It Was Mostly Happy

Weekend Assignment # 339: Happy Endings

Tell us about the last day of anything: the last day of school or a job, your last day as a smoker, the last day before you moved or got married, the last day before you got that car you always wanted, or even the last day of a particularly memorable vacation. Here's the catch: I'm looking for happy memories here, happy endings rather than tragic ones.

Extra Credit: What happened the next day?
 
May....something, 1996.  Washington, DC.  My dorm room was packed up.  My electronics were in storage for my brother, who would arrive with the incoming freshmen in August.  I'd had the worst case of senioritis you could imagine and was so ready to go home.  I finished my final exam and met up with the gang for lunch.
 
I had mismanaged my on-campus dining funds, such that I had a couple hundred dollars left on my i.d.  So we went over, ordered pizzas and I let the kids go grocery shopping in the cafe.  That was a lot of bags of Doritos.  Then we sat down to eat, and figure out how the heck we would manage to keep in touch:  with me going home, Christine going home to St. Louis, etc.  The difference this year was that Christine and I weren't coming back to school in the fall. 
 
Dean and I were good at writing.  Christine and I lived close enough to each other to meet up for random weekends.  Louie was a problem.  But the summer before, we had all met up someplace in Ohio, so we were pretty sure we could pull it off again.
 
After pizza, we dragged the pop and chips and candy back to the guys' room.  And they helped Christine and me pack the car.  We were driving to St. Louis, where I would spend a couple of nights with her family and then hitch a ride with another friend to get home.  And to get to St. Louis, one goes right by Graceland.  So we would be able to make the pilgrimage.  (I really have to get those pictures scanned.) 
 
Early afternoon Christine and I headed out the campus gates, headed for the next adventure.  We were lost before we got out of the District.
 
The next day we arrived in Memphis.  We stayed at the Rock n Roll Days Inn - just in time to catch the Bulls Game.  It was the playoffs the year they started the second threepeat.  So I sat glued to the television while Christine found some carryout.  It was a good day.

Sometimes Facebook is the Answer

I became a Facebook convert because it put me back in touch with several people and it keeps me relatively current on the news.  Like Megan had her baby yesterday - a girl that she named Lillian.  I know because Erica posted it.

But you know what else it does?  It keeps the good contact information.   For example:

I have gone to Washington DC every month or so this entire year.  When I am in town, I make every effort to meet my DC friend, Holly, for dinner.  So I would e-mail her.  I didn't want to e-mail her at work for a personal thing, so I used an old personal address.  It would take days.  Days.  For her to confirm.  I message her on Facebook?  Under 24 hours.

I had used Facebook to keep in touch with my friend Jodi in Milwaukee.  But when she was in town last month and I didn't have her cell phone number?  She had kindly listed it on Facebook. 

I was making plans with my local friend, also named Holly.  Her e-mail address isn't in my phone.  The solution?  Facbook message.  I love Facebook message.  Because everyone has Facebook messages sent to whatever e-mail address they check most often.  Of course, she showed me up by sending a text message to my cell phone.  Note:  Holly also used Facebook Events to plan the last Ladies Night Out.  I found it awesome, except a couple of us aren't on Facebook, so she had to send some e-mails.

Bottom Line:  There are lots of functions and different ways to keep in touch.  Use them.

Poor Cat

The Blackhawks ceremony was on the television while I put away my laundry.  (Yeah, yeah.  Exciting Saturday night.  Shut up.)  When they introduced the commissioner, the crown booed. 

A Chicago crowd booed the commissioner of the NHL.  Not cool.

I shouted, "Hey!"  at the television.  And the cat bolted off my bed and out of the room.  I felt badly, as the game wasn't even on yet. 

He just walked back in the room, stopped in the doorway and gave me a hard look.   I said, "It's ok, Spooky.  It's only hockey."  He flipped his tail in the air, turned around and stalked out.

Honestly - I'm not that bad with hockey.

