Akin to getting food poisoning from your mother

From the Chicago Tribune today:

Mice, supermarkets and food safety

Posted by Renee Enna at 10:00 a.m. CDT

The discovery of mouse droppings that closed Whole Foods Market in Lincoln Park offers a sage reminder to cityfolk that we're not the only ones who like food-centered businesses.

The store, at 1000 W. North Ave, was closed Wednesday by the Chicago Department of Public Health after inspectors found mouse feces throughout the premises, including more than 100 droppings in one walk-in cooler alone, according to the department. Also found was a dead mouse on a glueboard trap.

Wednesday's visit was a follow-up to an inspection on June 27, when inspectors ordered management to eliminate the infestation and warned that there would be a re-inspection, according to Tim Hadac, the department's spokesman.

On Wednesday, inspectors found "no compliance," which automatically raises the violation from “serious” to “critical,” which prompted the closing, Hadac said.

___________

This is the second time I've heard of Whole Foods stores in the area being shut down by public health inspectors. While I prefer independent stores and the farmer's market, I don't often have the time to do all that running around, and find myself wandering into Whole Foods on a semi-regular basis. And now I just feel ill.

More about Doggies

First things first - I still haven't adopted anybody.

I went back to the shelter last week to visit Hudson, and I'm completely in love with him. He's such a sweet baby. I chatted with one of the shelter volunteers about possible barking and howling, and she told me she's never heard him utter a peep unless he's outside and another dog gets too close. It would seem that Hudson is not a fan of other dogs. In fact, he hates 'em.

Before going to the shelter I invited two other friends to come along and check him out before I made a decision (I'm in love, I can't be expected to behave rationally.) Both of them canceled at the last minute, and so I decided to leave the adoption for another day.

And I did return on Wednesday with reinforcements and found that Hudson was gone! The shelter was too worried about his aggression towards other dogs, and so they sent him for a three week study-abroad to the Southside to attend K9 University. Crushed, I left my business card and asked them to call me when he gets back from his trip.

Lauren, my partner in many crimes, has her reservations about Hudson because as a Hound, he is predisposed to certain traits that might make him less than the best condo dog. And how did she try to help the situation? She took me to the Chicago Dog Show last weekend!

It was a great day, although somewhat overwhelming. So many wonderful dogs - none of them available for adoption. I spoke to people from various rescue programs, loved on lots of dogs, and watched the puppy best of breeds/best-in-show. (Can I tell you how ridiculously cute the puppy toy representatives are??)

Below are a few of my favorite pictures of the day. If you want to see the rest, click the link at the top of the page to see all the pictures I posted to my website. If you want to see larger images and are using Internet Explorer, you can click on the photos and you'll get just that.

I think this little guy is a Cairn Terrier. He's a volunteer dog who visits young children in hospitals.

This guy is a representative from the Bulldog rescue. A few of his colleagues were with him, dressed up in other costumes, but it being so close to St. Patrick's Day, here's a cute little leprechaun:
I think Lauren knows what kind of puppy is - (comment Lauren?) Look at how cute he is! He was going to town on his little toy, flipping out and just being adorable. It was hard to get a picture of him that wasn't blurry.


File this one under "pity". Look what they've done to this Poodle?! He's been shaven and styled, and his ears are in elastic bands!


Love, Love Love. I hugged this dog for a long time and didn't want to let her go. Say what you will about Doberman Pinchers - they are sweet dogs! I was so excited at the prospect of having another Doby (had two as a teen) that I actually called the Doby rescue. Yeah - unless I want the toy version, and I don't, these guys are just too big to live without a yard.

Pre-grooming bad hair day. Although, this could be a picture of me, come July.

So stay tuned - it will be three weeks before I can have Hudson, but in the spirit of trying to find the right dog, I'm still looking. I'm looking with half a heart, but I'm looking.

Welcome 2008,,,

...and welcome Illinois Smoking Ban!

Happy New Year everyone!

Vindicated!

Long-time readers and personal friends living in Chicago might remember that once upon a time in Edgewater, when the traffic was annoyingly in my way, I walked on the front end of a car to cross the street

I was feeling especially fierce that day, for whatever reason, and some car was waiting for the light to change right IN the crosswalk. And having the right-of-way as dictated by the little white "WALK" sign, I thought outside of the box (pun intended, New Yorkers) and crossed the street.

