ChgoRed, Girl Editor

Not Just Any Old Day

November 1, 2002. Horrible day. I was rather bluntly laid off from my job of five years, just before the holiday season and the worst time of the year to look for work. Nice, eh? I still remember the El ride home and that absolute sense of All these people around me have jobs, and I don't. I don't have a job. It was like my life had been run off the road. My god, I thought, What do I do now?

November 1, 2003. I'm going to be on Day One of my big U.K. vacation. Little more than a month after losing my old job, I started my new one. I never did go bankrupt, lose my apartment or have to move in with family like I'd feared. Somehow it all worked out. My life changed, but not for the worse.

Three months later, I met the Boyo, and my life changed all over again.

So this post is really meant to celebrate two anniversaries--mine, and ours, because November 1 will be nine months to the day of our first date. Since I'll be on The Trip, I won't be around to tell him what a joy he is, or how much more I like my life with him in it. So I'll tell him here, which will embarrass him no end, but will also make him smile.

Happy nine months, Mooch. I love you like crazy. And I promise to bring back souvenirs.

Lyle Is the Man

Some years ago, one of my friends was trying to understand the appeal of Lyle Lovett. Being sadly uninformed, and British, her attitude toward him was summed up with, "Uuuh, that hair." I tried to tell her--how I'd been listening to him since college; how his music had gotten me through many homesick, lovesick, and happy days; how he'd worked for hours to sign every autograph at the signing where I got his picture, smiling all the while and quite possibly missing his plane; how he wore a suit and tie in concert, and nice ones at that. No dice; she wasn't having any of it.

And no matter, because he's still one of the coolest, smartest, most underrated musicians out there. As you might guess, I got the new album last week and I'm already wearing it thin. It's not quite as good as "Step Inside This House," but still better than anything you'll ever hear on country radio. Accomplished, grown-up, fun, witty. I'm loving it. Best song: The Truck Song, which bounces along like it was driving over gravel. Only Lyle could put baling wire and Wim Wenders in a country song, and actually make it work. Plus, this song gives the answer I was trying to give my friend all those years back.

From an article in the St. Louis Dispatch:

According to a recent interview in the alt-country magazine No Depression, Lovett's truck references were a kind of touchstone for the recording. Commenting on lyrics that contrast a visit to Paris (not the one in Texas) and a London meeting with director Wim Wenders with a chorus about a truck held together by "B.F. Goodtire and baling wire," Lovett says the truck is much more important.

"That's cool, but ultimately you're not responsible for Paris or London; you're responsible for your own place in the world," he explains. "Ultimately the most important thing in life is driving to see your girlfriend. That's the thesis statement for the album - that when it comes down to it, we're all just driving around this world in a truck."

Who couldn't like a guy like that?

Buy the album. It rocks.

Commuter Hell

In a nice companion to carriedaway's very clever rant about train riders and cellphones, comes this news story.

Man jams arm down train toilet

In short, man drops phone down metal toilet. Man inserts arm, desperately fishing for phone. Man gets stuck (you knew he would). Man requires rescue involving firemen, policemen and Jaws of Life. Rescue takes about 90 minutes and requires train tracks be closed, delaying thousands of commuters.

And the phone? They're still looking for it.

Another Way Into Baghdad

In other news, money talks and BS walks.

Group Says Iraq Contractors Donated Significantly to Bush's Campaign
Private contractors that received billions in reconstruction contracts for Iraq and Afghanistan contributed significantly to President Bush's election campaign and stocked their staffs and governing boards with well-connected former federal officials, according to a report released today by a watchdog group.

The Center for Public Integrity matched companies with political donations to conclude that dozens of companies that won contracts had contributed to national political campaigns, with President Bush receiving more money than any other candidate since 1990--about $500,000.

Full report from CPI

Chicago Rules

Y'all might remember a little incident we had back in June, when a porch/fire escape collapsed during a party. 13 people were killed and dozens injured. Yeah, you remember. It was awful.

Well, the braniacs in city government have reached a settlement with the guy who built the porch and the buildng's owner. This should be a good thing.

The owner of the Lincoln Park building where a porch collapse killed 13 people in June agreed Wednesday to pay $112,700 to settle city code violations at 22 buildings he owns.

Attorneys for Philip Pappas and two of his companies agreed to pay $108,500 in the city's case against them for 713 W. Wrightwood Ave., where the porch collapsed June 29, killing 13 and injuring dozens. Pappas also agreed to pay $200 for each of 21 other buildings where the city alleged porches on buildings he owns were constructed in violation of city code or without permits.

Gee--$200 for each building where a porch could have collapsed but didn't? That's quite a savings, considering the standard fine is $500 per building, per day. You don't suppose his being a big-shot, well-known, friend-of-da- mayer developer would have anything to do with that sweet deal, do you?

But wait--it gets better.

Though he agreed to bring all his buildings involved in the cases up to code, Pappas made no admission of guilt in the settlement.

