Bad News for Chicago

Chicago's Meigs Field




















Chicago's McCormick Place




Four big news events (to me, anyway) in Chicago in the past week. And they are all bad news, of course, that's what we always hear about on TV news.

1.) The death of Chicago School Board president, Michael Scott was a very sad event. They found his body in the Chicago River at Orleans Street. The first thing I thought was, "Oh my God, the mob got him," because the mob is alive and well here in Chicago. Later it was revealed that it was a suicide. This poor guy was very well respected in the city, and he was Mayor Daley's right hand man. Sad, sad event. It's beyond me what would ever make someone consider suicide. I mean everyone thinks about it. "Wouldn't it be sad if I jumped in front of the subway." But I would never seriously consider something of such nature.

2.) Chicago's world renowned convention hall, McCormick Place, has lost customers in the past year because of Chicago's high taxes. We lost customers to Florida cities, and Las Vegas. HELLO??? Lower taxes! Make it easier for people to utilize our city's resources, instead of making it more difficult. Money is the root to all of this. People don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a freaking scone and a cup of hot coffee.

3.) Oprah is leaving her show in 2011. Sad, sad, news. She's been at it for 25 years here in Chicago. The neighborhood on the west side where her studio is housed has risen in real estate and property values, but faces a downfall when she leaves. Come on, Oprah, we know you are rich and famous, but let's try to continue to help the city that we all love (you included), instead of harming it.

4.) And the last one, is the fact that a New York landscape architecture firm won the bid to do some redesign of Grant Park, and Meig's Field. Meig's Field is the area which used to be an air field which Mayor Daley so appropriately ripped up during the night several years ago to make way for a park. They want a children's playground, as well as a harbor for boats on the lake. Come on, Chicago landscape architecture firms!! Let's step up to the plate here! We already lost the Olympics thank God), which would have been some great design work for all Landscape Architecture firms, but why don't we try to keep the work within our own city, instead of farming it out? We know our own city better than anyone. I have no doubt the NYC firm will do a fantastic job, but I'm just crabbing here. This is my field, so I have a lot of input and insight into this topic. Email me for more information :)

And that's it in a nutshell. On a side note, did anyone watch Janet on Wednesday night? God, I love that woman! What a talented artist.

And a happy day to all.

Some things you should never do (how rude)

Thou shalt never wear sweatpants. Unless you are in the comfort of your own home with the shades pulled. I think they look so sloppy. It gives me a headache. The only exception is Hugo Boss sweatpants.

Thou shalt never waste an hour of my time on the sales floor "oohing" and "ahhing" over merchandise I am showing you, and then tell me you are going to go buy it online. How rude.

Thou shalt not ask me out on a date if you are my customer, especially when you are nasty L.A. trash.

Thou shalt never be walking directly in front of me, and then stop, or make a 180. If you do, thou shalt get bumped out of the way.

Thou shalt never get mad at me if you forgot your $10 off coupon, and I don't have one to give you.

Though shalt never try and screw with me. AKA Thomas Brooks of Union Business Solutions, or whatever the hell you are calling your company this week.

Some things you should never do (how rude)

Ways to make your apartment more energy efficient during the long cold winter

There are many relatively cheap and efficient ways to make it through the long winter months, take care of the environment, and keep yourself warm all at the same time.

First of all, I will share my good friend, Pam's advice:
-wear lots of clothes

-turn down the heat

-cover the windows with that shrink wrap stuff to block any drafts and if possible use lined drapes as well

-use energy efficient light bulbs

-if you have bare wood or tile floors, cover them with carpet runners, so they won't be so cold

-when you take a shower, leave the bathroom door open to increase the moisture in the air, as moist air retains heat better....and it feels better too
hmm...have I forgotten anything?

She has forgotten a few things. If you are unfortunate enough to have a gas furnace, like I do, you MUST buy a programmable thermostat. The one I have has for settings per day and weekdays vs. weekends. I set mine to 60 when I'm gone during the day, and when I'm in bed. I set it to go up to 7o when I get up in the morning and when I get home from work. This will save loads. Also, your gas company probably has a "budget plan" in which you pay the same amount year-round, even in the summer months when you are not running your furnace. This evens it out throughout the year and avoids $400+ bills during the winter months. Your bills are calculated based on your yearly usage.