Sure, the driver of the car cursed me out, but sticks and stones, you know? Yet I remember that when I told this story, people reacted like I'd just told them that I'd eaten a kitten.

Well, imagine my surprise when I saw this article right here about someone getting arrested for doing the exact same thing.

Of course this didn't happen in Chicago, but in Greece. But who knew they had laws in Greece? Anyhow, the point of this blog has nothing to do with Greeks. It has to do with the universality of anger, traffic, and walking on cars. They do it in Chicago, and in BFE Athens.

It may be illegal, but hey, it's a natural human response!

Oh Christ...

This is a link to a story in the Chicago Tribune. I don't know which is sillier - the fact that we have a group of people who call themselves the "God Squad," the fact that they need to bolt statues to the ground, or that the reporter and/or the people in this story refer to plastic statues as "the baby Jesus."

Somehow I feel a bit like I've been challenged to a dare.

The most fun I've had since Italy.

Lauren celebrated her birthday today at the local Whirlyball court.

You don't know what Whirlyball is? I didn't either. But now I simply can't imagine my life without it*.

It is a game.
It is an awesome game.
It is a truly awesome game.
It is a truly awesome game played while driving bumper cars.

Are you catching my drift?

The game itself is a sort of polo, played with a whiffleball and scoops. The object of this truly awesome game played while driving bumper cars is to use your scoop to get the whiffleball in a net.

And let me tell you, it ain't easy. I had control of the ball several times, but never scored a point. I did some checking a la hockey and rammed into some people just for the thrill of it. Lots of other people got their thrills too - so don't feel sorry for them. I suspect the full-body whiplash will hit me in the morning.

I'd forgotten just how competitive I can be in playing games, and I forgot how much I enjoyed playing roller hockey: the one real contact sport I ever participated in. But one thing I won't be forgetting soon is that I want to play whirlyball very often.

There was a lot of laughing, a lot of cheering, and surprisingly, a lot of sweating.

It was probably THE party of the year, which kind of dooms the Halloween party I just decided to have. But who cares? Whirlyball is my new favorite thing.

I hope you enjoyed your birthday as much as I did, Lauren!

*I still ::heart:: Gary Fisher most of all. He is the way and the light. Amen.

Gee, I wasn't Feeling Old Enough

With the ragweed season upon us, I've been waking up very congested in the mornings. My allergies have always bothered me in the fall, and I know the drill - 2 Sudafed every 6 hours for three weeks.

Here in Chicago, Sudafed is a controlled substance, because some devious little buggers figured out how to make meth amphetamines out of them. This means that I have to go to the pharmacy to buy them. They scan my license into some database and I'm supposing the machine checks how many milligrams of potential contraband I am buying. I've never been a fan of this system - but if the government really needs to know when I have a stuffy nose, then so be it.

Today though, the pharmacy really went too far. After I paid cash for my drugs, a coupon printed for me on a little side machine. At first I was excited, because I thought it was a coupon. But no- what followed was an application to join the AARP (Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons). The application pronounced:

Congratulations [My Name] and thank you for spending at least $5 at [name of offending pharmacy]. According to our records, you are eligible for membership! Blah, Blah...

The thing goes on to say that membership is reserved for those 50 or over, even if they aren't yet retired.

That's right. These people have it on record that I'm 50. For the record, I'm not even close. The 20-something pharm tech sees my face go dark, and asks me if there is a problem. So I laugh and show her the coupon. "Something must be wrong with the database. I'm not nearly this old," I say. "I don't know," she says, still holding my license. "The information we have comes from the Secretary of State's office, and if they think you are 50, maybe you ought to just apply."

Maybe it is just because my head is all congested, but I just didn't think that was very funny. At first I was just feeling angry. I'm sensitive about my age. But on my way home I wondered how accurate this database of theirs could be if they don't even know my birth date. I mean, the drivers license is our primary ID in the US, isn't it? It makes me laugh to think that maybe when they scan my ID, someone else's name pops up. Maybe they think I'm my mother or some other older person in my family. I don't know if I should check on this with the SoS office or just let it go. The dates on both my passport and my drivers license are correct. So what if they can't type?

