A sad day

*sigh* Today was not a good day. A good friend passed away yesterday; I got the news this morning. His name was Dan Lewis (for those of you in the SCA, Lochlainn Macgregor). He could be incredibly crusty at times, but I suspect that was a sort of test to see if we would come back, because as it turns out he was the definition of honor and friendship. He was a better friend than I would've expected for the short time I knew him, and he will be missed.

I am not a religious person, but I feel this warrants a memoriam:

God, full of compassion, dwelling on High, grant perfect rest under the sheltering wings of Your Presence to the one who has passed…. May their soul be bound up in the bond of life. Adonai is their portion. May they rest in peace.

(el maleh rachamim)

Peace to you Lochlainn, and Marie (his widow); you deserve no less.

Gothic house plan

In case your ever in the mood to build a french chateau:






















http://www.houseplans.com/plan_details.asp?id=17400&st=13

Wash U.

And some of my alma mater:

University of chicago

Some pix of the University of Chicago, one of my favorite campuses (campii?):

healthy

Just a note to let all know I am well (10 days of amoxycillin did the trick I guess), and back in the game.

See ya!

Traveling and being sick

I've had a sore throat for the last 4 days, which was made all the more interesting given that I was in st. louis for 3 days visiting friends. Well I went to the doctor today (having gone to a walgreen's clinic on sunday to with no result), and the result: acute pharyngitis, and a 10 day prescription of amoxycillin. Having taken the first one, I'm already starting to take liquids without my throat burning (I've barely had liquid, and no solid food for 2 days, and my urine started to turn orange; that happens when one's body is processing itself for nutrients, so I knew there was a problem. To say nothing of the fact that I lost 10lbs in two days).

You have to understand; I'm 38 years old, and I rarely get sick or injured. I've never had strep, I've had the flu only twice, no broken bones, no major surgeries, etc., etc., so when something like this happens I notice. As I sit here and type, I can feel my throat getting better, so hopefully 10 days of the antibiotics will do the trick. The one downside is that I'm contagious till this goes away, so there'll be no kissing for a while. I guess there are worse things to deal with.

Why I won't live in Chicago (if I can help it)

--Chicago is great city, make no mistake. Summer days (and nights) on the Chicago lakefront are without compare. And if they build the Fordham Spire it will be a wonderful and amazing thing (assuming they can fill it).....

...But here's the thing: traffic in Chicago sucks. I mean really sucks. Every single damn time I go there, regardless of the hour, there is traffic. Can you imagine a traffic jam at 11pm on a sunday night? Or a 30 mile(!)-long traffic jam? I've experienced both. It's insane, and until they dramatically expand METRA and the CTA, I hope never to live there again. I know they're trying, and there are certainly enough proposals out there for what to do, but in the meantime they keep building more high-rises, and nobody seems to remember that all of these people have to get around somehow. It's not like they're going to double-deck every street in the city (heaven help them if they do). So I'll live in the mid-sized cities (300,000 to 1 million or so), and be happy.

BTW; here's a link to one proposal for an expanded CTA: http://www.gapersblock.com/detour/a_cta_map_for_2055/index.php. I have my gripes with it (there should be a subway under Cicero Avenue, among other things), but at least it's something.

Back to lurking under the bridge; oh, wait, I'm a FIB, not a troll. Never mind. 8 )

Elliot