Glenview's New Library - Day 1

I arrived early and parked in the commuter lot at the train station.  'Cause who wants to fight it?  And I caught a view that I hadn't seen before, because it was behind the fence.  From Jackman Park:

Again, I was early, so I went to the Dairy Bar for what will most assuredly be my last chocolate dipped cone of the season.  It was a bad idea since there were cookies and punch and cake being served after the ribbon-cutting.   But about once a week since April, I have gone to the Dairy Bar, gotten a cone and contemplated the glory of the new building going up.  And let me tell you:  I was not the only one.  A couple of times, I met up with a guy that walked over with his dog, bought ice cream for the dog, and sat looking at it.

Around that time, I saw that people were starting to head in to the building.  I finished my cone and followed them.  No one was at the Used Book Store yet, and a nice man said that I could go into the big room where the big shots would be making their big speeches.  So I did.  But first I stopped in the Ladies Room.  Do you know how happy a new bathroom makes me?  So happy that after I washed my hands, and ran the towel on the counter where I had splashed, I noticed that someone else had already splashed the other end of the counter, and I so dried that off, too.

I took a seat at the back of the meeting room.  Looks like a meeting room in any building, complete with the - what do you call them? airwalls? - that can divide it into two smaller meeting rooms. 

GVTV was setting up the cameras and microphones.  I took a look at the program.  Still really early.  So I read my book.  Eventually, everyone was called in and it filled up for real.  Standing room.  So many that plenty of people couldn't even get in.  You could here them getting restless over the speakers, which was kinda funny.  Halfway through the thanking of everyone and his dog, it occurred to me that we must be breaking a fire code.  So I spent a couple of minutes identifying my route to a window that I could break and jump out of.  There are lots of windows, so it wasn't difficult.  And then back to the thanking people.  These poor little kids that just wanted to see their awesome new room (that takes up half the first floor) had to sit through three people thanking the architect.  And his entire staff.  And the builder.  And his staff.  And the Governor of the State of Illinois.  And everyone that had ever sat on the Library Board of Trustees.

Finally, it was over and blahblahblah they cut the ribbon and herded us in.  They haven't quite finished the final touches.  Like numbering the shelves so that we can find the right books.  But it is lovely.  Lots of natural light.  And here is the best part:

Finally, I made my way back to the new Used Book Store.  There is no way to get a good picture of the entire room.  This was as good as it got:

But we have a lot of books.  I can't wait to start using the place.

Why el Futbol Americano is the Best Sport

Because a girl can reasonably watch every single game of the season. 

One game a week.  I can plan my life around that for six months.  Of course, I have to exchange my Writers' Theatre tickets because someone forgot the date of the bloody Super Bowl.  But that's what I'm saying - it can be done.

Also, there are only a few channels that broadcast pro football.  Fox and CBS have the early games, NBC has the late game and ESPN has Monday night.  Although now that I am thinking about it, I don't quite have a handle on Thursday games.  And I better figure it out because I am going to be in Fargo for ours.

But hockey.  Geez.  They just dropped the puck because the game is out west.  You know I'm not staying up for this.  (Ooooh.  Score!  Who the heck is Bryan Bickell?)  And.  The games are on odd channels, so I have to go to the website and find the name of the channel (Versus) and then figure out where that is on DirectTV (603 for future reference).  Basketball isn't quite as bad, as the Bulls land on WGN a lot, but still - the West Coast games. 

And for the love of All that Does Not Suck, we have two baseball teams!

Sixteen Games.  Three weeks of playoffs.  Super Bowl.  Done.

The Grand Re-Opening

I was just getting ready to post about the re-opening of the Library - Saturday, 1pm - when the director of the Used Book Store sent me a link to an article.  Patch.com is a website that does local news and Glenview has its own page.  They wrote us up as The Best Used Books in town.  (Never mind that I am pretty sure we are the only used book store in town.)

So.  The Library.  Here is the invitation from the website:

I don't normally join in to the Happy-Joy-Community-Spirit stuff, (and I have no idea how many people are actually going to show up) but I actually worked for this one so I am all there. 

Praying for the Non Believers

You might know Christopher Hitchens as the author of God is Not Great.  I know him as an extremely literate, if rather mouthy, columnist at Vanity Fair magazine.  I haven't read his books, but I enjoy his columns and was sorry to hear that he is battling cancer.  One can't call it a "bright side", but he is doing some really great and thoughtful work right now.  He has begun a series in the magazine called "Topic of Cancer". 

