Sniffle

I rarely get sick but I got socked about two days ago---no FUN! Waking up in the middle of the night, sore throat, the whole thing. Ah well.

Other than that it's been a whirlwind week or so. I'm getting back into coding a little bit more...it's great to see how much easier things have gotten with Visual Studio 2005.

Protests

Today marked the third anniversary of the war in Iraq. To mark the occaision, there were protests all over the world, one of which was in Chicago. I'm a little disappointed to say that I was working all day, but I am about 2 blocks away from the protest site so I did manage to get some impression of the event.

As usual, riot police showed up on every corner for blocks around the protest (in this case on Michigan Avenue), and I imagine there were riot horses as well though I didn't see them. There were helicopters overhead monitoring the situation, and a number of ambulances around ready for any action.

I didn't actually see the protest in action; just the groups of protestors leaving the event at night. I assume it was peaceful etc. as I didn't hear any loud sirens or commotion.

It was weird, though, as I went out later to pick up some sushi for dinner, I noticed the air seemed hazy and it smelled bad. So perhaps some rioters threw stinkbombs or the police had some tear gas. I doubt the latter as I imagine my eyes would have stung as a result.

The Windy City

Chicago definitely earned its name today...walking down the street on my way to the bank I nearly got blown over. I'm looking for alternate cities to live in ... maybe in a year or so. So far Charlotte and Austin have made the list. Kate is pushing for San Diego but I'm not so sure about that...kind of expensive for real estate.

Other than that things are finally getting back in order. Finally this weekend I caught up on a ton of bookkeeping that had been on the backburner. I'm looking forward to clearing out my inbox next weekend.

Chilling in DTW

Done with meetings for the day...I have a 9pm flight but am (hopefully) getting out on a 7pm. In the meantime I'm enjoying a Corona in Chili's (it's after 5pm!) and catching up on work.

Team Days was mostly noneventful; same hotel in Romulus, same Australian spies present. Tuesday was pretty cool though...went to Dearborn with Jen, Hana (an Ann Arbor trainee), and Paul. We had dinner at this great little Iraqi diner and then went to an AMAZING sweets shop. They had a huge selection of pretty much any sweet you could think of...including great ice cream. I wish I remember the name so I could recommend it to people visiting.

The Joy of Live TV

Watching the Oscars while working...I realized how much of a hassle live TV. No fast forwarding through commercials! Grrr.

Whirlwind

The past two weeks have gone by in an instant. Renovating the office turned out to be a much larger chore than I thought. In all the commotion, I managed to not only reorganize much of the office but also delay a ton of tasks I had outstanding. Now, with my dual monitor setup and (finally) a reconstructed desk, I feel like I can get back to work. Nothing says progress like instability and dropped balls, which is exactly how the past 14 days has been. Throughout this time of course, Dody has been uber (how do you make an umlaut on a US keyboard) productive in interviewing final candidates and getting our Dokki office wired. This weekend should prove to be fairly productive as I kick in some afterburners to finish some uncompleted tasks.

Next week...Romulus! for three days of meetings and fun at the Wheat and Rye (the local bar/dinner hang out).