Modern myths exposed.

You know how Chicago is called the windy city, and we all think it's cause it's really windy there all the time until some smartypants tells you it's not the wind that's blowing but the windy politicians? Well, next time somebody tells you that, do me a favor and find a newspaper, roll it up and apply it to the back of their head. Cause I was stuck at the Chicago airport for approximately two hours total because the wind in Chicago was blowing so hard that planes couldn't land or take off in what I'm sure historians will call the big Delayathon of 2008. I know, two hours isn't all that bad, but who am I to argue with the experts?

We moved into our apartment without any major problems. The van broke down almost right in front of our door, but that didn't really cause too much trouble. We also found a used sofa, which is big, blue and folds out into a bed in case our guest room fills up. Unfortunately, I couldn't even really settle in yet, because I had to go to my company's headquarters to receive some training. But that's about as much detail as I'm willing to disclose about work. Not only because people get into all kinds of trouble over that, but also because there are much better things to talk about, and work already takes up so much of our lives.

As much as I missed Christina while I was gone, I did have some extra time on my hands to read. When I left I was almost done with reading The Great Gatsby, and finished it on the plane. I figured it was about time I read it, especially since we're moving to New York, and I also read a big part of Drop City by T.C. Boyle, which I can already recommend, even though I'm not done with it. Okay, if this was me reading this, I would lose interest right about now. So let's switch it up and let me tell you about a major brainfart I had. It's not gonna be very funny, but it's all I got right now. So you know how the European Championship is coming up, and I've been wondering how I would be able to watch the games I wanna watch, i.e. as many as possible. I don't see the point of getting cable, when we're already getting like 15 stations over our regular antenna, and I never understood why I should pay to get TV stations that show commercials all the time anyway. Isn't that how they are financed? Anyway, I'm not paying to see commercials. But, cable or satellite TV does have one advantage: ESPN and Spanish language soccer channels. That probably would have covered everything right there, but like I said, not worth it. I wasn't too worried about it anyway, cause the whole time I was thinking "Well I'm not gonna get up in the middle of the night to watch these games, so it doesn't really matter". But of course it will be afternoon in New York when the games are on, and I have no idea why I was thinking they weren't. So really, brainfart doesn't describe, it was more like constipation. I don't know what my ex-lax was, but now I'm psyched I will be able to follow the games after all. Via what fully or halfway legal internet channel I'm not sure yet, but suffice it to say that I will not miss the Euro. And that's how Eskimos glue the tusks on narwhales. The End.

Fire in the black hole.

Last weekend, we had our first weenie roast of the year. You might not know this, but I really like roasting hot dogs over an open fire. The weather wasn't exactly perfect for it, but it was warm enough. Anyway, that's item number 1. Weenie roast last weekend, and it was fun.

Item number two is Christina's youngest brother discovering the world of taxes and insurance. We spent at least half an hour explaining income tax, sales tax, property tax and the different kinds of insurance you need for them, and then explaining different scenarios he came up with and how, unless you do something illegal, there is no way to escape taxes. I think his conclusion was "That sucks!". I guess it's one of those things where you had to be there. We also had to go through different car accident scenarios and whose insurance will pay for what. I really think he's feeling ripped off by the various governments and insurance companies.

And lastly, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we (as in all of humanity) might not have to go to work ever again (this really wouldn't be a big change for me at the moment). The bad news is that the world's cookie reserves will be destroyed in the process. I read this story and thought it might be an April Fool's joke, but it's from the 31st of March and also appeared on the New York Times website. I'm not too worried though, in the German article, a scientist said that they cannot produce more energy than they put into it, so no chance of producing a black hole, and if there was a chance, the black hole would immediately fall apart again, and this kinda stuff would have already happened on the Earth's atmosphere, if it could happen. And something something, Stephen Hawking already agreed in 1974. See? It's safe.