We have been trying to pack as light as possible when we go on trips.  For this one, we were shooting for all our things in just on carry on bag.  We made it, except we needed something to carry Jonah around in during the trip and the law of the land is that he must be strapped into a car seat when as much as thinking about being in the car.  So the giant captain’s chair of a car seat would need to come along.  We were planning on going hiking and had found a toddler backpack carrier on Craigslist and were going to use that in lieu of a stroller.

The backpack and the carry on bag would have been perfect and simple to take to the airport, even with Jonah in tow. How would we get the car seat to the airport? For the majority of people this is as simple driving to the airport. However for us the airport is only 12 miles away and the airport parking is 3 miles away. Also parking would be $40 at least at the farthest away lot. Even by car this would be an hour long trip to the terminal with traffic and the shuttle. Being city dwellers the CTA was the order of the day. An hour long journey on one bus and one train; all for only $4.50.

Back to how that car seat would travel with us. There are not enough hands between us to carry it, even if it were possible to carry it that long. An amazing little strap to the rescue. The Traveling Toddler Car Seat Travel Accessory may not have a name that tells you exactly what it does but what it does it does well. It is a T shaped strap with D-rings at each end and uses the LATCH connectors to strap the car seat to a rolling carry-on bag. It dramatically shifts the center of gravity for the bag and some adjustment to your pulling technique is needed but it works! Jonah rode through O’Hare with ease.

Our experience at O’Hare was typical. ORD is a city unto itself and there is rarely a moment when it is not rush hour there. At security the TSA employees acted as most public servants act: offended that they have to do their job and might have to speak to you. Twice we seem to have offended line workers by not reading their mind and knowing they were giving us special treatment for traveling with a child; speaking to us like people would have solved this problem. I also could have used some more advice when the car seat would not fit in the x-ray machine. The TSA agent just said “it does not fit” with out any guidance on how to get it through security. After looking around a while, possibly in a panic, he got the attention of someone, to prove it was not an explosive. My advice to all customer facing people stands firm: “You do this every day; I almost never do this. Talk to me like as if a were human.”

Finally through security and an hour before boarding, we had dinner at Chili’s. We paid captive prices, which was not unexpected. It took longer than an hour, which I did not expect but probably should have. What was more remarkable about this dinner was the lack of vegetarian options on the menu. O’Hare is a busy airport and I would think quite a few vegetarians would pass through. A tip if you are going meatless and eat at O’Hare’s Chili’s, there are hidden black bean burgers that can be used in place of beef burgers. According to Jos and Jonah they are quite tasty.

On the plane, Jonah did well. As is usually the case he was praised by all around for being just the best baby ever and so calm. About half way through the flight we started getting very antsy. This is usually a sign of sleepiness and in 10-15 min he was asleep in Jos’ arms.

After 90 min we had traveled from the big city of O’Hare to the small, sleepy town of McGee Tyson Airport. The Knoxville airport is a quaint little village with a single terminal and one baggage claim carousel. However we were forced to enjoy the inside of the airplane a while longer because, although they were allowing planes to land, the airport was closed due to lightning. After the storm passed, our friend picked us up and we were quickly to bed.

Dollars are fully decoupled from gold and I don’t foresee going on a gold standard any time soon.  Anyway many (most?) proponents of a gold standard are really talking about a re-privatization of money, so our reserves are out of the question.

This being the case, right now all the gold in Fort Knox is just wasting space and probably a fare amount of housing costs.  ONN is on the right track for what should be done.

US To Trade Gold Reserves For Cash Through Cash4Gold.com

While we are gone enjoy pictures with Jonah from this year…

BTW, Hulu is amazing. More to come I expect.

Friday night we had a backyard picnic and Jonah ate nearly all his yogurt all by himself. Saturday night and last night at dinner he threw tantrums (huge full-on temper tantrums) and only calmed down with a walk and some pudding he could feed himself. Tonight we let him play with a spoon before dinner and try to eat some with it at dinner. He was much calmer but this also might not have been why he was crazy at all the nights before.

Even if his tantrum was not because he wanted to practice eating, the video below is a great example of how our little primate is becoming a master of tools.

(Also ignore the bad habit I have of providing Jonah’s inner dialog with an odd voice.)

