Free Sunday stuff

Behind these Geeks are tons of hot Librarians

A few Sundays ago, I managed to get into a convention for free.   My friend DrDrea is in town for the ALA conference and when I learned that one of my favorite contemporary authors was going to be there for an unannounced appearance, I asked if she could get me in.  

DrDrea did not disappoint.   She got me a buddy pass which got me into the convention for free.   Had I realized what a big event this was, I would probably have gone to check it out anyway even if John Scalzi wasn't gonna be there.


 What I didn't realize was that Tor was giving away copies of his latest book, The Human Division, which now that I've gone back and re-read some of Scalzi's posts about it, I realize the title is a play on words.

I had tweeted Scalzi earlier in the week, asking if there would be copies of his book to purchase and if he would sign them.  He tweeted back that he would sign books.  I thought the response was short because he probably gets hundreds of tweets per hour and I was lucky enough to get his attention at all. 

You had to sign up for certain events and according to the ALA website, 92 people had "expressed interest" in the Scalzi event when I signed up.  My bet was that there were more than that once all was said and done.  Yet somehow Scalzi managed to engage everyone who stood in line waiting for him to sign their book.

One is a talented writer, the other is just good looking

While I probably could have lost myself at the convention for hours, my aversion to crowds and a 4 o'clock appointment back home won out and I decided to head home.  Outside McCormick Place, the CTA bus tracker reported that the next bus wouldn't arrive for 30 minutes.  As luck would have it, there was someone offering free trials of those new Divvy Bikes that are springing up all over downtown. 

I figured it would be a good way to get me to the part of town Nightingale was in.  She was at the Home Depot in the west end of the South Loop and I was a bit closer to Chinatown.  I could have had Nightingale come pick me up but she had already graciously dropped me off just more than an hour before so it seemed cruel to ask her to make a second trip. 

So after listening to the finer points of the program from the individual, I got my free code and procured a bicycle.  These bikes only have three gears Slow, Really Slow and You're Not in a Hurry Are You?  While I fancy that I could make it from my house in Portage Park to the South Loop in 30-45 minutes, it would take much longer to make that journey on one of these bikes.  Which is sort of the point.  These are merely Self Propelled Urban Runabouts that are meant for short trips like the one I took.  Alas, I don't fathom these will pop up in the lower-income neighborhoods even though there is really no street value for them.

Back to the story.  I dropped off the bike at the station at Roosevelt and Wabash and looked around for Nightingale.  I didn't see her because she was driving my car and I was looking for hers.  Yes brain fart as you'd think I'd remember that.  After a good laugh about it, we picked up our friend and headed to Yuppie A&G Stanleys to get some produce and then head home for a cookout.  Our friend has been teasing us with free wine for several weeks yet she always managed to forget to bring it.  No big deal, I just went to the nearby Jewel and picked up some beer, along with whatever the scantly clad Latina Marketing Major was hawking -- a special kinda margarita if I'm not mistaken.

While at the store I get a call from the 4pm appointment.  It was the FEMA inspector and he wanted to know if he could come an hour early.  I said that would be wonderful as the only thing better than having to wait around less time for someone is having a Corporate America Meeting canceled altogether. 

I must admit I've had to reset my preconceived expectations of government workers.  I expected him to check the basement, look at our dirt pile in the front of the house, and then tell us we'll hear something before the next coming of The Lord or a Cubs World Series, whichever doesn't happen first.

Captain John was polite, of course, but he was also very thorough. He didn't just look at the basement but started in the attic and worked his way down.  Naturally, there wasn't much to find on the first or second floor but he still included it in is inspection.  He was friendly and non-threatening and my only real criticism would be that he didn't really answer questions so much as he said a lot of words that didn't amount to much.  So he is government after all.

Like I said, I wasn't expecting speed but lo and behold, the next day our case file had been updated and the day after that money was deposited into my bank account.  Less than 25% of the total cost of the cleanup repair but still nothing to sneeze at from the perspective of someone whose insurance did not cover this type of disaster in the first place.

It's time to get a new TV

The current TV with the non-TiVo DVR attached

'I've purchased exactly two TVs in my lifetime.  My first TV was donated to me by a co-worker at the BigName Law Firm back in my previous life for my first apartment..  It was a 25" color TV but an older model with dials and it didn't have a remote, to say nothing of being cable ready.  [As I was too cheap to get cable this was a non-issue.]

Two apartments later I decided to actually spend my own money to upgrade to a more modern TV (remote controlled instead of dials).  IIRC, I purchased a 27" RCA animal that had built in TV Guide.  I thought that was wicked cool and allowed me to cancel my newspaper subscription since I only got it for the TV Guide, Comics and coupons anyway.  This TV lasted until the mid-noughties when I it would stop working for short periods time.

