dcb's blog

Elemental and I are crazy about Sonic, and I'm happy to say it's finally come here. We were planning on going for his birthday, but it sounds like it's going to be quite busy out there for a while. Maybe later this fall. Anyone up for a road trip to Aurora?

Every time the Olympics are held (winter or summer), I'm excited to watch whatever I can of the events. I am awed by the athleticism and dedication of these athletes to push themselves to become the best in the world. I believe that these games are important because they bring the world together for a unified cause, even if just for a few weeks, and they show that we can be a global community who support the common ideals of hard work, dedication, sportsmanship and civic pride.

Of course, after a few days or so into the competition, I realize that I'm at heart a sentimentalist and idealist, and the beliefs I have about the importance of good sportsmanship, unity and a global community coming together are actually a bunch of crap, and the athletes or the coaches are actually a bunch of whiny babies. It seems like every day when I get on the internets, all I see are articles about who's mad at whom, who's thrown their medals in the garbage or at others, and who's questioning the validity of one team or another.

I give you the following articles, just from the past 24 hours:
Blake Rips Foe After Olympics Tennis Loss

The Olympics' Age Old Problem

Wrestling Deals with New Allegations of Corruption

Considering these have come from only the past 24 hours, and I'm not watching the coverage online all that closely, this is quite a bit of bitching. And these are just the headlines showing up on Yahoo. I can't only imagine what I'd find if I went digging. I guess the answer to the age-old question of 'can't we all just get along' is 'no'.

Charlton Heston dead at 84.

I'm lucky, though, because it could have been so much worse than it was. Today, while on my way to work, I was hit by a guy who ran the red light. I was probably no more than 200 yards from the building's front door when I was hit, so I was basically at the end of my roughly 40 mile commute. The hassle of dealing with the aftermath of the accident (insurance claims, paperwork, car repairs, and medical visits, etc.) has not been the most fun. Our Element appears to have survived the accident, which is not what we thought earlier today. It was not drivable after the accident, and unless we hear differently tomorrow morning, it will require having the entire front end replaced but will be right as rain after the work is completed. And I'm ok, although I'm now starting to feel the physical after effects of being hit.

Now what is so monumental about this that it warrants being announced to the world? I was hit by a guy who was undoubtedly doing the same thing that many of you, and myself for that matter, have done. You, like I, may have done it many times. He ran a red light because he wasn't paying attention. He was talking on the phone. According to the police report, he thought the light was yellow, but he couldn't honestly remember. I am a big fan of Mythbusters, and a couple of seasons ago, they did an experiment to see if it was worse to drive drunk (or at the legal limit) or drive while talking on the cell phone. An obstacle course was set up, and the drivers were timed and graded on their performance. Both drivers performed worse when talking on the phone than while drunk. Both of these grades were worse than when they drove as the 'control'; not talking on the cell phone or under the influence.

So the lesson to take from this is to think twice before picking up the phone while driving. Many states have laws about phone usage while driving, and IL has the distracted driver law that should pass shortly, but this does not seem to really have that much effect. It's illegal to talk on the phone within Chicago city limits, but I've seen it many times. Look, just hang up. There's nothing so important that you cannot wait until you're stopped or pulled over to safely call. Should you wish to not heed my request, please think of this when you pick up the phone; you are now at risk to cause a lot of inconvenience and/or pain to yourself or someone else. This is the first accident I've ever been in, and I can tell you, it's not been the most stellar experience. So for my sake, and for the sake of others, just hang up and drive. I know my behavior will be changing from now on.

Fortunately, I will not need to take a coach anywhere.

A little while ago this evening, a small field mouse met an untimely death in my backyard. About a month ago, I noticed mice in our garage (which is attached to the house), and in response we set traps, eliminated food sources and closed up all potential entry points into the house.

Two nights ago, we noticed one of our cats sitting in the kitchen, a room he normally avoids, intently watching the stove. This should have been a clue to us, but what can we say, we're not very observant. So tonight, after watching the first of the Bourne movies, Elemental got up and called from the kitchen, "Ok, don't freak out, but the mouse is now in the house". (Ironically, a mouse in the house will not make me freak out. A mouse-sized spider in the house absolutely will.) We proceeded to clean out everything we could from the kitchen floor and pantry, and then called our neighbor to ask for help lifting because E still has a broken wing from the incident last August. Shortly thereafter, the neighbor and his brothers show up to engage in the mouse extraction. After removing it from under our stove, they took it out back to meet an untimely death on our brick patio.