You all know I have back issues of Vanity Fair hanging around my house everywhere.  Half-read.  And I refuse to throw them away.  I finsihed September's not long ago, which is where I read that first article.  The second, in the October issue (the one with Lohan on the cover), was absolutely fabulous.

Hitchens is an atheist, and the article is about the messages he has received and conversations he has had, since his diagnosis, regarding faith and salvation.  There are the horrid trolls on the Internet that say he is getting what he deserves and there are others that are praying for either his health or his salvation or both.  His observations are priceless and he ends the article by saying:

"please do not trouble deaf heaven with your bootless cries. Unless, of course, it makes you feel better."

Agreed.  However, I will take the opportunity to offer Mr. Hitchens my best wishes on a full and speedy recovery.

Beam Me Up. Probably.

Weekend Assignment # 338: A World of Their Own

Even as astronomers discover planets that may be capable of supporting life, such destinations remain out of reach of would-be human colonists, even if the world is "only" twenty light years away. But if some science fictional technology were discovered in the next year or two (warp drive, matter transmission or whatever) that made it possible to leave Earth behind and go live on another planet, would you be tempted to do so? If you choose not to relocate, would you be interested in just visiting the place instead?


Extra Credit: If you did go, whether on vacation or as a colonist, and you were only allowed to bring one small suitcase with you, what would be in it?
 
I can't say that I am tempted to go live on another planet.  But all other things being equal (namely, that I am convinced it is relatively safe and it doesn't cost tons more than my average vacation), I would be happy to visit another planet.  However, there are a bunch of other variables depending on whether the planet is inhabited by sentient beings.  Can we communicate with them?  Do they welcome visitors?  What do we know about their history and culture?  Do they have wi-fi?
 
If I could only bring one small suitcase, it would contain:

1. Changes of clothes
2. Digital camera and extra batteries
3. Something to write in.  I had a Moleskin once, wonder what happened to it?
4. Sunscreen
5. Drugs.  Of the anti-motion sickness variety.  'Cause if that is anything like the Star Tours ride...

Neuromancer, by William Gibson

Book 38

Neuromancer, by William Gibson, was a pick for my book club.  Shannon said that she chose it because while she has read plenty of fantasy, she had never really read straight-up sci-fi.  And the point of our book club is to read things we would not have otherwise read.

OK, then.

I started reading it cold.  No background, just opened and started reading.   I got about a hundred pages in when I realized that I wasn't really getting it.  The scenes were really cinematic, and I could picture some things pretty well, but I didn't feel like I was getting the point.  I needed Cliff's Notes, so I found a summary on the Internet.

After reading a summary, I realized that I wasn't too far off on the meta-plot.  I just wasn't particularly enjoying it.  The hero, (or anti-hero as it happens) a hacker named Case, never really grabbed me.  The mystery of the "job"  and who was in charge was decent.  But I am a bit bothered that my favorite character was Dixie, the computer program containing the.. what did they call it?..saved consciousness of a legendary hacker.

Then we get to the AI questions.  How intelligent should we make them?  Legislating their "lives".  Somewhere around that point, I remembered that Neuromancer was written before Star Trek had Data.  Before Keanu was plugging into the Matrix.  Before "cyberspace" was a mainstream word.  Before the freakin' Internet.

OK.  I guess I get why it is so great.  But that doesn't mean that reading this book was any fun.

HR Nerd Article

The Chicago Tribune ran an article about the changes to Flexible Spending Accounts due to the Health Care legislation.  The biggest deal is that next year, we will not be allowed to submit over-the-counter drugs for reimbursement without a doctor's prescription.  They printed a decent Q&A:

Will I be able to use FSA money for:


Over-the-counter medicines without a prescription? No.
Medical co-pays and deductibles? Yes.
Medical supplies without a prescription? Yes.
OTC medications without a prescription purchased in 2010 but not reimbursed until 2011? Yes.
OTC medications without a prescription purchased in 2011 during my 2010 FSA's "grace period"? No.

The point of the article was that FSAs are still a good deal.  We just need to understand the new rules when we sign up next time around.