That was when I upgraded to the flat screen, but again I was limited to 32" as that is what my armoire will handle.  NG also has a 32" Tv so we have two 32" flat screen TVs that are functional but slightly dated in terms of technology.

No Big TV for me for years to come

I want a Smart TV.  I already have NG's TV connected to an old PC so it really is just the next logical step.  My MO has always been to wait a few iterations of a new technology for everyone to agree on format, platform, and get the kinks worked out.  Then I purchase the best I can afford and make it work for as many years as possible.  Usually by this time I get a good sense of price-point, like in the case of the 27" I bought, I realized it was pretty much as good as 32" but at least $200 cheaper (back in the late 90s $200 was a lot of chicken scratch for me).

And therein lies the challenge.  Because of the flood, I have accumulated a little more credit card debt than I prefer to carry.  It makes it really hard to go out and buy a 50 or 60 inch TV.  However, I would like it in time to watch the first Bears Game (when they still technically have a winning season going) instead of by the Superbowl, when I estimate I'll have this nil-interest card paid off.

I've already had to pass up on a couple of good deals at Woot.com.  Any recommendations? 

Enjoying some coffee, a little fresh air and some Scalzi

On a good morning when I wake up early and have extra time, I like to sit outside on the porch with my iPad or a good book.  This week's good book is The Human Division by John Scalzi.  I was given this book for free at the ALA convention a few weeks ago and Mr. Scalzi was on hand to autograph copies of it.  Since I saved about $30 on the book, I will either have to buy another of his books (good marketing scheme TOR) or donate to his next charity request.

Yet another Possible Idea for the Living Room

Our living room is a large rectangle, in most homes I think would be two separate rooms.  One of our goals for the summer is to find the perfect furniture for it at garage or estate sales.  I'm thinking of getting a fireplace insert or something like this for the fireplace.  My thought is this should be a place were we can just curl up with a good book in the winter and watch the snow fall outside.





Happy Fourth of July America

Today marks not only the 237th anniversary (if my CPS math is correct) of our telling Mother England to go away and leave us alone, it is also the 4th anniversary of the day I met my wife.  We both went to a theme party -- redneck, white trash 4 o July -- that we otherwise would not have attended if some minor circumstances had gone differently.  For instance, if her friend wasn't having a birthday get together in the same area or if I had stayed in Naper-hell* the entire weekend as I was supposed to, we might not have met.

[* not a reflection on the friend's house I stayed at or the company I kept that weekend, just simply that my DNA is not entirely compatible with the suburban biosphere for prolonged periods of exposure.]

Looking at last year's post of a similar title, I see that it's pretty much more of the same, only the stakes are a bit higher.  End of Fiscal Year at work, not hitting it out of the ball park and concerned that I may be out of a job.

Alas I've been uber busy at work and not a lot of time to blog when I get home.  It's not easy to blog from an iPad and it isn't always easy to boot up the desktop -- which is now slower than molasses -- and fire off a post.  Looking back, it seems that July is traditionally a low post month.  I will try to change that both here and on ChicagoNow.  There are some nice posts there so if you are one of my lurker readers, feel free to give me some pagehits over there.





This should neither align left or right

  

The scale really does lie, depending upon where it lay



202.5 lbs



204.6 lbs when scale moved
just 1 inch


Yes I know, shame on me for posting pics of my ugly hairly legs.  I like to weigh myself second thing in the morning (after my first coffee and constitution) and I've confirmed that where I put the scale does seem to impact my weight results.  By as much as 2 lbs apparently.

I would also like to note here that today while driving to work I noticed that I felt like I had a touch more energy and the desire to work out.  I believe it is because yesterday after work I went to the gym in my office building and in addition to running 4.5 miles on the dreadmill (1 mile warmup, 3.5 run), I also got in some weight lifting.  I was able to do this because Nightingale was going to be coming home late so there was no pressure to rush home to see her like I usually do.

Things that live in the garage





The organizing and reshuffling of things that live in the garage continue.  This time a little asthetical surgery on the garage.  The blinds the owner left behind were covered in layers of dirt and dust.  I didn't want to bother hosing them down.  I figured I'd just find some replacements at a thrift store.

Then it occured to me, while sitting on my deck enjoying an adult beverage and staring at these ugly blinds, that I could put a picture or two (or even three I suppose) in that space and point them back out to the outside.

Lo and behold, the Goodwill near my office had a couple of matching pieces of wall art that I thought were nice enough for a garage window.  Alas, Nightingale feels these may be too nice for a garage and despite my claim that the frames are a bit beat up, these may end up in the house and I'll be back to the drawing board.

At the same Goodwill, I came across this item pictured below.  My city saavy told me this was a duck but Nightingale informed me it was a goose.  Either way, it will go on our front lawn in the spot that often pools during heavy rain making an impromptu pond.
 



His name is Herman, no word yet on whether he steals Formal Dates