If you have radiator heat, it probably gets way too hot in winter, so you probably need to crack a window to cool down some. At least this option is usually paid for by the building management company or landlord.

Most old apartments have openings in areas like behind kitchen cabinets, and in bathrooms and around pipes where they go through the floor. Stuff these areas with insulation or with "Tuff Stuff" to keep out the chill. "Tuff Stuff" is sprayed through a can and expands to fill openings as it dries. Its great.

Put insulation tape around all doors leading to the outside. You can light a match or candle and hold it around the cracks to see where air is coming in. Obviously the flame will blow to let you know what areas need to be protected.

If you have old windows, you can replace them, because a TON of hot air can escape the cracks. If you have the money, go for it, it's well worth it in the long run.

DO NOT leave the bathroom fan on for any extended period of time. A lot of heat can escape through this opening, and you won't realize it until it's too late.

And finally, invest in ceiling fans. Since hot air rises, the fan, on it's winter setting, will spread the warm air around the room. Especially if you are like me and the heating ducts are near the ceiling...the fan evens it out.

Hope these tips helped. As I said, they will make up for it all in the long run! Try it out!

The Time It Takes

So I read my good friend's blog this evening (Subway Gal) at http://www.selfabsorbed.me/ and she told the world about her morning schedule. I thought it would be fun to share the same news about me...not like many of you care, but read away, and enjoy!!

6:00 AM - Get up, make coffee immediately. Check my email and Facebook page, turn on Fox news (although Joe prefers WGN).

6:30 AM - Joe gets up and joins me in the living room to watch the news, and pours coffee.

6:45 AM - Joe makes breakfast of bacon or sausage, eggs, and a bagel or waffle. More coffee.

7:00 AM - Joe washes dishes and we have more coffee.

7:15 AM - Abe showers and dresses for work. More coffee.

7:25 AM - Abe does his hair and shaves (this takes me the longest to get my hair just right and chic)

7:55 AM - Abe kisses Joe goodbye and leaves to catch the bus or the subway depending on if it's raining or not. (Rain=take the train, Fair=take the express bus, it drops me off right in front of work)

8:10 AM - Abe looks at weird people on the train or bus and laughs in his head or takes pictures of said weirdo.

8:40 AM - Abe walks into work and puts things in the locker room.

8:55 - Abe walks onto the sales floor and is ready for the day.

So there you go. My start to the day. Maybe later, I will write about the end to my day. =)

A few things that make me go WILD

It drives me crazy when the bus drivers change drivers at Foster/Sheridan, Foster/Broadway, or Foster/Clark and they take forever getting on and off the bus. Take your time adjusting the seat. Take your time talking to one another. Take your time putting on your seatbelt. Because a whole bus of passengers doesn't have anywhere to be. We don't have to work, we don't have to get to class, we don't want to get home and eat. Not at all. Please take your time.

It also gives me an ulcer when people do not move out of the way for people getting off the subway or the bus. Especially during rush hour, you can pretty much figure that someone is getting off or on at every stop. So move your ass out of the way, and let people move about!!

And I hate it when people walking on the street stop and ask a bus driver for directions. Have you ever heard of Google Maps? It works very well. Do you realize you are holding up an entire bus of people who...don't...need...to...be...anywhere.

It drives me crazy when people throw their McDonalds bag on the seat next to them or the ground while I stare at them in disbelief. Come on. You are really disrespecting a whole lot of people. And it's ridiculous, and it makes you look ridiculous. Utterly...ridiculous.

It makes me batty when I see a dog-owner let their dog take a big shit on the sidewalk right in the middle of where my foot will likely fall. Right when I'm walking up behind you. If you are going to do this, at least do it when no one is watching, so I don't know who to give the evil eye to when I pass you the next time.

