Oh, Lord:

In a NYT Magazine article (referrring to possible nominees for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination):

"Nobody knows who the nominee will be that year. It could be Bill Frist, Chuck Hagel, Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado or somebody else -- maybe even Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Um, last time I checked Ah-nuld was born in Austria, making him constitutionally ineligible to be President (See Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the US Constitution).

Now, I'm sure the Democrats would love it if the Republicans ran Schwarzenegger, but I think that, despite all appearances to the contrary, the Republican Party's self-preservation instinct is strong enough not to run him.

I realise I just spent longer researching the NYT's article than David Brooks did.

Second City in the Summer:

This guy seems to have gotten it.

In Atlanta, people stay indoors, in their central air conditioning and comfortable couches in the summer. In Chicago, since summer is so short and many buildings aren't air conditioned, people spend all the time that they can outside. Summer in Chicago is a wonderful thing...

...mostly. I'm off to a barbeque today, but it looks like it could start pouring at any minute and the lake is almost as grey as the sky. Hmm.

On cooking:

My mother is still a little suspicious of my cooking ability. But I am, in fact, a perfectly competent cook, able to make simple things without a recipe and complicated things with a recipe, though I don't claim to be Julia Child. Some stuff I've learned over the past few years:

• Use good olive oil. Almost everything tastes better cooked in olive oil rather than vegetable oil, and good olive oil is well worth the money. I use Greek, since I think you get better olive oil for your money, but it seems that few people agree with me. It's OK, if too many people discover my secret, Greek olive oil will get more expensive.
  
• Similarly, use good spices. DON'T buy that pepper that comes in the tin; you want fresh-ground. I'm more ambivalent about using freshly crushed salt. Use fresh garlic, it's cheap and is easier to cook with. Other than that, buy Penzeys. It's cheaper than most grocery store spice and much better.
  
• Don't be afraid to mess with recipes. If you have something that uses oregano, try putting in some lemon zest too. Put in extra pepper or garlic if you really like them. Try whatever you're cooking while you're cooking it, since it's often easier to fix stuff then than later.
  
• Don't overcook your vegetables. This is a common mistake of steamed vegetables. Green beans should still be crunchy (really about 2 minutes in boiling water is plenty), carrots should maintain their structural integrity, etc. Using fresh vegetables helps with this too.
  
• Don't be afraid to try new things, even if you've disliked them in the past. I discovered in Greece that feta cheese can be a wonderful thing, even if the stuff you buy in American supermarkets resembles wax more than anything else.
  
• But also, learn what flavors you like. I like pepper, lemon, oregano, and look for recipes that include these. I can throw in other things if I want to be adventurous.
  

These are just sort of basic ways to make the food you cook taste good. If you're broke like me, you end up cooking for yourself a lot, so you might as well enjoy it.

Obamania in Kenya:

This NYT op-ed was interesting, though it must be heart-breaking to believe that there is no bright future possible for children staying in their country. And when the people who have the best shot at this future leave to go elsewhere, well, it's brain drain on a national scale.

On a lighter note, I made the pork tenderloin that's been in my freezer for the last six months. It's pretty good, if a little overcooked. It was exciting to cook something so real. Mmm, real food.

Don't I look hot in this lifejacket?:




(Thanks, Peishan and Paul)

Day 5 Athens --> Budapest:

Is finally online at Far from Home.

Wow:

I wish I could do this.

Leaving Chicago:

So it's final and decided. I'm leaving Chicago next Tuesday, in one week and two days. Of course, there are 8 million things to do. Sell all my furniture, pack up everything, mail boxes home that need to go home, clean, finish stuff at work.

But I'd rather think about the fun stuff. What do I need to do before I leave? Definitely an afternoon at the Point (probably today), tea at the Pig, some time downtown. But what else? I doubt I'll make it back out on the lake again, since this weekend is over and I don't think I'll have time next weekend, so that sucks.

So here is my current schedule:

Today: Out to the Point to read. Run.
Monday: Work. Run. Pack.
Tuesday: Work. Drinks with E--. Pub trivia.
Wednesday: Work. Run. Pack (?).
Tursday: Work. Practice.
Friday: Work. Maybe see D--?
Saturday: Go downtown. Get tea. Maybe dinner with Susan? Or maybe switch with another night?
Sunday: Pack. Hopefully do some sort of outside thing.
Monday: Pack like crazy. Mail boxes. Pick up my mom from the airport and show her my apartment. Dinner in the HP.
Tuesday: Leave very early in the morning.

So I have some time Sunday, maybe Friday and/or Saturday nights. I want to jam in as much of the city as I can. It doesn't feel real that I'm leaving this place that I love, that I'm leaving almost all my friends (though admittedly many of them are leaving too), to go live in the suburbs and hang around with mathematicians. Hmm. Sometimes I wonder if I'm crazy.