Here's the thing that is the most annoying about this whole situation: I have two cats. I am pretty sure that cats are supposed to be genetically predisposed to catching and killing mice. And my cats owe me. They are treated roughly the same as the ancient Egyptians treated their cats. I seriously think these two are treated better than some people. But no, my two kittidiots are sitting back, fat and happy, ignoring their duties as responsible felines.

So what's my point? Really there isn't one. I just wanted to express my displeasure with my two extremely spoiled fur-children. There will be no extra treats tonight.

Well, it's been 48 hours, and peace has been restored for the time being. Elemental is feeling a lot better, and I'm much more calm and collected than I was when stuck in Ft. Lauderdale. He has a broken shoulder and two large bruises in the back of both of his legs from where the trusses from the roof hit him in the back. He's been up and about for the past two days, and he's been back to the scene of the collapse. Monday we head to the orthopedic surgeon to see if surgery is necessary.

For those who haven't gone out to the Google to see what happened up here in Chicago on Thursday, here's a link to the story about his building's collapse. If you enlarge this picture, there is a trailer in the image (it has red lettering on it). It was behind this trailer that he woke up after the collapse. As you can see, it's pretty amazing that all he had was a broken shoulder. In all honesty, he should probably be dead. At this time, we still don't have any idea what happened in the area; there is no record of any tornado having touched down. It's believed that this was caused by wind sheer.

As for me, I was able to make it home on Thursday evening/Friday morning. My faith in the human race was restored because of a lot of the extraordinary kindnesses of strangers at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. My flight on American was delayed three times before it was finally cancelled. I panicked because I was so far removed from what was going on here, and there was no way I was staying another night down there. Rather than wait almost an hour to talk to a rep from American who would only tell me there was nothing available to come back here for at least a day, I called Southwest and tried to get on a flight home. They had one last flight out at 8:15 that night, and there were seats available. I held off on booking because I wasn't sure if I could get my luggage off of the previous flight in time to catch the new one. At this time, it was 7:30. I ran (literally) down to the baggage services for American and tried to plead my case to get my bag off sooner. The woman behind the desk saw my distress and personally went back to pull the bag off. I ran out to the taxi stand to try to get a cab to the next terminal where Southwest was located. There was a man behind the desk and a man standing next to a shuttle van. I told them I needed to get to the terminal as soon as possible and I was willing to pay whatever I needed to in order to get there for the 8:15 flight. I only had a half hour to get to the terminal, book the flight and get through security in order to get to the flight before it departed. The man at the shuttle must have seen my hysteria, because he immediately grabbed my bags and threw them into the van. We sped out of the terminal and looped back around to terminal one. When we stopped, I asked him what I owed him. He said that I just needed to make sure I got home. The lady at the Southwest desk was able to get me on the flight, and I made it through security in a flash as well. By this time, my Blackberry was out of battery, so I only had enough to call Ru and E and tell them both I had made the flight and would be in route shortly. However, when I hit the gate, there was another delay. I had no means to communicate with them at all, and I collapsed into another round of tears while watching the radar at the gate with the gate agent and a bunch of other passengers. I tried to email Ru to let her know we were delayed, but my laptop was also out of battery. I was able to get a phone card, but at this time I didn't have any phone numbers because I couldn't get my Blackberry to turn on at all. Another business traveler saw that I was in distress, and he offered my his laptop cord to get into my Outlook to get her number. He (by some miracle) has the exact same laptop as I do. I was able to get the numbers I needed, and as I was pulling them off, our flight started boarding. 3 hours later, I was back in Chicago. Rob was there to pick me up, and shortly thereafter, I was back home.

So here's to all of those who will never read this entry--Thank you! Thank you to the missionary nun to sat with me in the terminal after I got the news and held my hand as I cried out my fears. Thank you to the kind gentleman seated across from me and got me Kleenex during that time. Thank you to the baggage service representative who pulled my bag. Thank you to the cab driver who took me to the terminal for free, and thank you to the gentleman who offered me his laptop battery (which I never needed) and his cord to pull off information from my VPN. Thank you to all who made my experience just a bit more comfortable as I rushed to get home. You all made me realize that I have a long way to go to be the kind of person I want to be. And finally, thank you to all of you who read my first post and either offered your words of support or prayers for a quick recovery. Even though I may never know who you are, I truly appreciate what you've done.

Update:
Surgery is not necessary. Peace has now officially been restored.

I've never really thought of this blog as a diary, and I certainly have never used it as such (other than the occasional travel post), but based on today's events, as well as Ru's suggestion, I will be doing so now.

