Apologies for the site problems yesterday. My database server crashed pretty hard. The guys at Quadrahosting were quick to respond though, and they seem to have it up and running now…
Month: September 2008
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Shared today on Facebook
is settling back in at work after a long training course.
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Margaret Jane Cunningham
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Nat and Staci on the arrival of their daughter Margaret Jane Cunningham. Ooh, I’ll have to start looking through my knitting patterns!
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Training over
Training over. That was fun for a bit… but man, eight conscious hours a day without Internet access is just too, too many.
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Cinnamon Bun Bread
When you’re sick, it’s really, really hard to resist the temptation to bake things like Cinnamon Bun Bread…
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Equal Pay
Michelle Obama blogs about equal pay and Lilly Ledbetter. Lilly worked at Goodyear for 20 years and was a plant supervisor. Someone sent her an anonymous letter with all the salaries of her male counterparts, all of whom were making way more than she did. She took the company to court. The Supreme Court ruled that, according to the law, Lilly only had 180 days to complain about the discrimination. So because the company had hid the truth for 20 years, she missed her chance. Now legislators are trying to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
“But this April, Republicans in the Senate blocked it. Now, Democrats in the Senate are working to bring Lilly’s bill back for another vote this fall. My husband is a proud supporter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Senator McCain does not support it. In fact, Senator McCain said that what women really need is more education and training. But Lilly Ledbetter had plenty of training. What she doesn’t have is the right to fight for the pay she deserves.”
My Grandma worked in a tire plant for years and years. I wonder how much money she lost to discrimination. But I suppose she deserved it, on account of not having enough education and training, right?
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Jesus is My Friend
“Jesus is My Friend” by Sonseed. Snookums sent me that link (which I think he got from Toast) presumably so I could laugh at the cheesy Jesus people. But little did he expect that his plan contained the seeds of his own marital downfall, because now I have to leave him for that AWESOME GUITAR PLAYER. (Also, that is a seriously catchy song.)
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RunningBlog
It was supposed to be a recovery week… and thanks to my stupid cold, it really was a small one.
Week 10 distance: 11mi (18km)
Week 11 distance: 26mi (42km)
Week 12 distance: 6mi (10km)That’s disappointing. I gave myself an extra day to recover after the 15-miler, and I did short easy runs on Wednesday and Friday. Then I got sick and didn’t do anything on the weekend. So far this week I walked two miles on both Monday and Tuesday (to the city for my class), and then today I ventured out for a run. I’m happy to report that my legs, back, and lungs are all in good shape. I’ve been coughing a little, but that seems to be solely related to the mucus in my head. So I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about the Bridge Run on Sunday. My dream goal would be to finish the 9K in under an hour, but I’d settle for just running the whole thing without stopping.
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Training
Apologies for the radio silence. I’m on Day 3 of my “Object-Oriented Design and Analysis using UML” course, and we don’t have computer access in the classroom. I’ll be done tomorrow…
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The Devil in the White City
The Devil in the White City
Since I had nothing better to do on Sunday than lie in bed and read while the Snook fetched me warming drinks – sometimes being sick is okay – I finally finished off a book I started back in L.A.: The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It’s a fascinating piece of historical narrative. Larson weaves together the true story of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with the shocking tale of H. H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer, who prowled the Fair for his victims. I was surprised at all the other notable “firsts” that premiered at the Fair: Shredded Wheat, hamburgers, Juicy Fruit gum, the Ferris Wheel (which was America’s answer to the Eiffel Tower, and seriously, how awesome is that?!), Aunt Jemima pancake mix, and best of all… squished pennies. Beyond the pleasures of the Midway though (which was a term also coined at the Fair), Larson succeeds at evoking the beautiful yet melancholy mood of the Exposition. With its dazzling white neoclassical buildings shining under Tesla’s electric bulbs, the “White City” was an ideal and a dream that lasted less than six months. That’s why I was so surprised to realize that I’ve actually been inside the only two buildings that remain: the former Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry) and the former World’s Congress Auxiliary Building (now the Art Institute of Chicago). If you’re a lover of Chicago – or history, or true crime – you should definitely pick up this book. It’s compulsive reading.