Feh.

Well, I WAS worried about the fact that Jason rides the train into downtown Chicago every work day, but then Mayor Daley got on the television and assured me that I had absolutely nothing to fear and that everything was under control.

I'm being sarcastic because it's really the only thing I can do. I've been worried ever since 9/11 that something would happen on the trains here because I see how completely easy it would be for someone to just walk on the Metra or CTA with a bomb. I realize that something like what happened in London is eventually going to happen here in the states and there's nothing anybody can do about it. I just have to hope that when it does happen that nobody I love is anywhere near it.

I know the mayor just doesn't want to people to panic but I still think it's crazy that I should believe just because there are some extra police officers patrolling the downtown train stops that we all are perfectly safe. You'd have to search each and every person who gets on every bus or train in the city AND the suburbs to prevent that and there is NO WAY anybody could ever expect that to happen.

It such a strange and helpless feeling when you know you're at risk and that bad things are most likely going to happen but you have to put it out of your mind and go about your daily life anyway.

My Love Affair With Dyson Continues

I have been known to rave to everyone who will listen about the wonders of my Dyson Vacuum Cleaner. It is one of the greatest household inventions I can think of. It works like an impossible dream, it's super slick looking, and comes a posse of divine customer service agents ready to assist me with all my vacuuming needs. You'd be surprised at how many people there are out there who feel the same way I do about this miraculous inanimate object. And those who do not own the Dyson yet, do covet it.

My Dyson has been acting sick as of late. When I use the mighty attachment to clean the mounds of cat fur off of my couches it has been making a sick, sad noise. I took the thing apart, inspecting for any blockage and upon finding none, I came to the conclusion that there must be a tear in the flexible accordion-like hose. I remembered how last year when I had problems with the cannister staying closed I called customer service and discovered that they were oh-so-happy to send me an entire new cannister, complete with a brand spanking new Root Cyclone thing-a-ma-jig FREE OF CHARGE. (And to top it all off they didn't even care that I had bought the thing second-hand off Ebay for HALF THE PRICE to begin with.)

Anyway, I remembered this and decided to call the friendly 1-866-MY-DYSON number again and told them my latest story.

And my new attachement hose should be arriving in 3-5 business days via UPS.

WHEE!

See? You may have thought I didn't like big businesses but I have no problem being a walking advertisement for companies I love with my heart and soul. Such as:

Dyson
Sharper Image
TIVO
Costco
Target
XM Satellite
Apple

Chillin' Out

Me and my mom just after the blizzard of 1979.

I'm scanning in a lot of old family photos today. Two things come to mind when I look at this picture:

1) CHECK OUT THAT YELLOW DOOR! Our house was so cool.

2) I wish I was hanging out with my mom today instead of just scanning photos of her. Can't really do anything about that though.

Well, back to work! I should be posting more stuff like this in the next few days.

Here We Go...

Sandra Day O'Connor retires.

This is going to be a long summer.

Old-y McOldins

I drove by the high school here in Bartlett yesterday and the sign out front read: "Class of 2006 Registration Starts ____". It gave the exact date but I couldn't get past the Class of 2006 part. You see, I graduated in 1996. Ten years ago. I remember a time when I couldn't imagine talking about people I knew and things I did ten years ago simply because that would put me at about age three. Now not only can I reminisce about people I knew a decade ago, I've also probably forgotten many of their names.

When I was seventeen or so, I always felt very old. Well, I felt older than most of the people around me at least. Steph and I used to joke that we were really sixteen going on thirty (and this was totally way before that lame movie starring Jennifer Garner with the similar name.) The difference now (aside from the fact that in hindsight, even though I felt older at the time I really was in fact, a complete baby) is that when we joked about being old, we were doing just that: joking.

I know, I know, twenty-seven is not old. But driving by that high school, for the first time in my life I did not think to myself, "Hey, I'm not really that much removed from them." Because I'm not anymore. I'm actullay a full-fledged, card-carrying ADULT and maybe I'm just silly but I'm finally realizing it. I see high school age kids walking around and instead of saying to myself, "Wow, a few years ago I was totally just like them," I'm thinking, "Does that girl's mother actually buy her shorts that are that short?" Instead of relating and feeling hip I'm shaking my head and looking on reproachfully. I mean, when I was in school people didn't have cell phones or computers or low-rise jeans. Nobody I knew knew had heard of the internet, much less had their own personal weblog. THERE WAS NO REALITY TV, PEOPLE. How I can I possibly relate to the youth of today??? I can't. And I don't want to really. Because I'm a grown-up now. A grown-up who reads Harry Potter and adores Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but a grown-up nonetheless.

P.S. Tonight I'm buying tickets to the Lyle Lovett show at Ravinia this month. Can we say it again all together? OLD!

Escapism

Oh, I Almost Forgot

Poop on you, Karl Rove. Way to insult half of America!

People like me wanted to get the terrorists therapy after 9/11? I don't particularly remember it going down that way. Of course, people's memories are getting shorter and shorter these days so it doesn't take much to rewrite history anymore. I suppose he thinks only there are only conservatives fighting in the war?