I tend to enjoy those sorts of dreams, msbelle, but I don't have anyone to protect. I have a subclass of revenge fantasy dreams that somehow don't manage to cross into nightmares even though the events that precipitate the need for revenge are obviously quite dire. Which sucks for my immediate family, because it's usually them.

I sneezed and my brain rattled around in my head and it doesn't feel good.

For Chicagoistas:

Red Hen Bakery and eight other shops along Milwaukee Avenue are displaying CTA Bus Tracker arrival times for the 56 bus on in-store screens, so you don't have to wait outside in the cold.

Msbelle, a friend of mine from high school actually fought off a home invader with an aluminum softball bat. She chased him out of the house and beat the shit out of him AND his car. They found the guy by taking blood samples off her bat. She was home alone with her young son.

>Can we cockpunch Rahm Emanuel while we are at it?

What did he do? (can't access blogs at work)

Money Quote:

The White House wants Reid to hand Joe Lieberman the farm.

An aide briefed on discussions with the White House says that there would be no story if Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel hadn’t interceded. The aide confirmed an account, reported by Huffington Post, that Emanuel visited Reid personally, telling him to cut a deal with Lieberman.

Then the aide provided more detail.

Emanuel didn’t just leave it to Reid to find a solution. Emanuel specifically suggested Reid give Lieberman the concessions he seeks on issues like the Medicare buy-in and triggers.

“It was all about ‘do what you’ve got to do to get it done. Drop whatever you’ve got to drop to get it done,” the aide said. All of Emanuel’s prescriptions, the source said, were aimed at appeasing Lieberman–not twisting his arm.

All of Emanuel’s prescriptions, the source said, were aimed at appeasing Lieberman–not twisting his arm.

I vote yes on the cockpunch.

I have a safety issues on my best days, but knowing I'm moving from the 5th floor of a multi-unit building with locked exterior doors and video cameras in addition to my personal door - into a house with access points right there at ground level for every punk, sociopath, desperate crazed person to have at, well you see where my head is at. I've already informed my parents I'll need an alarm system on every door and window and I think I'm going to have a video camera installed at the front door so I can see people before answering. I swear if I had the money, I would convert an interior closet into some sort of safe room. because I am crazy.

You'll get to have a number of hilarious conversations with people who think living in NYC is scary, I'm sure....

So, one of the people I interviewed with this morning was wearing black or similar (maybe Vamp) nail polish, so there's one concern allayed!

I have a lot of frustration with the health care reform legislation. For one I don't really see how it's going to address the cost of health care.

It won't. Healthcare is actually one of the sectors of the economy that isn't subject to the same cost-demand ratios as other things in classic economics.

The way to control costs is to ration it. Period.

I'm having a DAY today. My Tuesday has also been replaced by Monday. BUT (and this is a huge but) I am going to see Mary Poppins tonight!

I could stand to have more safety issues. But I've come a long way from the days where I was actually looking to get mugged.

msbelle, you can see video of people at the front door of your building from your apartment? That's pretty cool.

I'm a big theoretical fan of home automation, but that's more from a geeky PoV than a security one. My parents are understandably safety-conscious, living in Kingston, so I was trying to convince them to let me help hook their house up, but I missed my chance there.

My Tuesday has also been replaced by Monday

I hope you get some consecutive Fridays.

UK Banks are eliminating cheques.

How do you pay your landlord?