I'll tell you so what. I don't think I can just suck it up and let someone - even if it is just a computer database - think that I am 50.

But what's more, I don't understand what any of this has to do with spending at least $5 at the pharmacy, and why am I being congratulated for this?

Towny Tourism

Sunday was such a beautiful day that I was hardly about to spend it in the condo watching movies. Slightly dehydrated from the night before, armed only with my water bottle and an apple, I saddled up the Gary Fisher and made my way to the Baha'i temple in the ritzy suburb of Wilmette.

The Route
Wilmette is just a little north and a bit east of where I live; all in all it is about a 10-mile trip in each direction. On the way there, I took California Avenue north to Evanston where it becomes Dodge Street, then went east at Emerson, then north again at Ridge, took the jog onto Sheridan and then onto Linden Avenue, right to the temple. On the way home I decided to avoid the traffic. I took Sheridan up to Main Street and hopped on the North Channel Bike Path which ends pretty close to my front door.

The Experience
When I reached the temple, I realized right away that I'd been kind of stupid to visit on a Sunday at noon. The cobblestone streets in Wilmette were filled with parked cars and bumper-to-bumper traffic, and the temple was filled with worshipers and tourists. Although the parking lot was nearly full, Gary Fisher and I had no problem getting rockstar parking right in front.

Isn't Gary looking majestic?

Sweaty and kind of gross, I walked around outside for a little while. This gave me a chance to visit the gardens. Although they were unfortunately quite barren for this time of year, I did notice a little lilac patch filled with butterflies. Rounding the building, I saw that behind all the shrubbery and not really noticeable from the street, workers were climbing on scaffolding and parts of the grounds were either dug up or tilled under.

Very little of that is apparent in this picture:


It was very tempting to take off my shoes and wander around on the grass - we don't really have manicured lawns like this in the city. And what little patches of grass we do have are used way too often as a doggie toilet. For whatever reason I resisted and went back to the front entrance of the building.

Note: no amount of photoshopping was done to these pictures. The sky really was that color.

This isn't a picture of the main entrance. But since the building was teaming with people and all of the entrances look exactly the same, I figured this picture would do the building justice.


The detail on this building is so intricate and so delicate it is easy to understand why 41 years passed between the laying of the cornerstone and its dedication. Etched into the pillars and decorating the arches of the building are religious symbols from every major world religion. Above every entrance (eight in all) and in each alcove contains quotations from the writings of the Prophet Baha'u'lluah. The building itself is made of quartz crystal and white cement.

I posted a few more pictures of the temple and a brief description of the religion to Fredthewebsite. Please remember that being designed in Front Page 2000, Fred is best viewed in Internet Explorer.

Once it seemed like the service was over, I did go inside for a bit. The sanctuary is every bit as beautiful as the temple's facade, and light pours in from the ceiling and the walls. Like all well-organized tourist attractions, the basement contains a visitor's center with all manor of information about the Baha'i faith and the construction of the building. I watched part of a movie about the Prophet and looked at photographs taken of other Baha'i properties around the world before I'd had enough of the crowds of people. There is a bookshop down there that looks worthy of a visit on a different day.

The Aftermath
Before going home, I biked around the Gillson Park and Beach across the street. I wish I'd come prepared to spend time at the beach. There were more people at the tennis courts and bike trails than at the lake, and although I never actually go in the water when I'm in the city, somehow I think I would have made an exception for this beach - e coli be damned.

I ate my apple under the shade of what looked like a white birch and chatted with some tourists from Pakistan before heading back south.

With a tan that would make Oliver Wendell Douglas jealous, I arrived home completely exhausted. If I hadn't been so hot, I don't think I would have made it to the shower. I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling calmer than I have in weeks. I made it through the entire Da Vinci Code without moving a muscle (what a long movie!) and then fell into bed promptly at 10.

In Their Natural Habitat

Now this is a creative blogger. I too noticed the proliferation of these empty snack bags all over the north side. In fact, I can even add that the official snack of the northwest side are Doritos. And the fact that I live there has nothing to do with it. At all.

I don't litter.

Short Blog

Self portrait with Binky on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier. She's right: we totally don't even look like we're the same race.

Binky Sees a Sight

Yesterday was just as full as I expected, and I think the Binky actually had a very good day!