Today my nightmare has come true. As some of you may know, I travel a lot for my job. I have been fortunate enough to travel overseas, and I've been to most of the major markets in the US in the past two years alone. One of the hazards of being gone so much is the worry that comes from being away from home when bad weather or other potential disasters can occur. This summer has been a wild one in Chicago with respect to weather. We've had a string a weeks where there were thunderstorms almost every night. This week has been no exception. It was only a few short weeks ago when my home was almost hit by a tornado in the south suburbs. Today the ante has been upped.

I'm currently sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for clearance from air traffic control to clear us for the return flight to Chicago. While waiting, I received a call from Elemental (the husband) telling me that the tornado sirens had started going off in St. Charles, the suburb that is next to West Chicago, where he works. I told him to grab his cell phone and get to shelter, and when this thing blows over he should call me back and let me know. About a half hour later, I received a return call from him saying that the tornado has hit his building and he's ok, but he thinks his shoulder is dislocated. He doesn't know what has happened, but he thinks people are buried under the rubble of the building. The EMTs were on site and he was going to be transported to the hospital. He keeps telling me to remain calm because he's ok. I keep asking if this is some sort of joke (incidentally, this is the type of "joke" I would be famous for. As of today, that will be stopping.) He says this is not a joke; he will keep me posted on what's going on when he knows more or is transported to the hospital.

There is nothing worse than having something like this happen when you're on the road. I cannot even begin to explain the powerlessness I feel knowing that I cannot be there in the time when he needs me. I have been blessed with some very kind people at the airport who have been supportive as I have called Ru, my coworkers, my parents and others to inform them of the situation. To say that I've not had control of my emotions is an understatement. Fortunately, I've had a nice gentleman get me kleenex to dry my tears and a nice nun from a missionary literally hug me as I collapsed in a fit of hysterical crying. Many others have been giving me sympathetic nods and other small and noninvasive signs of support. Ru, who is scheduled for sainthood, is on her way to the hospital to be with him now. But I still keep thinking (rather irrationally, I know), that if I was there, I could do something. Intellectually, I know this is not true. At any rate, here I sit, feeling very scared, powerless, anxious and tired, waiting to go home. I don't wish this on anyone.

For those who read my last post about the tornado and thought that it would never happen to them, please listen to my second warning--it can. Please, put together a plan for disasters. Please, put together a means to communicate with one another should something happen. Please keep my husband in your prayers. I hope to be out of this humid hell soon. Until then, I fight for calm.

I'll post an update when I know more.

Update:

I will get out of here tonight, but I'm not sure when now. I've switched from American to Southwest, and I appear to be able to get out of here once this next wave passes. E has a broken shoulder. He's in pain, but taking the pain medicine well. Ah, the miracles of Vicodin.

If you've ever been down Harlem Avenue in Berwyn, or if you've ever seen Wayne's World, you are probably familiar with the spindle.

The Plaza is now slated to be redeveloped and the current location of the sculpture is set to be re-purposed for a Walgreens store. Concerned citizens of Berwyn, Illinois are actively seeking to make sure the town does not lose this landmark and looking to work with city officials and the owners of the sculpture to ensure that the Spindle is not only retained, but also preserved and maintained for future generations of residents and visitors alike.

. Wanna know more or help out with their mission? Find out more here.

Mine was good. It ended with a tornado.

It's the heat of summer in Chicago, and that can only mean one thing...strong summer storms. It's been a while since we've gotten hit hard here in the south suburbs. The last rash of tornadoes was back a couple of years ago when Utica got hit, leaving six dead. While that particular cell missed us, another one came through Joliet and took off the roofs of some houses. We were discussing this last night over dinner while a particularly heavy storm came through and pounded us with rain. I mentioned to E that it had been a while since we had gotten any tornadic cells through our area, and I thought that was strange. Within the next five minutes, our sirens went off alerting us to trouble in the area. When E got up to look outside our sliding glass door to see if he could see anything, he quickly got the severity of the situation. He turned to me and said "it's here", and we both shot into motion to grab the cats and head for the basement. At that time, he was unable to see that it hadn't touched down by us, but it seemed to be only about a half mile away--at most. By the time we grabbed the cats and got ourselves settled in the basement, the tornado was starting to break up. We're all fine, and while we had a bit of a scare, our house (and ourselves and pets) are just fine.