Acquainted with the night:

I went sailing yesterday with P-- and some friends of his. I think he was trying to set me up with one of them. Of course, if I weren't moving in a week, I'd be all over S-- so it was unsuccessful. Still, the trip was great. Nice view of the city, though we didn't see anybody practicing for the air and sea show. Oh well. It took a little longer to get back than we expected, though since we had to tack back and couldn't pick up any decent wind to go east. So I didn't get home till 11:30, and I was freezing. Since I was already sick, I now am living off of Sudafed and Halls.

But there's something about being in a tiny boat with no lights almost on the surface of the water (of course, it's something illegal, dangerous, and really dumb. We should have been more careful about going out in the afternoon). You can look out to "sea" and you see a couple of lights on a tanker out there and nothing else. You can look to land and see all the street lights and cars driving by, but they seem distant; they're not a part of your thoughts right then. Your thoughts are the black surface of the water and the ropes creaking as you pick up a bit of wind and the sound of the bow cutting through the waves. It's really completely dark, so you can barely see the people on the boat with you, and you keep your hands on the ropes that control the jib and the mainsail so you won't loose them.

Of course, it's only cool until a speedboat is cutting through the water and can't see you because you have no running lights and can't hear your motor because, you know, you don't have one. So kids, don't try this at home.

These crazy people and their birds:

I had two amusing phone calls today, despite only being in the office till 2:00.

One, whom we have been referring to as 'Bird shit lady,' called and left a message on our machine. It ran something like this: 'Hi, my name is __. I'm not calling about a dead bird. Our block has been overtaken by birds. They are everywhere and they're really annoying and their shit is all over the place. You're the third person I've called. I need someone to take care of this.' She then left a phone number in the city of Chicago. You know, just because we pick up a few dead birds doesn't mean that we should be the default number for all your bird-related needs. I'm just saying.

The second guy I actually talked to. He gave his name and said that he worked for one of the villages in Cook County and that he had a crow for us. After verifying that it met our criteria, I told him we would have someone out to pick it up. He said "If I'm out doing inspections or whatever, it's in the break room freezer." I said, "OK, so the receptionist or whoever will know where it is." He, "Um, well I didn't want to tell everyone it was in there. I figured they didn't want to know." I replied, "OK," while thinking "so you put this in the break room where everyone at the office puts their lunches. No wonder you didn't want to tell them."

Other than that, today at work was very unsatisfying. I spent the morning testing mosquitos and helping one of my coworkers with some computer stuff. Then my boss gave me a bunch of data-entry stuff that I wasn't expecting to have to do, so I didn't even get started on writing up any violations until after 11 and didn't finish till almost 2, especially since the phone rang a bunch and I kept having to run outside to put more money in the meter since it took much longer than I was planning. I got about 35 letters written up, though I used the wrong form letter for close to 15 tire piles and I didn't feel like fixing it. Probably my boss won't notice, and really it doesn't matter, but I really hope I don't have to redo them.

Olympics:

Now I love me some Olympics. I just love watching people who are THAT good at anything. I'll watch just about any event and don't really care who wins. But there are things I wonder about.

How is nationality determined? There is a woman who rides on the Irish Equestrian Team who was born in and lives in Co. Armagh. That's in the United Kingdom. So why does she ride for Ireland? Do you just get to be like, "Yeah, I want to ride for Ireland" or are there some sort of criteria? Who decides whether an athelete is eligible to compete for a specific country?

Why doesn't NBC show more handball? It's awesome to watch and very easy to understand. I understand that things like dressage are difficult to show on TV because they aren't very viewer-friendly, but handball seems like a natural fit. And on similar grounds, why isn't racquetball an Olympic sport? It's way more legitimate than, say, trampolining and beach volleyball.

Why don't yachters compete on co-ed teams? Based on my sailing experience, I don't believe that sex gives a sailor an advantage and the men's and women's races are the same. In equestrian events, men and women compete against each other, and I see no reason that it couldn't be done for sailing as well.

Uggh:

Just when I'm worried about money, my bike that I was planning on selling got stolen and I got a ticket from Oak Park for improper registration on my car. That's really my dad's fault, though.

And it's too cold for summer drinks, so I'm drinking Drambuie and pretending I'm in Edinburgh in September. Look at the Royal Mile and all the parks, and I think it's the Fringe Festival! Yay!

Biking and hard decisions:

I have to make some fairly difficult decisions, or, to be more exact, I have to make what should be an easy decision based on incomplete information. I was going to go ride my bike, though it's raining right now. So here's where I am:

My lease is up at the end of August. I can probably extend it for a month, though I have to make sure about that.

I got a job in DC, contingent on security. My HR contact told me that the background investigation was done, and that security was pending because of the polygraph.

I believe that I passed the polygraph the second time around (based on what the investigator told me) but of course, there are no guarantees. Usually results from the polygraph take about a month, and I took it about a month ago.

There is some reason to believe that they are going to want me to start before the first of October.

I really want this job, and I really want not to work at my current job.

I want to go see T--, though I have a bit less money than I thought I did. If I'm really careful, it should be all right.

I hate the thought of going home unemployed and waiting. Atlanta is boring, and it may be hard to find a job, particularly since it would be temporary (hopefully).

