tfl: The Flatiron Life

RFC has some new ltems today.

Water and Computer do not mix
Today about 5 I had an accident. I spilt a little bit of water on my laptop at work. I quickly mopped up any water I could. Nothing bad happened immediately, but I shut down all my applications and shut off my computer. I went away for a little while to read the paper. Came back, turned on the computer everything seemed ok, but then I tried to check my email. I entered my password and it would not validate it. I opened up Word and started typing, and that is when I noticed the problem. Several of the keys were cross circuiting. This is pretty typical behavior for spilling water in your regular keyboard. It is best alleviated by letting the board dry out. I shut my machine back off, turned it upside down, just to make sure there was no pooled water in it, and then went a away for about 10 min. I came back and same problem. I went and talked to Andy in Tech Support and he confirmed that it should go away after drying. In the mean time I should disconnect the power supply and remove the battery. I did both and called it a day. I am sure that this will fix the problem, but if not Andy also said that the keyboards are fairly easy to replace on our Dells. I do not think it will come to this. I feel like a moron. I know I know better but sometimes things happen.

Grrr CTA Riders
I was a little disappointed that I had to wait 5-10 min for my bus this morning, but once I was on things were moving at their normal pace. But nothing can make the 156 route feel twice as long as a fellow passenger calling their office, not just to say that they will be late but also, to tell them how slow the bus is going. I thought the bus was moving along fine. Much better then yesterday when my bus “broke down” and all of the passengers had to transfer to the next bus that came after 10 min of standing in the drizzle. Two women called there secretaries to ask them to tell various people that their bus was running late. This always has the psychological way of making me just feel that the bus is taking longer before I check my watch, do the math and reassure my self that the bus is at its normal pace.
Another reason the bus should be a Cell Free Area.

NRODT!
Mail Check today yielded the 21 April 2003 edition of National Review. All of the columns (11) are about the war and then there are of course the typical cultural reviews and miscellaneous articles. It is odd for it to come on a Tuesday so I am not sure when I will be done with it. I would say I should be done by Saturday, depending on how far I am drawn into other things.

New G-File!
I am not able to connect to AIM for some reason at work! I am still connected to the Internet because I am …uhm… still listening to the WLS radio stream, which in the grey area of the corps rules. So to fulfill a commitment to Jos, the Great Jonah has a new article. I suggest you all read it.

David Bloom
Yesterday I woke and checked the corner. I learned some horrible news. David Bloom had died. This hurt me a bit. Mr. Bloom was one of the better television journalists on our time. He had done some great work as an embed.
I grew up an NBC kid. My family’s nightly news was The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. When I hear that John Williams NBC news theme I get in a news receptive zone. Every weekend morning I would wake up to my mother watching the Today show. I cannot remember a single Sunday not getting ready for church with the Today show playing through the house. Often times the whole family stopping to share with someone else?s moment of joy or sorrow though the television. Today I might switch to Fox News Channel for analysis, but when the President is speaking or some other major even is taking place, I still switch over to NBC for a little comfort television. The NBC crew is like a group of cousins that are always available. There is Jim Miklaszewski at the Pentagon. Tim Russert down in Washington. And a whole variety of others around the nation and around the globe.
I will miss David as I know the rest of the family (real and NBC) will.

Work was more cruising. Head down working.

My mother told me that a high school friend a couple years younger than me is being deployed to Africa this week. Although it is not to a major battle zone, it is still out in the field. Please keep Heath in your thoughts and prayers.

Computer 2003: Tech support at the shop where I bought my computer tells me that the behavior I reported a few days ago is expected. I am going to be placing an order for the memory soon.

OIF: The coalition has captured SHX (Saddam Hussein International). If the military would like to destroy it I know a mayor that is good at that.

Peotone
Sen. Fitzgerald thinks that the city should manage the third airport! Read more about it at RFC.

Work: Implemented the FAQ for the application
After Work: Meet with Dr. Blackwell about the Get to know Your Pastor luncheon for this coming Sunday.
Paid some bills (Credit Card and Car)

For the last two days while doing my daily run I have cramped up in my legs. I have been stretching but I cannot get rid of them. The only variable is I switched to the nicer new treadmill. I am going to go back to the old ones tomorrow. I do not think it is a problem with the new one being more accurate in speed because they do not feel faster.

RFC
The boys over at Radio Free Chicago found this great article by John Kass from the Tribune. Daley must be stopped! (note: Prolly need to be a free trib subscriber. It is worth it!)