In Chicago you can always find ice cream near a park and downtown there are some places near construction sites that sell food on the street, mostly pizza.  I have never seen a hot dog stand.  It is probably not a good idea to eat cart food every day even if it is available but more options would be nice.  I never assumed that this lack was caused by Chicagoan’s unusual desire to only eat from stationary restaurants.  My assumption was regulation.

Claire Bushey confirms my assumption in the Reader this week.  There is a license for preparing food in carts, but only in parks.  The vendors would like to see this expanded to the whole city.  As is usually the case there is a union of folks who benefit from the status quo and do-gooders, Bootleggers and Baptists if you will.

The Bootleggers:

Among the biggest critics of the street vendors are nearby restaurant owners. Fernando Muñoz, owner of El Chisme, at 26th and Christiana, says he’s concerned that the vendors have no place to wash their hands, placing their customers at risk of illness. He also notes that they can afford to sell the same products for less money because they don’t pay property taxes, rent, or utilities. “I know they have to live,” he says, “but it’s not the right way.”

“How [are customers] going to come in here if they already ate out there?” asks Natalia Pulido, owner of El Fandango, a restaurant across the street. “Your own friends comment, ‘I ate over here because I don’t have to tip the waitress,’” says Mariano Pulido, her son and business partner. “Street food is good for hard times. I understand. But it affects us too. It’s just not right.”

Yeah, it is just not right to have people eating different food.  Maybe they should not be allowed to make food at home or we should shut down every other restaurant too.

The Baptists:

City officials say the health risks of licensing these vendors are too great. “There are so many questions associated with these vendors,” says Tim Hadac, a spokesman for the city’s health department. “Did they make [the food] at home? Did they make it in their garage? . . . There’s so many question marks, and as a public health agency, we’re not comfortable with that.”

Yeah, there is just no way to know if food is safely prepared.  Everyone knows, food preparers tend to want to kill their customers and once those preparers have health inspections no one ever gets sick.

The only place I have ever seen these types of food carts are in the large city parks.  These parks are large enough that the vendors do not really compete with restaurant and give a charming image to tourists.

They are also then near washrooms…theoretically.  The washrooms in the parks are nice when you really need to go but mostly because urinating in public is looked down upon, not because you get a clean space to use.

I say let a million foods on a stick bloom.  Free the vendors!

While Joscelynn was busy attending to her duties, Jonah and I had some quality Daddy/Son time in the summer heat of the Near South.

Below is a slide show of the photo set from this weekend.  I would like to thank the groom and my new cousin-in-law, Tyler Craft, for TylrSlidr, a WordPress plug-in that is really easy to setup and use.

Is their just another case of NIMBY? Maybe, but Michael Miner’s story in the Reader this week gives a voice to the opposition that says they have legitimate medical concerns. It is a very interesting read about something where there is not clear consensus from what I can tell.

When we visit the Greater Flatiron Area, we drive through a large farm in northwest Indiana along US41. Being in the car, I cannot hear or feel any of the effect attributed to the turbines in the article. I am also a poor judge of distances and cannot determine if these windmills are as close to the towns they are near as described in the article.

Have any of you experienced a wind turbine?

I am ready for what ever is happening today, originally uploaded by flatiron32.

Here is the little set of pictures from Jonah’s adventure on Wednesday.

Once home he was just fine but sleepy. Jos was sleepy too and they napped together. After their nap, Jonah was hungrey and we had lunch. He started with some left over mashed potatoes that he eat fine. Then he shared some grocery store sushi and pot stickers with us. He also had a little corn and a banana. In other words, he eat normally.
Here is the final update on Jonah’s surgery.

After lunch, we played in the back yard and he had a lot of energy. He started to look tired so we went in. After a diaper change (an amazingly full, wet diaper) he was back up and about. He played again until 1 when we put him down for a nap. A 4.5 hour nap! A silent nap!

We were warned ad infinitum that this procedure would not immediately fix the snoring, snot, and Vaderism. I am sure they get calls all the time about children sounding worse and want to cut down on that. We were also warned that he might be down for a while.

So far this has not been the case. Jonah has quickly returned to his normal activity level and seems to be able to breath easily. I am quite curious to see how he sounds after the swelling goes down, because he sounds great now.

I will post pictures tomorrow. (Mom, why are there no pictures of me after my surgery?)