A sense of place
Not Just Bikes shows the difference between places and non-places in ten short minutes:Fortunately the part of Chicago where I live has a sense of place that he'd recognize, but you have to cross a...
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Ravenswood platform opens after 12 years and 3 months
Would you just look at that:Metra finally opened the inbound Ravenswood platform on the UP-N line after tearing down the previous permanent structure in July 2011.For the first time since then, we...
View ArticleWait, it's August?
While I fight a slow laptop and its long build cycle (and how every UI change seems to require re-compiling), the first day of the last month of summer brought this to my inbox:Who better to prosecute...
View ArticleThe Big Kahuna
Yesterday evening, Special Counsel Jack Smith presented a grand jury indictment of the XPOTUS on 4 counts yesterday, including conspiracy to defraud the United States government. This is the most...
View ArticleMore punditry about the indictments
Just a couple this morning as I have another long day of Die Zauberflöte rehearsals today:Ronald Brownstein warns that the closest parallel to the XPOTUS and his supporters assaulting the Constitution...
View ArticleAuto-oriented development is a radical monopoly
Strong Towns summarizes an essay by Ivan Illich in which he explains how drivers, and not cars, are the product of the automobile industry. Cars, and car-focused infrastructure, create the problems...
View ArticleWhat could possibly go wrong?
In an effort to avoid liability for some things, Uber has decided to enter an entirely new area of potential liability:Uber is rolling out a new safety feature Wednesday in Chicago and other markets...
View ArticleTemperature 26, dewpoint 22
I just got back from walking Cassie for about half an hour, and I'm a bit sticky. The dog days of summer in Chicago tend to have high dewpoints hanging out for weeks on end, making today pretty...
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Lots of walking
My phone, watch, and dog are all recharging right now after Cassie and I walked 9.5 km to the Horner Park DFA and back.Right now it's officially 30°C with the occasional wind gust at O'Hare, but here...
View ArticleUK's Crooked House Pub destroyed; police suspect arson
The charming West Midlands pub with its 16-degree list burned down a week ago. Locals are heartbroken; police are suspicious:When locals awoke on Sunday morning to the news that the pub, famously wonky...
View ArticleIt's XPOTUS indictment day...again...
An Atlanta grand jury charged the failed fascist and 18 of his mooks with another 41 counts, including orchestrating a "criminal enterprise," following his attempts to steal the election in Georgia:The...
View ArticleRanked-Choice Voting fail choosing a lunch spot
I'm excited in general about ranked-choice voting as a way to reduce polarization in the US. But recently I had the experience of trying to organize a lunch for a group of people where almost every...
View ArticleEnd of day reading list
The XPOTUS continuing to get indicted for trying to steal the 2020 election wasn't the only bit of authoritarian fuckery this week:Constitutional law professor Deborah Pearlstein wonders, as do many...
View ArticlePigeons roosting, etc.
A few of them have come home or are en route:Cato Institute scholar Clark Nelly says the XPOTUS "is toast," as the deranged wannabe fascist (my words) won't be able to stop himself from lying to the...
View ArticleBelly laugh of the day
Sorry, I'm still wiping the tears from my eyes after laughing so hard:In a court filing Thursday, Trump's attorneys recommended starting the [election interference] trial in April 2026, more than two...
View ArticleHappy Friday
I'm about to take Cassie on her noon peregrination, which will be shorter than usual as we're heading over to North Center Ribfest tonight in perfect weather. Last year's Ribfest disappointed me (but...
View ArticleChuckles all afternoon
My home office sits at the top of my house as a loft over the floor below. I think it could not have a more effective design for trapping hot air. (Fortunately I can let a lot of that out through this...
View ArticleIncoming weather system
We get blizzards and heat waves in Chicago. Guess which one we get tomorrow? The forecast still calls for 36°C temperatures with heat indices around 42°C. But Inner Drive Technology World Headquarters...
View ArticleA "close call" in aviation isn't what you think
The Times posted an article Monday morning, complete with animated 3D graphics, guarantee to alarm most of the flying public. In short, when a non-pilot passenger hears "close call" they imagine the...
View ArticleAnnals of the mafia state
Since today is the last Friday of the summer, I'm leaving the office a little early to tackle one of the more logistically challenging itineraries on the Brews & Choos Project. So I'm queueing up a...
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