Today I walked by the Sun-Times building while returning from lunch. Its coming down pretty quick. I snapped off two quick photos with my camera. Part of what lead us over there was the earth-shattering thumping from the machine destroying what remains of the road.

Rachelle Bowden once again has bested me by doing a series of shots of various stages of destruction.

I should also point out the time-lapse flash animation of the deconstruction.

This has to be the coolest clothing reuse I’ve seen in a long time. You can turn a t-shirt into panties or boxers with the patterns at that site. Maybe its time for geek t-shirts to underwear as gifts for the wife! Er…maybe not.

Thanks to Boing Boing for bringing it to my attention

It wouldn’t be winter without Metra having a frozen switch and delaying my commute. At least it was only about a 8 minute delay this morning. It has been worse in the past.

Okay, I wanna know what genius decieded to take a room of mostly overweight tech people and 1) feed them mexican food for lunch and 2) chili and steak for dinner.

I’ll probably be paying for it tomorrow, but at least I experienced the wonder that is Pinnacle Peak Patio.

[Update 11:55am: It does not “smell like LUG” at the meeting this morning. Looks like I dodged the bullet.]

I’ve been back from a conference for work and vacation for a few days now. I’ve finally feel like I’m back on top of stuff after not being home for a week and a half or so. Its all very disorienting.

The conference for work was in Orlando and it went really well for my dept and everything we had to do. We had rented a segway for my boss to use. Unfortunately for me, I had seen my boss for about 5 minutes the entire conference, so I never got to take a ride on it. That’s pretty much the only thing that went wrong, and that’s not even a real problem.

Then I drove to Fort Myers to meet Sarah and Dinah, who flew there, at my grandparents to enjoy our vacation there. We had a great time and my grandparents really enjoyed their time with their great-grandchild.

I saw this article in the Trib this morning, but here it is on CNN as well. Half-ton man works toward gastric surgery

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Sept. 20, 2004 — Patrick Deuel is on a diet. He’s down to about 700 pounds now. He hopes to lose 400 more.

When he entered the hospital in Sioux Falls, he weighed more than half a ton a disaster Deuel blames on bad genes and his early years in the restaurant business.

He kept eating until he hit 1,072, a weight that could only be determined when he was put on a scale used to weigh trucks loaded with grain. To get him to the scale, a wall had to be knocked out of his home in Valentine, Neb.

Okay, I understand the genetics and food access being a cause of weight gain. But come on, 1,072 pounds? At like 500 pounds don’t you start to think about slowing down on the food? Hell, I’d be thinking about it at 350 pounds.

He’s on a 1200 calorie a day diet, and he’s lost weight faster than the doctors thought he would. While I think he let himself go WAY to far, you have to admire him for attitude.

“So long as people hear what I have to say,” Deuel says, “as long as I am succeeding in getting my message out, it doesn’t bother me.”

Bedridden since last fall, he thought about trying to keep his identity private. But he figured he could do more good by talking about obesity, its stigma and the lack of financial and medical resources available for people his size.

One thing I have to disagree with this. This is more than obesity as in “the obesity epidemic gripping the US.” This is OBESITY on a scale so large I can only say it bolded and in caps. By confusing the two, he really diminishes the obesity problem that the US is having.

Okay, so this is a lesson that my brother exaggerates slightly. My parents were not in a shelter at Disney World during the hurricane.

This visit to Disney World they were stating in the Hotel that looks over the Animal Kingdom part of the park. When they got to the park and checked in, they were upgraded to a room with a view that overlooks the park. They were supposed to have a view of the parking lot from their room. Disney was moving people over from For Wilderness campground to take up shelter in the hotel. My mom figures they got an upgrade since they had a reservation at Animal Kingdom, and they were putting the Fort Wilderness people in the less desirable rooms.

When the storm really started to come in, they asked everyone to stay in their rooms, and everything was fine. They didn’t have room service and the restaurants weren’t open, but they had been given a bag dinner and the TV kept working.

All in all, sounded like a nice restful day on their vacation.

Dave and I have been trying to bring lunch to work more often than not. However, we still want to get out of the office/our cubes, especially while its still nice out. The question is where is a good place to go.

So far we’ve been frequenting the courtyard near our building, and the courtyard in the area behind the Wrigley Building and Sun-Times Building. The latter spot may disappear when Trump Tower and Ego Palace construction begins.

So, anyone else know of a good place to eat outdoors near 430 N. Michigan Ave? (Please don’t suggest on the statue of Bob Newhart’s lap.)

In my last post, I forgot to mention the other things in FL to worry about besides my parents.

My grandparents are snowbirds and own a trailer (with an addition) in Fort Myers. They spend 6 months out of the year there. Thankfully, they are in IL for the northern part of their yearly cycle. However, I wonder how their place is doing.
Also, my Uncle Mark is building a house on Captiva or Sanibel, I forget which. I think its Captiva. I wonder what shape that is in.

According to CNN, many places in Fort Myers have lost part, if not all, of their roofs. Among them are the Cape Coral Hospital and the post office.

Still no word from my parents at Disney World. However, I didn’t expect to hear from them until tomorrow.