Snippy At SummerDance

After a tension-filled day of unpleasantries at work, Mary Ann reminded me of my promise to attend tango night at SummerDance.  No way I was actually going to dance, but I had said I would go hear the music.  Mary Ann, for those of you who don’t know, was born in Argentina.  She speaks like where she was raised, though — Hillside, Illinois.  They don’t even have a hill, by the way.

We took a bus to Chinatown and the Red Line downtown from there.  Here are a few shots from the Chinatown station:

The only way I could think of to have fun at SummerDance was to mock people out and annoy Mary Ann.  Childish?  Yep.  Do I apologize?  Nope.

There was a guy with a blue blanket covered with images of skiers.  He bugged me by standing in front of us, so I created the legend of The Ski Master:

Then I moved around for a closer view of the “dancing”:

On the way back, our last CTA connection, the Cermak bus, took about 40 minutes to show up.  Thanks to you, too, CTA.  And you were doing such a nice job until then.

The bus did eventually drop us off at the Skylark, where the good company (aided by a few beverages) took the edge off the pain.  I would have bought the Ski Master a beer, but he never showed.

Happy Birthday, Mary Ann!

I won’t say exactly how old Mary Ann is, but she was showing me a picture of a trilobite that lived in a pond where she grew up.

In honor of Mary Ann’s birthday, I’ve honored her request and posted footage of an aardvark and the giraffes at the Brookfield Zoo during a recent visit.  The footage is special in that it’s the first time we ever saw an aardvark doing anything but lying in a motionless heap.  Also, we caught the giraffes while they were being given a special leafy treat.

Lots of love, Mary Ann, and many special leafy treats in the future!

P.S.  The binturongs send their best wishes too.

Back Again

I recently fell victim to a very nasty computer virus.  After a lengthy struggle, I was forced to delete my operating system and start all over again.  The scary thing was that the virus came from a program that had checked out clean with my antivirus program.  I had a lot of programs installed on this computer, and it’s taken time to come back online.  No important documents, music, or pictures were lost, though, since I keep them on separate drives that did not have to be reformatted.  It’s just a big pain in the butt.  Oh well.  Stuff happens.  Especially to me.

A Small Disappointment

Rats.  They took down the Vern Troyer sex tape preview before I could link to it.

Happy Father’s Day!

I don’t carry many photos in my wallet.  One I do carry, and have carried for a long time, is the one above.  That’s my dad on the right, with his youngest brother Louis on the left.  It was taken at their mother’s house in Fairport, Ohio.  My dad was nine years old.

I remember when I bought my first car.  As I recall, the lot was actually located in a forest.  The cars were literally scattered among the trees.  I picked out a 1970 Ford Maverick.  It was the most expensive car on the lot.  It cost $400.00.  This was not exactly a Lexus dealership.  I remember the salesman saying, “You could drive this car to California.”

Well, maybe I could have driven it to California, but it would have to have been a non-stop trip.  The brakes failed about as soon as we got the car home.  Also, I couldn’t really drive the car anyway, because it had a three speed on-the-column shifter and I had never driven with a manual transmission before.

When I complained about the brakes, dad said something encouraging like, “You’d better fix ‘em, then.”  And fix them I did.  I got the book, grabbed some tools, and started hacking away.  I’m lucky I didn’t put out an eye trying to take the springs off those old drum brakes.  Dad wouldn’t do it for me, but when I was stuck, he would kind of wander by and make suggestions — suggestions that always seemed to help me make it to the next step.  Between the two of us, darned if we didn’t fix those brakes.  He taught me how to drive that bizarre shifter, too.  Somehow I survived, and kept that car running all the way through college.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m pretty determined when it comes to solving problems.  I owe that to dad.  I never saw something broken that he couldn’t fix.  I never saw something that needed to be built that he couldn’t build.  That attitude rubbed off, although I freely admit that he’s still way better at most of those things than I’ll ever be. I can’t imagine a greater gift from a father to a son.

So, thanks for everything, dad.  I love you very much.  By the way, I do have a question about GFCI outlets….

Goodbye, Ms. Jackie!

Mary Ann’s very nice co-worker Jackie has taken a new job, and today was her going-away party at the library. Highlights captured by Mary Ann follow:

Wisconsin Survived Again

Two weekends ago, as I indicated in my previous post, myself and two friends went camping in Wisconsin, at a campground called Buckhorn about an hour north of the Dells. We’ve been there many times before. And, like many times before, a certain amount of suffering was involved.

There were two environmental themes this time: the wind and the mosquitos. They had a seesaw-type relationship. When the 35-mph wind would finally die down, the thousands of mosquitos would come out and play. As the only one who stubbornly refused to wear long pants, I took a lot of hits. I was slathering myself with lots of Off! Botanic insect repellent, but not with completely effective results. On the other hand, what I felt later was normal insect-bite irritation, not the dizzy neurotoxosis (is that a word?) I’ve felt in the past after days spent under a thick layer of deet. Plus, the bites went away normally, not developing into purple bubonic-plague-like pustules as they have sometimes in the past.

That being said, the trip was fun and goofy as always. It’s always good to be out with human and canine friends. Next time, though, Mike, Brian, Mack, and I will be staying away from the marshy area during hatching season.

Thank You, Hillary

As anyone who knows me knows, I’m not a big Hillary fan. However, today I think she came through big-time for the Democratic party, this country, and maybe even the world in general. What a tremendous speech! She made it clear why her supporters need to support Barack and why we need a Democrat, at this crucial point, back in the White House. I don’t always trust her, but I believed she was sincere this time. This was just the speech I was hoping for. I hope she goes around the country giving it from now until the election.

Some issues have been coming up as to whether Hillary can safely be chosen as a vice-presidential candidate. Foremost among them is that Bill would be pressured to release the financial records of his various foundations, which could contain some very embarrassing names as contributors. Bill has spent a lot of time influence-peddling since his days in the White House, and the payback has come in the form of contributions to his organizations. I don’t know if this is all true, but it’s the rumor.

If Hillary can’t be VP, and this is not even to say that Barack would want her, I don’t see why she wouldn’t be a fine Supreme Court justice. She’s smart and not too old. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a little side understanding between her and Barack that if she works hard to help Barack win, she’ll be first in line for a job with the Supremes. That would be fine by me.

Again, I was really pumped up by that speech. If I were a football player and my coach gave a speech like that, I’d just run out during warmups and level somebody on the other team. A truly united Democratic party will be in a great position to put a whupping on Mr. McCain — particularly if his teleprompter skills don’t improve.

Thanks again, Hillary. I mean that.

Aliens Train Tiny Infiltrator

His real name is Spencer S. Mulder. He has been abducted and his mind is being shaped by unearthly colors and sounds. Don’t be taken in by his charms! Beware!

Mack: A Tribute

I’m still editing some footage from the Wisconsin trip this weekend. I went up there with long-time camperfriends Mike and Brian. Brian brought Mack, one of the great dogs I’ve met. I’ve known Mack ever since he was a little puppy. He’s about ten or eleven now. Like all three of us, he has a little mileage on him, but he still enjoys life. He’s been a wonderful friend and companion for Brian, and he sure as heck keeps those raccoons away! Mack continues to enjoy people, the outdoors, and above all…meat.

So, here’s a tribute to Mack that will endure for eternity…or at least as long as I keep this blog up.