All of that said, I feel compelled to remind everyone of the importance of keeping a storm or disaster kit handy in case you need it. Make sure you keep a kit including the following in a safe place in your house for when a storm hits:

1. a flashlight and extra batteries; a lantern using batteries will also work, as will candles but make sure you have waterproof matches or a lighter with them
2. a gallon of drinking water and a nonperishable snack or two
3. a radio that runs off of batteries or a crank, preferably one that has a weather band as well
4. a map of your area-this becomes really important when you're tracking a storm into your area, especially if you're not familiar with the surrounding towns
5. a charged cell phone and other personal belongings such as car keys, identification, cash or credit cards, etc.
6. extra supplies for children or pets, including pet food
7. prescription medicine

For those who are interested in hearing more about our tornado extravaganza, here's a link.

There have been so many of these in the past six years, it's hardly newsworthy to mention anymore, but here's another fine example of someone who was silenced from telling the truth while working for this administration.

The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused the administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research.

"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried," Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as the nation's top doctor from 2002 until 2006, told a House of Representatives committee.
...
Carmona said Bush administration political appointees censored his speeches and kept him from talking out publicly about certain issues, including the science on embryonic stem cell research, contraceptives and his misgivings about the administration's embrace of "abstinence-only" sex education.

Ok, is there anyone who hasn't been appointed by this administration only become a political hack once in office? And if all of these people really are a nonpartisan as they all claim to be, why isn't anyone speaking out just a tad bit sooner? So much for "a government of the people, by the people, for the people."

Have you ever taken a trip and known, almost as soon as it started, that it was headed for certain disaster? I've spent this week in San Francisco, and I should have known, starting on the flight out, that this was not going to be the travel nightmare from hell.

I travel a lot for work, and I've been fortunate to see a bit of the world along the way. I've been amassing the experiences for my future travel memoir, and this will definitely be a chapter in the book. On Monday morning, in the bitter cold of Chicago, I head to O'Hare for my flight. It's 9 degrees below, before wind chill, so I'm already thrilled to be heading out into the bitter cold at 5:30 in the morning. In addition, I'm still smarting from the Bears loss the night before. So out I head to ORD, and the traffic is horrible. I check in curbside and wait in line for over an hour for security. After finally getting through, I notice I've forgotten my watch, so I decide to risk it and head for Starbucks to get my morning beverage, scone and a NY Times. I make it to the gate with minutes to spare. I did not have the half hour to spare that I thought, but rather a few minutes. Me and my seatmate (a nice guy who works at Allstate and is heading off to the same conference), make it just in time. The flight is relatively uneventful for the first 2 hours. After that, things go downhill rapidly. The family of four sitting in the row in front of us has a very ill child traveling with them. She's about 5, and either gets airsick or has some sort of stomach bug. The parents discover this when she throws up all over herself, her father (who's got the child in his lap), and the woman sitting next to them (who's not the mother, but a woman traveling on business). The flight attendants are quick to react, cleaning up the child and airplane, and relocating the woman to another seat. The father decides to settle the child's stomach with a bit of Sprite. This turns out to be a really bad plan. About thirty minutes later, she throws up again, this time, completely missing the bags provided by the flight attendants and hitting the space between the two seats. My seatmate has the unfortunate circumstance of getting his foot barfed on. My laptop bag comes out from under the seat unaffected. Unfortunately, the entire plane now smells like barf, and we have an hour to go before we land. Yippee. At this point, I should have just gotten on another flight and headed back home.

But the trip continues, and I meet up with my coworkers and we head off to the JW Marriott in Union Square. The hotel is nice but desperately needs renovation; it is completely outfitted with brown and pink marble, and it's exactly as yucky as it sounds. But the location is great (two blocks from Tiffany's-always a good sign), and it's only a short walk to the convention center. The rest of the week seems to go fine-until last night. At that point, it all goes to hell.

We leave the show floor yesterday afternoon, after taking down the booth and packing up. We're all happy the show's over-it was a success-but we're exhausted and hungry. We head back to the Marriott to change and plan for dinner. We take the shuttle back to the hotel, and I've got my rolling laptop case, purse, coat and a large box filled with materials we're sending back to the office. We talk the shuttle driver into dropping us off a block early at our hotel, and he agrees. We're in a hurry to get off because the light's about to change to green, so we're hurrying off the bus. Big mistake. The heel of my boot catches on the lip on the bottom stair of the motorcoach, and I go flying out of the bus, landing hard on my knees in traffic. My coworkers immediately freak out and hurry to help me. I'm fine, a bit bruised on the knees and ego, but nothing appears to be broken. I pick up my stuff, and look up to see a man offering to help me. He's obviously homeless and looking for an opportunity to make a few extra bucks. I decline the offer, tell my friends (again) that I'm really ok, and balance the box on my laptop case. He's persistant, and starts to ask me if I can give him a hamburger. Peggy shoots me a confused look; and I politely, but firmly, tell the man I do not have any hamburgers at this time and cannot help him. We cross the street and head into the hotel.

