, also sporadic but filling-in-the-gaps weblog called AsiaFirst.

Check it out for some interesting thoughts, links, and articles on Asian culture.