Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

You, iPhones and the CTA

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You might be wondering why I am writing about iPhones, since I have a BlackBerry. Or about the CTA, since unless every single one of our impressive stable of two- and four-wheeled vehicles is out of service, I rarely take public transportation.

I just want to keep up with the exciting news that now you can supposedly use your iPhone in the subway. Quite a few of my friends on AT&T, with and without iPhones, wish that it was possible to consistently use their phones without dropped connections in their homes and cars, let alone a noisy subway. Priorities!

But since it’s more important to use your iPhone in the subway than in your home, hopefully you’ll still have it when you get off the train. iPhone and electronic gadget thefts in general are apparently on the rise on the CTA:

Beware of iPhone thefts on the CTA
Hold the Phone: iPhone, Gadget Thefts on the Rise

And yes, I am one of those people who would have liked to have an iPhone (still do, really) but did not want to put up with AT&T’s spotty coverage for the “privilege.” Verizon sucks in many other ways, but I can’t fault the coverage in the places I live, work and most frequently travel to. And what’s the point of a smartphone or any cell phone if you can’t get coverage?

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 13 of 31)

Dogs in the big lake again

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Back in the spring, I mentioned two separate incidents in which dogs jumped or fell into Lake Michigan, owners went in after them, and humans and canines both needed saving. It happened again on Thursday night, and at this time of year, the consequences could have been really awful. Dogs and human were rescued, and are fine now.

Most of these stories involve dogs let off-leash where it is technically not legal to do so, and owners who either are not paying close enough attention to call their dogs back from a potentially dangerous situation, or dogs that don’t have a solid enough recall to come back immediately to an owner who is paying close attention.

I totally get that dogs should be able to run sometimes. What I will not get in the slightest, however, is if a rescuer, whether it be a Good Samaritan or a paid professional first responder, is injured or killed saving someone from their own lack of judgment.

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 9 of 31)

The Sun-Times, the typographers union, and me

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I am one of four owners of a small prepress production company. I started out in graphic arts and prepress production as a typographer shortly after I dropped out of journalism school in the late ’70s. I’ve always lived in a city with at least two daily newspapers. Even my high school newspaper was a daily during my years there (one of only five in the country then, and I’m not sure when it became a weekly). So obviously, the news that an impending buyout/rescue of the Sun-Times Media Group is being stalled by six members of the Chicago Typographical Union Local #16 is of great interest to me.

I was never a member of the typographers union. When I joined that sector of the workforce, hot metal type was well on its way out. My only exposure to hot type and hand-set type was in school. All of my work experience was with computerized cold type. There was a fair amount of resentment about the change itself, some of which was also directed towards those who were not around during the days of hot metal. People like me, who were young, female, or worse, both.

I am not really anti-union. My family members have been part of the construction trades union, teachers union, and firefighters union, and I can think of a lot more positives than negatives that came out of their union memberships. I respect what the typographers union did to gain better working conditions for its members in its early years, the longevity of the union, and its strength through most of its lifetime. It was just not a good fit for me in 1979.

Honestly I was surprised to see that there were as many as six union typographers still employed at the Sun-Times. I had assumed that all production had long since passed into the hands of editorial, advertising, and graphic design departments armed with their trusty Macs. I am amazed to recall that the union was once powerful enough, and it was, to demand lifetime job guarantees for its members. While I do understand some of the hateful comments being directed at the holdouts, I also have to ask: isn’t a union supposed to protect its members and help them keep what they fought for? And maybe this shouldn’t make a difference, but the annual salaries of $45,000 they are fighting to keep is regular-people money. Not financial institution bailout money, not automaker bailout money, but regular-people money measured in thousands not billions. Maybe less than you… or I… make.

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 13 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 235 of 274)

And we’re outta there

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I never did talk here about Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. For the record, I was very much against Chicago hosting the Olympics. The city, and for that matter the state of Illinois, has far too many pressing problems to solve to reasonably take on the additional burdens of hosting a major international event. These problems are of the sort that negatively affect those who live here either by choice or necessity on a daily basis, and while not all of them are as horrendous as the recent beating death of a Fenger High School student, all of them are more important to people who actually live and work here than hosting the Olympics.

So it was with a great sigh of relief, as well as a small degree of shock that the “fix” wasn’t in, that I heard the news of Chicago getting knocked out of contention in the first round of voting this morning.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the promises of a bright and shiny Chicago could still be kept over the next few years for those of us who live here? Yeah, right… what am I thinking.

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 2 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 224 of 274)

Party like summer is over

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UPDATE: Some new bumps in the road have unfortunately caused the cancellation of this event. Check the club’s website for more details and further updates.

If you’re part of the Chicago-area biker community, you probably already know about the most excellent end-of-summer party put on for many years by The Fugarwe Tribe. Despite some bumps in the road this year, it is going to happen after all. The date and location have changed, so please take note! Sad to say, it’s been cancelled.

FT_33rdPigRoast_2009

UPDATED: To add a link to the club’s official website. I am not any kind of an “official” spokesmodel, I am just Mrs. Gator. If that means nothing to you, you probably don’t ride a Harley in the Chicago area.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 28 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 216 of 274)