Rather than go to Northwestern, she chose to start the day off at the Lincoln Park Zoo. But since I didn't get any good pictures of her at the zoo, here's one of her at Navy Pier on Saturday.


From the Pier, we went right to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs get slaughtered by the Razorbacks of Arizona. The Cubs lost bigtime, and we booed them. But we did have decent seats from which to watch the mascre. Check out the view:

In the outfield, sort of on the first baseline... now only if we' d had a real, winning game to watch that day. Despite the Cub's tragic loss, I'd have to say that Binky remained happy:


Then we took the party up a few notches. We met Lauren and slowly made our way via the 151 bus to the Sears Tower. Conversation on the bus revealed that this is exactly what the Binky meant when she expressed an interest in seeing sights. We pointed out some of the other "sights" as we sat on the bus. Last night, however, sleepy old Aunt Michelle didn't have the energy left in her reserves to get out of the bus and show her these sites. Besides, they were meant for today.

Photo Credit: Lauren

We milled around the huge building for awhile, bought some souvenirs for Steven, the child without a nickname who will no doubt be a featured topic on FredtheBlog later this week.

So, after the Tower, we went to Big Bowl for some pan-Asian delights. We're talking appetizer, main course and desserts people. What a treat! I snarfed my Tofu-Spinach Kung Pao like it was the best food on the planet. And it was really, really good. I was also just really, really hungry.

We left Lauren after dinner (she has to work today, alas) and I was too exhausted to navigate around with public transportation. We cabbed it back home. And thank providence, we had the really awesome kind of cab driver. He knew where I wanted to go, he knew the best way to go there, and he didn't talk on the cell phone while driving. Heaven!

At home, we finished watching Little Miss Sunshine, while I did some laundry. She thought the movie "wasn't bad," which as I'm learning, means that the movie was pretty good.

After looking at some old photos in my albums, (you really do look Mexican!) we went to bed at about midnight or so - at my urging. Today is our last day in the city. I have an allergist appointment at 11:20, and then we want to go shopping around the Mag Mile, with a stop at Millennium park, perhaps my office, and then finally, THE SHEDD AQUARIUM - destination of Binky's dreams. I think there will be some Italian Beef eating going on at some point during the day, too.

Well then, it's 9:10 and I've got to rush and get ready so that we can be out of here by 10:30.

There are pictures of yesterday's festivities. Unfortunately the cord that connects my camera to the laptop is in Binky's room. It is only 8 am. Any attempt to wake her now would have disastrous results.

After getting the Binky out of the house by 12:30, we went to Navy Pier for some good times. As we're waiting online to ride the giganticist ferris wheel she's ever seen, she asks me, "but when are we going to go site seeing?" We shopped around for a while, went in the ultra lame "Fun Maze," and had hoped to take a ride on the speed boats. The boats were out of commission though, so we shopped more. Anyhow, the weather was perfect and it was a great day to be outside. I thought walking the length of the pier might be fun, but since walking is "lame" and renting bikes (they have those cute little tandem ones!) is "gay," there was none of that.

The highlight of the day was seeing the new Harry Potter movie in the IMax theater. She was in heaven, and I enjoyed the parts I understood. I guess not watching the prior movies and not reading the books puts me at a disadvantage.

When the movie was over, we went off to the mall, checked out Nordstroms, and then met GeeZee for pizza. We ordered a medium pan pizza with extra cheese (her choice.) I ate a piece and 1/2, GeeZee ate about 1/4 of one piece, and she ate the rest. Then when we got home, she was looking for something else to nibble on. I suspect a growth spurt.

Before we went to bed, she asked me if we could visit Northwestern in Evanston, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Sears Tower tomorrow, after the Cub's game. For those of you who don't know the area, the answer to that question should be, "no." But I think we're going to try to get Nortwestern in before the game if we can leave in about an hour. If we get that done, she just has to pick between the zoo and the big building, and that should be an action-packed day.

We'll see. It is 8:45 and I'm off to get dressed. If we can be out of the house by 10, she has a shot at Northwestern.

Dubious Use of Technology

Today I noticed a sign at an automotive store advertising a device that would let you "Start Your car from up to ONE MILE Away!!"

Why would anyone want to do that?

