Planning a visit to Chicago tomorrow (August 17)? It's, umm, closed. So here: enjoy this nice picture instead.
Actually, it's only the City of Chicago -- as in civic government -- that's closed. Yet another sign of the times. All but emergency services employees have the day off... without pay.
From WBBM-TV...
The City of Chicago will basically be closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay, according to a release from the Office of Budget and Management. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.
Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics will be working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided, the release said.
That also includes garbage pickup. Residents who receive regular collection on Mondays should expect trash to be picked up the following day, the release said. Some other customers may experience a one-day delay as collectors catch up.
Maybe the should extend this to sports teams. Donate the saved salaries to the city treasury. I mean, whether the Cubs forfeit or just lose yet another game, it's still a loss, right?
Too funny. From Vanity Fair.com...
, together with representatives from the 
and 
departments, to whip it into publishable shape. Here is the colorful result.
Here's the first two pages. It goes on, but I think you'll get the point.
Ugh. Pity the poor sap who has to edit that book she's "writing."
Jeez, you'd think after five runs at four schools for that journalism degree, she's be able to do a little better. Or hire someone who could do better. What a fucking laughably ignorant train wreck this woman is. I can only hope she remains a Republican standard-bearer, along with Rush, Newt and Joe the Plumber.
Read the rest, if you can stand it, here.
Today's "No shit?" news from the Los Angeles Times...
Really? I just thought those joints ended up by the schools kinda by coincidence. Maybe the fast food people knew that if they opened a store within a tenth of a mile, kids would be more likely to go there. Wow, what a gamble: Will kids be willing to walk a whole 176 yards for a Supersized Big Mac "value" meal?
Please, go on...
The next thing you know, we'll be reading that if you place a huge bowl of M&Ms on a table in front of kids during a round of video gaming, they will be far more likely to eat a lot more M&Ms.
Gotta run. I want to gt my application in for that research grant before any of you beat me to it.
In no particular order...
How is it that I can drive from the eastern edge of Dane County all the way to Milwaukee and not pass a single damn Denny's. I was on the road early to catch an 8 AM train to Chicago, and gave myself enough time to perhaps indulge in of of them there grand slam breakfasts. But no. And I wasn;t going to settle for Perkins. Not the same.
It
seems Walgreen's, however, are plentiful. Too plentiful if you ask me. Those things are everywhere. I walked, cabbed and took El trains around Chicago today, and there is one of those freaking things seemingly on every corner. Throw in the two or three I passed in downtown Milwaukee, plus another half dozen I saw from the train or passed driving home. I'll bet I caught sight of at least 25 locations. Maybe they can partner with Denny's.
I wish the Amtrak Hiawatha ran as far as Madison, like it did in the old days. Still, it's a great way to get to Chicago, even if I have to drive 60 miles to get to the Milwaukee station. Comfy seats, power ports, free wifi in the stations, and even a bar cart. I especially like the concept of the Quiet Cars℠. Except for when they smell like a tipped-over porta-potty. That was the case on the northbound train tonight. Someone had even posted a handmade sign stating "Car Stinks" on the door. And let me tell you, it did. No one -- not a single person -- sat in that car. This was, I gathered, a chronic condition, as regular riders commented that it had been that way on the previous Friday 5:08 train. No quiet for me, but I did horrify a woman by playing back some of her very loud cellphone conversation in a harmless but inquisitive manner. And that was kind of fun.
I know it is a sort of unwritten rule that if you are going to go into a coffee place with free wifi, you should buy something. I was in three Starbucks and a Caribou today. That was a few coffees too many. Yeah, I know they have other stuff, but it's a coffee place, and plain old coffee is usually the cheapest thing they have. Decaf seems illogical. So I turned into Shakes the Clown by 4 PM.
It seems virtually everyone in Chicago thinks Governor-for-now Rod Blagojevich is a total asshat. Cab drivers who have only lived in the U.S for a week know he's a crook. When Blago decided to start comparing himself to Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi (Gandhi!), he confirmed that he is ten kinds of crazy dressed in a track suit.
Somewhere in Rockford, Illinois, there is a bar called Shooters. And Shooters has something called "intimate bingo" where all the prizes come from some place that sells adult "marital" aids (i.e. dildo store). And this establishment fuels the fun with, as I recall, $2 Jagerbombs, tequila slammers, and something I believe they make with kerosene. Oh, the things you can learn by just hitting the "seek" button on FM radio.
Crazy.
