I am sending resumes and cover letters to schools. I have principals' emails as well as snail mail. Do I just email the resume unsolicited or do I send a hard copy?

You're not responding to something specific? I think I'd mail a hard copy, but I'm old school.

Right, Jesse. That's what I was thinking. I don't want to spam potential employers, but nor do I want my resume never to make it to them.

while we are asking advice. Starting in May, I am going to need to have someone pick mac up from afterschool and bring him to my work place (30 minutes) once a week. Is that something that one can reasonable ask as a favor of a friend who is not working at that time, or should I just hire someone for 1 hour once a week?

msbelle, can you hire the non working friend?

this is one of those "if we lived near my parents" things.

msbelle, when Emmett needed some regular aftercare we found somebody on Craig's List that worked very well. You'd be surprised how many responsible people would be happy to collect $15-20 a day to transport a kid. (Often single mothers with their own kids, etc.)

ION, holy shit I want a time machine to go to the Paris World Expo of 1900. (Exposition Universelle 1900)

yeah, I was hoping not to have to pay. plus mac is not so great with the person I could easily already pay to do it. oh well.

ION, holy shit I want a time machine to go to the Paris World Expo of 1900. (Exposition Universelle 1900)

No kidding.

Dude, these trivia questions are HARD. Not easily Googleable.

So anyone ever try this thing the Russians and Finnish like, where you get all hot in a sauna and then plunge yourself in cold water or roll in the snow or whatever? Supposed to be good for you. Anyway, there's a place in Chicago that offers that.

While everyone else hits the bars, men (women aren't allowed) should use this time to do something good for their bodies by stopping in at Chicago Sweatlodge, the new Russian bathhouse. Get a massage or simply relax in the wet stone and dry cedar saunas before jumping into the freezing pool. Back in the old country, Russians believed that jumping from hot to cold (and back again) does wonders for circulation, detoxification and rejuvenation. Bonus: That cold water will wake you up and keep you going for a few more hours. Entrance fee is $25, and massages are $65 for 60 minutes.

I'm tempted to try that. OK, plunging into cold water = sorta' bad, but then you can jump back into the sauna. The massage price isn't bad for Chicago too.

I love saunas. It's my Finnish blood in me. When Finns moved to Minnesota to build farms, the first building they'd build was the sauna. Then they'd live in the sauna while they built the other buildings.

The Finns = my people. Oh, and the vodka is cool too....