So yeah. That's what's going through my head right now, and maybe why I'm not so fun right now.

Poland and the best hostel name ever!:

I'm fairly seriously thinking of flying over to London to see T-- in September, then going to Poland for a few days. I even know what hostel in Krakow I want to stay in: The Bling Bling Hostel. Awesome.

Gas prices:

I don't really understand gas prices. Today, while driving down Harlen in Burbank, I saw a BP and a Shell right across 63rd Street from each other. The BP gas was $2.06, the Shell gas was $1.99. Gas prices are no longer academic for me; I drive several hundred miles a week, and while I don't have a gas-guzzler, it does get pretty expensive. Why do the prices differ so much, even over a recently small area? Where can I find gas for $1.85 a gallon?

Rain, rain, go away:

Stupid rain makes my job suck even more than it usually does. Not only did I get wet, but traffic was terrible and the traps were soaking. Since they go directly from outdoors to the freezer, the bottoms are going to be so frozen I don't think we'll be able to get the mosquitos out.

Oh, and my boss just told us that we aren't getting someone to replace the intern leaving next week. So more time in the lab and extra days in the office for us.

Asshole Driving:

I have come to a conclusion in my extensive driving around the Chicago suburbs. The asshole drivers fall into two categories: the very rich and the very poor. Now, when I say asshole drivers, I don't mean bad drivers, people who swerve and don't check their blind spots and yack on the phone until they almost miss their turns. No, I'm talking about the people who think they are the most important people on the road. People who drive along the shoulder in traffic, who cut in front of the line of people waiting at a busy merge who generally behave like there's no one else on the road who matters at all. These people are almost always driving either a six-month-old Lexus SUV or a beater 1984 Buick. (I know, I'm making assumptions about people's income based on their cars and that the most popular car on Martha's Vineyard is a mid-90s Volvo station wagon. Or whatever. Maybe it's more that the ostentatiously rich and the ostentatiously poor are the jerky drivers).

My theory? I think not being an asshole on the road is part of some sort of social contract. You know, the whole no cutting in line thing that we are all taught in pre-school. No being a jerk to strangers unless they are working in customer service. So then most of middle America, much as they may be jerks in their private lives, are well-behaved drivers. Whereas those raised outside of this social contract, be they the very rich or the very poor, have no taught compunctions about jumping in line.

Having said that, at Midway Airport, which should contain mostly middle class people, two different people cut in line in front of me (by which I mean were standing behind me and pushed their way to in front of me), though one was abashed enough to stop when I called him on it (I'm not really that brave, but I had a couple of people backing me up). So maybe this armchair sociology is all bunk.

311 v. 911:

Every morning when I go out of my building, there are two or three cars parked in front of the fire hydrant that have clearly been there all night. These cars never have tickets. This afternoon, I decided to do my civic duty (and maybe prevent my apartment from burning down since the firemen won't have any access to water) and try to report this so that the cops can go around and ticket them.

I figured, not an emergency, so I'd call 311, the city hall phone number. The same number that you call to report a dead bird in the city, in case you're curious. The woman who answered the phone was very nice, but she told me I should call 911 when the cars are there. I hate to call 911 without a real emergency, so I don't know whether I'll call or not tomorrow morning when I bet there will be cars there. People, don't park in front of the fire hydrants. If there is a fire and people die, you could be in a pile of trouble (I believe that someone was convicted of reckless endangerment or maybe involuntary homicide after an instance of that once). And it's not like there isn't plenty of parking in Hyde Park. So you have to walk and extra block or so. It's not the end of the world.

West Virginia and all that:

So yeah. I kind of suck about the updating. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I went to a family thing in West Virginia this past weekend, and here are my scattered notes about the trip.

"This plane is piloted by Captain Wanky, assisted by First Officer Dorkus." I'm so 12, but that cracked me up to no end. Particularly embarrassing since I was sitting in the front row and the flight crew could have heard me.

My flight was delayed for some reason so I ended up not getting into Oglebay until after midnight. So I fell asleep right away.

Weather on Saturday was bad. We took a picture, went on a tour of the West Virginia State Pen in Moundsville (ah, the fun my family has), went to the Christmas Shop and the Glas Shop, learned that not only was Kerry in Wheeling (about 10 miles from where we were), but also that Bush had changed his route to come within a couple of miles of the hotel, went to Mass, ate pizza, played Taboo and Left, Right, Center (with actual money natch), and talked for a long period of time.

Sunday, got up late, played Putt-Putt (and ended up only 6 over on the last go-round; I told my mother it was that golf class I took), and left for Pittsburgh again. Drove back down Garfield and discovered that Garfield was closed at Washington Park (anyone know why? It seemed to involve ambulances), so got stuck in that traffic and got back later than I wanted. I knew I should have taken the Stevenson to the LSD.

Now I'm here, back at work, and bored. Shock.

Quick update:

I'm back from West Virginia. More on that later.

I got the job in DC, contingent on security. Stupid security. I don't know how long that'll take, so hopefully I can go month-to-month on my lease and keep my current job through September or October.