Settling without a finding against him in court protects Pappas in pending wrongful death and personal injury cases related to the collapse, legal experts said. About two dozen cases--at least nine of them wrongful death suits--have been filed in the incident.

"Violations would have a dramatic impact on the civil cases," said Timothy Patenode, head of the Chicago Bar Association's Committee on Real Property Law. A finding that Pappas' companies violated city code would have meant Pappas and his companies would have almost no chance of defending themselves against suits by families of those killed and by survivors of the accident, Patenode said.

Wow--it's an even better deal than we thought! Break the law, pay a discounted fine, and have it help you in the civil courts. He and his lawyers must be smiling this morning. Glad someone is.

Doing the Numbers

Ever wondered about your chances of dying by snakebite? In a flood? While riding in a streetcar? Your friends at the National Safety Council have figured it out for you.

What Are the Odds of Dying?

(Just speaking as an editor, that title could use some work. My first inclination is to answer smartly, "Well, I'd say the odds of dying are pretty damn good.")

This site lists the number of deaths by injury, as well as the odds of such an event happening to you in a given year or in your lifetime. And before you ask, the biggies are falls, guns and cars. Buckle up, guys.

My favorite: "Excessive heat or cold of man-made origin," which reminds me of all those detective shows where someone locks the good guys in a walk-in freezer.

Anyway. Official and governmental, so you can read it at work.

Where a Kid Can Be a Mini-Adult

As if this week's stories about toddlers munching on fries during hours of TV viewing weren't depressing enough, the NYT has another one for you.

How does standardized testing for 4-year-olds sound?

Is it too late to go to France?

Like I needed to read this two days before I fly over there. Then again, maybe I really did need to read it.

Not all of us Americans are evil
Eric Schlosser
Wednesday October 29, 2003
The Guardian

...I can't remember another time when having an American accent provoked as much immediate hostility from Brits of every race, creed, class, and sexual orientation. If you're an American, overseas, in the fall of 2003, you've got a lot to answer for.

...If I could fake a British accent with any skill, I would now. It would save a lot of time. rest of text

Day After Tomorrow

Flight to Glasgow is booked. Guesthouse in rainy little coastal town is expecting me. We are go fly, pretty much. Just a few things to pick up from the store (sleeping mask, Powerbars to eat in-flight, etc.) and then, of course, packing (don't think about it, don't think about it...). Started shifting my sleep schedule two days ago. Yesterday was awful. Today was a little less than awful. Tomorrow will be better.

Work has been the kind of week that makes me think: 1) God really wants me to appreciate my vacation. Why else would he schedule a huge & important report AND my yearly evaluation this week? 2) The analysts can sense I'm leaving--like sharks in the water, they are--and have taken this chance to dump everything they can think of on my desk. By Friday afternoon I'll be running out of there. OK, walking, since I'll have my suitcase and loaded-down camera bag. Still. Gone. And no analysts or boring reports for nearly two weeks. Bliss.

Don't get me wrong--they're nice people and all, but this job is not where I want to spend the rest of my life. I have no financial background; I'm not a "money person." Alex P. Keaton and I would have very little in common. Yet, this is my third financial editing gig. Each time, I took the job out of necessity rather than interest, and eight years later it's become a career. It's the best-paying job I've had, the best boss so far, and they seem to want me to do well (which is a nice switch from previous jobs). But the job...is a job. I know exactly what's going to happen on this trip--it will make me realize how little fulfillment I get from my current job, and how much I would rather be editing or researching something else. It's not just that the reports are boring; it's hard for me to feel good about money-centered ethics. "Yay--I just edited a report about how many people at XYZ Corp. are getting fired!" No go. Plus, I've recently had a slew of reports on refineries and tobacco companies. It's like Polluters' Week in my office. My role in promoting these companies is miniscule, but it is a role nonetheless. Not too comfortable with that, either. So I focus on the trip, the Boyo, what I'm having for dinner--whatever. I took this gig after being laid off, and was glad to get it. But I don't think I can do financial editing forever; or even for five years, like at the last place. Something's going to have to change eventually.

Life is all about surprises. Example: The sweetheart surprised me with a 6 AM visit yesterday. He wanted to make sure I was awake...and to wreak some revenge. I am a morning person; he is not. Thus, there have been plenty o' mornings when I have woken him up against his will. With kisses, though. It's not like I'm banging trash can lids together. So he figured this was his chance to get me back. Myself, I was just so touched and happy to see him at that hour--it lit up my whole morning. I fell in love with him all over again; I didn't even know that could happen.

Luck Be a Lunch Lady

School Cooks Claim $95M Powerball Ticket

ROSEVILLE, Minn. - They waited until the students got their lunch, then 15 school cooks and one janitor who each put a quarter into a lottery pool came forward Monday night as the holders of a Powerball ticket worth more than $95 million. full story