The First Sounds of Spring

Tonight, right now at 9:51 pm, I heard the first sounds of spring in the city.

Did I hear birds chirping?
No.

Did I hear a lawnmower?
No.

Did I hear a loud band on a rooftop?
No.

So what did I hear?

I heard the ice cream man. And it is 34 degrees outside on a TUESDAY evening at 9:51. And it is dark out. What on Earth customers was he hoping to get?

Documentation of Postal Crappiness

People from outside of Chicago always give me that doggie-cocked-ear look when I complain about the US Postal Service in town. I suppose it never made national news that delivery of the mail in Chicago is an issue. Over the past 10 years there have been numerous stories about mail carriers just not doing their jobs.

Mail has been found in homes of postal carriers' in crawl-spaces, locked in trucks, misfiled, on fire ... the list goes on. When I saw this article in the Sun Times I wanted to post it for all of you out-of-towners to read.

You see, when it takes me two months to answer a letter, it isn't always my fault! When I thank you for your presents weeks after you send them, it's because it is really taking that long for me to receive them. And forget about postcards. Rubycat sent me a postcard from Germany last year that took three months to receive. Curiously, a friend sent me a postcard from Sydney, Australia last month that took under a week to arrive.

In fact, just this December our street had a huge problem: Between December 10 and December 20 we got no mail. None. No advertisements, no fliers, no bills, no greeting cards - nothing. At first I thought this was just my mail. I got a notice from the post office to come pick up my mail a day or so before Christmas, ostensibly because the bundle was too large to fit in my box. I went to go pick it up and got a kind of small bundle. When I asked why the mail hadn't been delivered, the helpful, cheerful postal worker told me that she didn't know, delivering the mail wasn't her concern, and did I want my mail or not? But for 10 days in the height of greeting card season, I knew the amount of mail in the bundle just wasn't right. And this bundle would have easily fit in the box. When I asked her to double-check for another bundle, she got all annoyed and asked me to consider the long line of customers behind me.

This is also the same wonderful, helpful, cheerful postal worker who suggested, that when the post office lost a certified letter, that I go find my postal carrier en route to see if he or she had it. But that's another story.

Several people from my condo association called the post office to complain about the lack of mail, until one day in early January the Postal Police came. Did you know Postal Police even existed? According to folks on the block who stay home during the day, the Postal Police showed up at about 8 in the morning with a couple of trucks. Groups of officers stood on the street watching the mail get delivered, building by building. The trucks were here when I got home at 6pm that night, and I had mail in my box postmarked as early as November. The next day brought a lighter bundle of late mail.

My mail still tends to come on Sunday rather than Saturday, and almost never on Thursday. The mail ends up on the floor of the building lobby instead of in the mail boxes about once a month, and there is still the issue of receiving mail for other people on a weekly basis. So unfortunately the Postal Police didn't do much for the regular crappy service. According to this article, the Post Office is 'aware of the problem.' Well good. Let's see if they are moved to action.

The moral of the story? If I fail to pay a bill, answer a letter, or send a thank-you card, I'm not being rude, nor am I dead: I'm just in Chicago.

Ethnic Tour of Albany Park

As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, I live in the neighborhood of Chicago known as Albany Park. It's a little rough around the edges, but generally, I'm pretty happy here.

I found the neighborhood through my realtor when I was looking to buy a condo four years ago, and only considered it because of how much more I could get for my money. The neighborhood is gentrifying very slowly, and while I'm thrilled at what gentrification does for my property value, I'm afraid the character will be chased away with the sketchy creatures.

What gives Albany Park its charm are the immigrants who have always populated the area. The neighborhood was developed by the Jewish community, as evidenced in the facades of several of the buildings. It has been Greek, it has been Hispanic, and it has been German. Today, the neighborhood is known as Chicago's most ethnically diverse. While most of the Jews and the Greeks have gone away (the Jews moved north, the Greeks southwest), Romanians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Bosnians, Serbians, Filipinos, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Persian, Vietnamese. Koreans, and Cubans live in about five square miles.

Certain streets are dominated by certain cultures in Chicago, but that's not quite true in this area. For example, Lawrence Avenue has it's share of Korean restaurants, but it also hosts the remnants of the old Greektown and borders what is left of Lincoln Square - the old German neighborhood.Here is a Greek coffee house, right next to a restaurant that I think might be Serbian.

