tfl: The Flatiron Life

We have set the date for Jonah to be “incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth though water and the Spirit” (a.k.a. baptized). It will be 27 April at the 11am CT service of our church, the FUMC of Chicago at the Chicago Temple. There is easy parking 2 blocks away for only $5.

If you would like to be there to see Jonah begin to be a “true disciple who walks in the way that leads to life,” then we would love to have you there as part of the “community of love and forgiveness” that will help him “grow in [his] service to others.”

Pentagon: Inventory ordered of all U.S. nukes

Crap! I thought the big fear we had after the Cold War and break up of the USSR was that they would loose track of their nukes.

I think I agree with Marc Andreessen

I’ve been trying to think of an idea that would be even better than this one.

And I have failed.

This is, officially, the best good idea of all time.

This week I have seen media reports, blog posts, and an email from my condo board about Earth Hour. This is encouraging us to turn off non-essential electrical appliances for an hour on Saturday in order to conserve power. I have three thoughts.

1. I already turn off non-essential appliances, because my money is essential.
2. Don’t we already do this to some degree, every day for 9 months. We call it Daylight Saving Time. The power needed for an hour of lights is not needed because the Sun is giving us light for free, much to the chagrin of the candlestick makers, so we align our clocks with our activities.
3. This cannot be meaningful. The highest estimate are a 10% reduction of power consumption for that hour. One hour out of the 8784 hours we will have this year. After the hour everything goes back to normal. Why not encourage people to give up energy all together?

Joscelynn is a big fan of What Not to Wear (WNTW). I have to admit when I hear Stacy and Clinton I find it hard to not watch. It is pretty good advice and I wish they would have men on.

Anyway…Chicagoist posted about Walgreens starting to sell “real” clothes. From the picture they have and the descriptions. I am pretty sure you should never wear these clothes, NEVER.

Obama voters in Cook County know the way to ensure your candidate wins is to vote early and often. I wonder how many of these voters have addresses like 4001 N. Clark Street.

(HT: Prof Cowen)

Someone has taken my idea for the perfect Illiana tattoo. Back to the flesh colored drawing board.

(HT: Chicagoist)

(HT: Mike Munger)

Last week Jos was relieved to find out other people don’t like to use the phone.

Today, I stumbled upon a similarly revealing fact. Other people do a lot of stuff at the same time on their computers, and other people think they are interrupting them with an IM.

When I get an IM at work that is something like, “What you up to?” I usually respond with “Working.” It is what I am doing, but it is not “Working, leave me alone!” Sometime people think they are interrupting me, but really they are not.

The only interruption would be caused by me. If I need to concentrate, I just don’t respond. Most days I have a half dozen browser tabs open, the same number if chat windows, am listening to my iPod, have my IDE open editing several files, 4 or more terminals, and might be carrying on a conversation with 3 or 4 people in person. Heck, sometime I am doing all that and participating in a meeting. I have 3 monitors at work and 2 at home. I don’t notice another chat tab. In fact, I am so used to this setup I might be less productive if people stopped contacting me.

You might say, I must not be productive at work. However, I think i get a fair amount done and my performance reviews are always positive. There is clearly time for heads down working, but thankfully Orbitz generally wants us to be happy at work and do things well and thoughtfully.

You might also say, I mist not value IM conversations enough to give them my undivided attention. I disagree, i give IMing a very special and high place in my life. How could I disrespect the medium over which I first learned I did not want to live without Joscelynn?

In response to Tim Janecyk’s comment, ToddlerMom asked, “If the police cannot protect the children, who will.” Well, Parenting Magazine has ranked the 50 states using some great nanny state criteria to help people like ToddlerMom.

My jaw dropped when I read this from the report,

Surprisingly, basic safety devices like booster seats and bike helmets aren’t required in most states — 31 fail to mandate one or both of them. “Having a law is essential, even if you wouldn’t dream of putting your preschooler in the car without a booster seat,” says Alan Korn, director of public policy for Safe Kids Worldwide, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C. “Not only does a law educate parents who might not be as safety-conscious as you, but it also makes it easier for you to handle protests from your kids. When my 7-year-old says he’s too big for a bike helmet, I just remind him that it’s the law. Argument over.”

I don’t think I can respond better than Radley Balko,

God forbid you teach the kid to wear a helmet because it’s the rational thing to do. Maybe teach him something about risk and responsibility. No, instead, just tell him he’s gotta’ wear a helmet because the all-knowing legislature … simply say so, and if he doesn’t do as they say, he’ll be breaking the law.