CSI: The Experience

We went to the CSI exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry on Sunday; it was really cool. It was actually an interactive experience where each person or group is assigned a case (there were 3 options), is given a clipboard, and you start by examining the crime scene. Then you move on to various labs (trace, toxicology, autopsy, digital evidence, etc.) to figure out what everything means. There were lots of videos done by CSI cast members, as well as actual experts. Everything was very well done---looked amazing, and was both fun and educational. I left wishing it was longer, or that I could have solved all 3 cases. It's only around for another week, unfortunately. But it looks like it'll be at other locations in the future.

After the Storm

There may be a calm before the storm, but the aftermath is anything but! There are huge tree branches, and in some cases entire trees, littering the area near home. The photo here was actually one of the clearest portions of the sidewalk on the way to the train this morning. I'm very thankful that we didn't get any damage to our building or our car.

The river has flooded the main road near us--River Road is actually now a river in one place as well as a road. The traffic is being diverted down our street. Quite a mess. The view from the train was spectacular; I'll try to get some pictures later today.

It's so weird that much of our neighborhood--and even our block--has electricity but our building doesn't. We're going over to our friends' house at dinner time today with our cooler full of frozen meat---time for a barbecue! I had to empty the rest of the freezer and fridge this morning, which was already starting to drip onto the kitchen floor. It was a good opportunity to clean out some of the past-their-prime sauces and dressings. Now I have to actually clean the inside of the fridge, and we'll be ready for a load of new food! I think this is the third time in 6 years that we've lost a freezer/fridge full of food. I guess the lesson is to not keep it too full, since we don't have a big chest freezer or any other kind of backup plan.

Since the emergency lights only lasted 4 hours, it has been genuinely creepy in our condo building, even during the daytime. The interior hallways and stairwells are completely without natural light. We've been using flashlights, but I didn't want to take one to work with me, so this morning I used my phone to light the way down the stairs. Pretty funny, I thought.

The Tribune now says that there are still 245,000 people without power. I wonder how long it will be until ours is restored? Oh, well; at least it's summer and it's light for a long time, otherwise we'd have a more difficult time getting ready in the morning, or doing anything, for that matter.

I'm so glad it's Friday. I am looking forward to a nice weekend spent with family and friends, and enjoying our last use of our Museum of Science and Industry membership before it expires. So glad we get to see the CSI special exhibit.

iPhone to the rescue (sort of)

I discovered a very nice benefit of the iPhone: internet during power outages! The storm knocked ours out at home. I was able to see the weather radar. Our car had a near miss with a downed tree branch today, too. We're now on the way to our friends' house for dinner. We already had dinner plans and it's a good thing since we can't cook anyway.

Of course, lots of phones can access the Internet, but this one looks cooler. :)

Flooded streets + tree branches + rush hour = really bad traffic! But since the worst is over, this is much better than being at home in the dark!

new gadget!

So, I'm not usually the first person on the block to get a new gadget (though I always wish I was), but this time around I lucked out. My employer got me an iPhone (and they're going to pay my cell phone bills). So what if the intent is to keep me better connected to office email? It's very cool. There were a couple of glitches in the set-up and activation process, but overall it's really easy to use, and it is going to be nice to check my email on the train on the way into the office.

Post-vacation recovery

I've been home for 3 weeks, and I think I have finally made it through all of the digital photos, receipts, piles of stuff, etc. that resulted from my trip. It would not normally take that long, but I've spent the last 2 weeks recovering from a cold/sinus infection. I only missed a few days of work, but if I hadn't had a huge project due, I would have missed more and probably recovered faster. Oh, well...it's good to be needed at work. :) I "only" printed 120 of the 500+ photos that I took on the trip, and managed to get them all in an album already. It's not the prettiest looking album I've ever created, but it works just fine.