Later that night, we head out to eat, and decide Fisherman's Wharf is going to provide the best variety for what we're looking for. We head into this little shop filled with handcarved wood pieces, and Peg and I decide to get something. As I check out, I comment on the quality and beauty of the items displayed in the store, and I ask the man if he's the artisan who created these items. He replies that he was; and I comment again on how beautiful his work is and how talented he is. He responds to the comment by saying "Thanks. Will you marry me?". I respond (somewhat laughingly), that while I appreciate the offer, I'm pretty sure my husband wouldn't approve. I turn to get some sort of help out of the conversation from Peg, but she's now nowhere to be seen. She did hear, because I get nothing but crap about it at dinner later. The rest of the evening is relatively uneventful; we had a nice dinner at a seafood place, and a great cab ride home from a cabbie who knows his San Fran history, and even takes us down Lombard Street on the way to the hotel. I hope to get home uneventfully-I board the plan in a half hour.

So what did I learn this week? Don't fly in rows with or behind children. Watch your step on wet stairs; and if you fall, beware of those offering to help. Homeless people like hamburgers. And I'm a magnet for crazy people. I also learned one other great thing. San Francisco has great restaurants. Next time you come out, be sure to visit the following:
>Bankok-great Thai place in the Union Square area
>Mona Lisa-a great Italian place near the City Lights bookstore, filled with kitsch and the best Italian food I've had in a while. Try the carbonara.
>Colibri-fantastic Mexican food in Union Square
>Boudin Bakery-great sandwiches on sourdough
>McCormick and Kuleto's Seafood-fresh seafood. Enough said.

Chicago - 39
New Orleans - 14

It's time to start the shuffle.

George and Mia, sackin' out.

By the time this year is over, I'll have taken 24 flights domestically and internationally. I've pretty much mastered the art of getting through security quickly, but I'm always amazed at how long it takes to get through the lines at almost every airport I've been to this year. Here are some tips to make the lines shorter. If only half of the people flying used these tips, the security lines would be significantly shorter.

1. Ideally, wear comfortable clothes that are easy to remove if necessary. Everyone has to remove sweatshirts, coats or fleece pullovers now, so you may as well wear stuff that's easy to remove. Also, if possible, wear slip on shoes.
2. Ok, now that you're properly dressed for quick passage, take off the coat and shoes while in line. You're gonna have to do it anyway, no reason to wait until you get to the scanner. Carry the stuff with you as you wait in line, and things will go substantially quicker.
3. If you travel with a laptop, take it out while you're in line. Again, you know you're gonna have to take it out of the bag, do it while you're zigzagging back and forth in the line. Don't wait until you get to the scanner. The same goes for the little bag of toiletries. Pull them out while you're waiting-don't wait until you're at the scanners.
4. And while we're on the subject, if you can, check the bags to avoid the hassle with the new toiletry carry on rules. Believe me, I hate checking bags, but the new rules for carrying on shampoo are so asinine that it's now worth it to just check them. It certainly would make the security lines faster. When I flew before the restrictions were lifted, I was through security very quickly because I didn't have to wait for people wrestling with their luggage.
5. Keep your ID inside the sleeve of the ticket jacket for easy reference at both checkpoints. It's easier than digging for it when you get to the front of the line.
6. Purses, laptop bags, backpacks, diaper bags and suitcases do not need to go into tubs to go through security. By taking a gazillion tubs to put through your shoes, jacket, laptop, Blackberry, laptop bag and garment bag, you’re making the line longer while the rest of us wait for tubs. Laptops typically have to go in their own tub, but you can put other electronics in it as well. Coats and shoes can go in their own and put the bags through without a tub. It’s little, but for us business travelers, it’s a big difference in time.
7. And finally, nothing in the airport irritates me more than the idiots who stand right on the other side of the scanner, putting all their crap back in their bags while holding up the security line. In every airport I’ve been to this year, all over the world, there are tables and chairs set up away from the x-ray equipment to put your shoes back on and put items back in their bags. If there’s a line for security, take your stuff out of the tubs and move it along to one of those tables. If you put your stuff away there, you’ll speed up the line considerably.

It may not seem like much, but after much observation, these seem to be the items that cause the greatest delays at security. A little bit of consideration can make a difference to those behind you, and believe me, the business traveler will thank you.