More from the Tribune:

The CTA encountered problems getting its buses out of its garages this morning. "We are experiencing major delays," spokeswoman Kim Myles said. She encouraged commuters to allow "plenty of extra travel time."

Oh. So that's why.

While waiting for a Clark St. bus, I called a friend and had her look on the CTA bus tracker site to see when the next bus would show up. Turns out they haven't added the 22 bus to the system yet. But then a 22 bus suddenly arrived (coming from the wrong direction, even). Then a woman asked me if I had called the bus here. I was tempted to say, "Yes, Ma'am, I used my magic CTA phone number to summon a bus here." But I didn't say that.

Still more fun:

No more rain, sleet or snow is forecast for the rest of the day, but thunderstorms that are expected to move into the area early Saturday morning should stay around long enough to cause flooding problems.

"Some indications are that there could be pretty serious flooding in some areas," said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

Saturday could also see a high temperature of 60 degrees. With the near-record warm temperatures on the way, which will cause snow to melt, and with the anticipated rainfall, "some rivers could reach record crests [by early next week]," Izzi said.

It's weird - after all the "debate" on whether global warming is real, it turns out that things may be much worse than the worse-case scenarios of the climate scientists....

Agencies' report warns of faster climate change

Reporting from Washington -- The United States faces the possibility of much more rapid climate change by the end of the century than previous studies have suggested, according to a report led by the U.S. Geological Survey.

...

In one of the report's most worrisome findings, the agency estimates that in light of recent ice sheet melting, global sea levels could rise as much as 4 feet by 2100. The intergovernment panel had projected a rise of no more than 1.5 feet by that time, but satellite data over the last two years show the world's major ice sheets are melting much more rapidly than previously thought. The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are losing an average of 48 cubic miles of ice a year, equivalent to twice the amount of ice in the Alps.

I'm just trying to picture 48 cubic miles of ice....

Yeah, I got to watch lots of video of cars spinning out on the interstate.

ION - Drew Carey's Time Warp vs. Groove Thang.

(In honor of Logo's 24 hours of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert .)

From the "Today's Hot Deals" section of SkyMall, Star Trek Captain's Chair

Never before offered to fans, this officially licensed replica features a working swivel design, light-up controls and sound effects from the legendary Star Trek series. Constructed using expert measurements and the highest quality durable materials, don't miss your chance to command your own Starfleet vessel from the safety of your home!

Only $2717.01!

I am here at work. Here's to hopefully another day of Dirty Jobs DVD watching.

Edit: But I didn't hit enter twice. I see the Internet hamsters are having a slow day, too.

Do people know 2008 will last an extra second?

2009 to Arrive Not a Second Too Soon

Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone's control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year's Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you'll have an extra second to celebrate because a "Leap Second" will be added to 2008 to let a lagging Earth catch up to super-accurate clocks.

By international agreement, the world's timekeepers, in order to keep their official atomic clocks in step with the world's irregular but gradually slowing rotation, have decreed that a Leap Second be inserted between 2008 and 2009.

So technically, the end of 2008 will end like this:

23:59:58
23:59:59
23:59:60
00:00:00
00:00:01

Fun, huh? BTW, Unix (and thus Linux and Mac OS X) has the ability to recognize 61 seconds in a minute for just such occasions.

Not working. I had hoped to get out early to see if I could get a tree at the sales, but I forgot to set the alarm. We did make it out and it turns out that neither Michaels nor Home Depot had any trees left anyway. We did get wrapping, ornament kits for the next few years, some thank you cards, gift tags, and next years cards - so that is good. Now I can put up all the Holiday stuff until next year, and I guess I'll start looking at ebay auctions for a tree.

Next up, post office and fast food for mac. He has been such a trooper this morning: the bank, 3 stores, nothing for him and he has just been wonderful about making it all a game with me and mostly patiently waiting as I look for what I want. Only once did the DS get pulled out and he practically camped out in an aisle (not that I mind that at all, it's part of why the handheld games are great).

Just found out I get to leave early. Happy, happy day.