And directly across the street is a Korean hair salon.



This lovely building is the Thai cultural center, also located on Lawrence, just to the west. The Thai people have added much to the neighborhood, and much to my thighs, since some of the best restaurants around are Thai.

Check it out - Thai Oscar has Japanese food and a Sushi bar. I've had better Sushi, but the Tom Yum here is pretty fantastic.

Speaking of Asian, this display always grosses me out.


Moving further west, we have this gem:


How often do you reckon you see a sign in English, Spanish, and Arabic? Apparently, this is one of three places left in Chicago where one can go and pick out a chicken, while it is still living, and they will slaughter, bless, and clean it for you; or you can take it home and do it yourself. From time to time there are signs in the window announcing that they have live rabbits, too.


I suspect this place has a lot of out-of-towners confused. It's smack dab in the middle of Lincoln Square and is full of normal convenience items and German products. And yes! The people inside are very happy! I've asked them.



Now, let's hear it for the Lebanese! They have exceptionally fine cuisine with lots of vegetarian options -
- and the Persians, who are situated just across the street on Kedzie. This place doesn't have quite as many vegetarian options, but they have the best hummus in town. They won't admit it, but I also know that the cheese they serve as an appetizer is Bulgarian sheep's milk cheese.

If you're losing your orientation a bit, yes, I've been bouncing back and forth, east to west. Right now, we're west. We're about to go back east and return to Lawrence Avenue.

Because of the exceptionally stinky selection of raw, dead animal on display here, I don't often go to the Lindo Michoacan. They do have an excellent produce selection though. In fact, this is the first place I ever bought nopales.


Not being a huge fan of ice cream, I have never visited the Penguin. I do like the sign though.

I guess it is hard to see the cute pengie, especially since he isn't actually on this sign, but on the building itself. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't photograph the penguin, but I suspect it is because I thought it was cooler to show that the Argentine ice cream place was next to more Korean businesses, and um... gas.


I've also never been here:



Tagine is a new addition to the neighborhood. It's a cozy little Moroccan place that still has no liquor license. In Chicago, that often means you get to bring your own wine.


And with Tagine, this short tour comes to an end.

I realize I've completely skipped over the domestic offerings of Albany Park - but I can't see the purpose of wasting bandwidth on Walgreen's, McDonald's, Subway, and Starbucks. We used to have a KFC, but joy of joys, it went under about a year ago.

Chrisp Fall Day

Last Sunday was the picture-perfect Fall day in Chicago. I went for a long walk with my camera with the idea of taking pictures for an Ethnic Tour of Albany Park.

And that Blog is coming.

But as I was looking through the pictures I'd taken, I noticed I had several pictures that had nothing to do with ethnic anything - they just captured the season.


Take this picture, for example. It is of the north branch of the Chicago river on Wilson Street. Here you get the gold, the red, and the fading greens and browns of Fall, plus a deceptively gray sky. It was actually a very beautiful, sunny day.


































See? Beautiful, blue sky. This tree sits on the bank of the river. It is gorgeous, it is old, and it is naked.
















Here, right on the bank of the river on the Lawrence Avenue bridge, we have the water treatment plant.

The water treatment plant, see below, is a magnificent building from 1929. The plaque on the front of the building proudly proclaims its function - I just can't imagine that archetects are out there making buildings this beautiful for the purpose of sorting out solid waste.

Albany Park is actually full of buildings that are this ornate.


















Because I don't know the people who live in this house, I won't announce the address. It is typical for single-family homes in the neighborhood though. These folks have a dock and a boat.

This far north, the river isn't as stinky as it can be when it flows through the downtown area, but on those hot, humid days, the river does get kind of stenchy, and it attracts mosquitos. So really, who wants a big, beautiful house with a dock on the river?




















This is the view from the Wilson avenue bridge, complete with trees. Unfortunately, on my street, the many of the trees were cut down several years ago during the Asian Beetle invasion. Sure, they've planted all kinds of new trees, but they aren't as old as the ones in this picture, they aren't as large, and the leaves don't change colors like these.

In fact, they just fall off.

Next up, The Ethnic Tour of Albany Park.