It makes me ill when people clip their fingernails on the subway. SICK. Can't you do that in the shower? On your own time? Not in front of me? I mean what if one of your clippings flew into my hair? Or worse yet, into my food that I'm not supposed to be eating on the train? You are all disgusting creatures and you ought to be ashamed.

It makes me want to scream when you see trashy mothers screaming at their kids like they are a dog who doesn't understand English. They are people too. And if they are acting up, you probably need to work on your parenting skills. That, and I probably have a headache that you are making worse with every passing minute.

Please, thank you, and good night.

My hilarious sister, Audra

My youngest sister, Audra, is 21, and will be 22 next month. She is honestly the funniest person I know. These things might not be funny to you, but they are all from our past when we were younger, and I wanted to share them with everyone. Please let me know some funny things from your past with your family, I'd be very interested in hearing them!

-Once I thought it would be funny to put a bunch of brown bananas on my sister's bed, so she would think someone (or something) pooed on her bed. What really happened was that the bananas melted (they were frozen for banana bread), they left this gross brown ooze all over her covers.

-When we were little we used to play horsey. In this game we would ride one another like a horse and try to tame the "wild beast." The "wild beast" was always named "Po'kern," which is the southern version of the word, "Popcorn." My dad would always get mad at us so we would yell, "Po'kern settle down before dad gives us a spanking!"

-I have two sisters, and when one would get a spanking, the other two of us would just die laughing at the noice of the spanking upstairs.

-Once while at the farm in Tennessee, my sister was running through a huge pile of cow poo with her boots on. Well she got in so deep that the boots were sucked off by the cow poo and she was running in her socks!

-Once my tiny Italian great grandmother was over at our house, and she was opening the fridge after dinner to put food away. Well, the force of her opening the fridge made a huge fart come out, and we were dying laughing. Later that evening, she was headed upstairs (I can only imagine to use the bathroom), and as she rose the stairs, she let a little gas out each time she stepped. Freaking hilarious.

-Whenever we were on our way home from church on Sundays (it was a half-hour drive, because there were very few Catholics in northeast Tennessee), we would play "tissue factory" in the back seat. One of us would grab the tissue box, pull out a tissue, and crunch it up. Then he or she would pass it on to the next sibling and he or she would flatten it out nicely. Then they would pass it on to the third sibling and they would lay it in a pile to put back in the box later. We would always get wild, or get into a fight, so my dad would screech the old brown Chrysler to a halt on the side of the road and smack our knees to straighten us out.

-We had some good family friends who were Vietnamese. Whenever they would come over they would always bring the most delicious home made egg rolls. The man, Hugh, once asked my sister, Audra if she liked chicken. However with his accent, it came out more like this: "Soooo Auura. You like sheeeeken?" We still use that one to this day.

-My sisters and I would always watch the movie "The Witches," with Anjelica Houston. We would constantly repeat lines from the movie amongst ourselves.

-We always would rent "Poltergeist III" and reinact the part where Carol Anne comes out of the mirror and grabs Tangina, turning her brown and dried out, and then being thrown on the ground by Carol Anne's uncle. That was a fun one, because we had to do it on an old matress in the basement so we wouldn't get hurt falling over.

-My sister loved the cartoon, "Beauty and the Beast, " so she had this plastic painted doll of Belle. Once I got mad at her and scrubbed the dolls head on Audra's headboard on her bed and it left brown skid marks, which, if I'm not mistaken, are still there.

-Once in church I thought it would be funny to pull out one of Audra's hairs. So I did it and she turned to me and said, "Ow, Abe, you huuut (hurt) me." Don't ask me why I thought this would be funny, but we still laugh about it to this day.

-We still constantly quote "Uncle Buck," especially about the rat gnawing that thing off the principal's face.

-We also played bank with old credit cards of my moms by swiping it in the crease between the headrest and the seat on the old bucket seats. That one's not as funny, but it's a memory.

-Another not-so-funny one was when I played post office with my dad's old junk mail. I would put chairs in a circle to make my "office." Then I would put a laundry basket to collect the mail that I would have my sisters drop into the "chute" formed by the chair.

I will try to think of some more tales of my past, but would love to hear all of yours!! Please share!