I came, I saw, I annoyed Rahm Emanuel

My original plans were to fly out first thing Monday morning so I could be back in town on Monday early enough to put in a 10 hour day if I was working. On Sunday, I spent a portion of the day seeing if there was a way to delay my flight and spend some more time in DC with Dean on Monday. Because I booked through travelocity.com, I could not change my flight without stiff penalties. So, I went to work on figuring out how I was going to get from Silver Springs, MD to BWI airport. My flight left at 6::50 am so I knew it would suck to get up early enough to catch my flight. I called a number of shuttle services and most of them didn't have a driver or wanted almost as much for a ride as I would have paid to change my flight. At 10:00pm the shuttle I had booked informed me that they were canceling the shuttle for lack of a driver. It was not until 11:00pm Sunday night that I was able to secure a shuttle to the airport that would pick me up at the hotel at 0400 hours. That is pronounced, "O four hundred and the O stands for OMG it's early!" I showered, put on my clothes I was wearing for the flight, set the timer for 3:45am and crawled into bed.

So, it is now butt crack of dawn, I have had no sleep and no coffee and I am at BWI airport. I did not find a Starbucks but I bought a cup of coffee that was half-caff, thinking I would try to catch a nap on the plane. So, here I am sitting in the waiting area near my gate at BWI, looking and feeling like the all American girl, and in walks this guy who looks familiar. It took a few minutes for me to realize the little guy in the jeans, running shoes and parka, carrying a backpack, was in fact Rahm Emanuel. I sat there for a few minutes before I realized I could not help myself and had to at least say hello.

I approached him and told him I had to know if he was running or not. Remember, this was before he announced. I said I wanted to know if he was planning to run for Mayor of Chicago and he asked me if I was "dying" to know. I told him I was just curious and had considered throwing my hat in the ring as well. He told me I should run too as everyone else was running. I asked if he knew who else might be running and he mentioned Mosely-Braun, Meeks, Dart and I just chuckled. I told him that I felt it was my job to keep the candidates toes to the fire on the important issues. At this point, I could feel the crazy bell going off in my head, but there was no stopping me and I wasn't getting any more coherent.

I told him the first thing I would do as mayor was to take away all the cars/drivers for the top executives in the city government. The ONLY person who really needs a car and driver is the mayor himself. I resent the fact that people like the members of the Chicago Public School Board had drivers and cars. I consider this a matter of fraud, waste and abuse. Also, for the amount of money this city spends on flowers, they need to plant more edible stuff for the soup kitchens. He was chuckling and trying desperately to ignore the crazy lady when I gave him my parting shot. I told him that in the words of Ralph Nader, if he wanted my vote, he had to earn it as I would NOT just give it to him.

After a few more sips of coffee, I came to realize I had beat the man over the head with my crazy stick and I sounded like an idiot. Most who know me will say that I am passionate about my causes, but that I am also very intelligent and highly articulate. So, after they loaded him into the plane first (no, he did not fly first class), I told him that he should stay in DC and do what he did best, which was to be a pit-bull for the pres and continue to provide him with plausible deniability. I also told him that the job of mayor may not last past one term as the city was shaken by the news and might expect too much too soon.

Rahm thinks I am nuts, I think he has decided that he is the most deserving of the position, that he is entitled to take the job if he wants it and it is a foregone conclusion that he wins if he runs. I say F that shit and we need to nail down ALL the candidates not on the issues but on their ideas for solutions.

The City of Chicago is a great city. The city has run for, what seems like forever, on its "machine politics". "Machine politics" consists of the usual pay-for-play things that have been going on forever. I was raised on Chicago politics and know that it has nothing to do with what you know or what you can do, but who you know and what they can do for you. Mutual gratification at the expense of the city treasury. The first thing they ALL do when they get in office is to put their family, friends and supporters into well paying positions that they are likely not qualified to hold (think Stroger Jr.). The city is like a car and we have been driving it into the ground without stopping to change the oil. The city needs an oil change, NOT just a new driver.

I went, I saw, I rallied on the Mall part II the Rally

We were late getting out the door of the hotel on Saturday, but with these kinds of things, if you are not there at O dark thirty, or butt crack of dawn, you are not sitting in the front row anyways. I am getting up in years and I was not up to a 3:30am wake-up call. We moved slowly but surely to the Metro and headed downtown. My only problem was that there is a Starbucks RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the Metro station but the Metro is as clean as it is because they will arrest your ass for eating/drinking on the train. With a heavy heart, and far too little caffeine, we went downtown.

I had map quested the journey beforehand, but the crowds tended to agree to get off at the Metro Center stop. There appeared to be a great deal of confusion as to where the actual rally was to be held but I was sure the crowd was headed to the wrong end of the mall. We got off with the crowd at Metro Center and headed out of the subway instead of connecting to another train. As we headed for the mall, I found a Starbucks whose line never moved. Seriously, you know a million gazillion people are headed to the mall for a rally and you have ONE person working the Starbucks?? Really???!?? A second one came out from the back room or restroom, but the line never moved. I finally gave up and in true tourist fashion, we stopped at a truck and bought hot dogs and diet sodas for breakfast.

We arrived at the mall about 10:30 and I forced us into a spot about 1/4 of the way back from the stage. We could see the stage and the people on it, but the jumbotron behind the first like 25 rows (?) of people blocked most of the action for us. Fortunately, there were speakers and a jumbotron a few yards in front of us so we saw and heard EVERYTHING! After we camped out in our spot, I made the brave journey forth to buy souvenirs, figuring that by the end of the rally all the good shit would be long gone. Noone was sure how big this thing was gonna be so I went with my original theory of ginormous. I was right. By the time I got back from buying schwag, it was 11:30 ish and the crowd appeared to go all the way back to the reflecting pond at the other end of the mall. Crowd estimates of 200,000 were on the light side of the guess and not the far side.

What pleased me the most about the entire experience were the people we met. Yes, there were some angry radicals from both sides. The kind that truly believe the louder you yell the saner you appear. Also, volume is directly connected to accuracy of your facts. But, for the most part, the crowd was composed of really cool people just looking to hang out and have a good time. There was a great deal of debate about what this rally was supposed to "mean". I don't know that it was ever supposed to "mean" anything, but instead, provided an opportunity for a large number of like minded individuals to get together to show D.C. that we were out there and would not shut up and go away. You can go to just about any site and find pictures of the signs that people carried. Most of them were very true, very funny and highly irreverent.

Where we were standing, and yes, we pretty much stood for hours (although I sat down a bit too), we were in the middle of groups of friends that came together. One large group to the left called themselves, "Mothers Against Insanity (?) Doing Something". The shirts acknowledged that yes, they were the MAIDS, but the back of the shirts said, "Don't worry, the moms are here." Priceless! The group to the right of us was a smaller group of hippy moms who, may or may not, have had small plastic baggies in their purses, and who passed around small bottles of hootch and chocolate candies. The moms on our left and the hippy moms on the right hooked us up with snacks, sunscreen and a few laughs.

For anyone who did NOT attend or watch the rally on TV, I will simply say that I am hoping like hell they release the thing on DVD. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that the entire rally could best be characterized by the moment in which Jusef Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) was singing "Peace Train" only to be interrupted by Ozzy Osborne with "Train to Hell(?)". Yeah, it was like that.

My complaints about the rally had nothing to do with the rally itself. I had lived outside D.C. and worked in D.C. for a few years, so I was very familiar with how things run when there is a march or rally in the city. What shocked and amazed me was the fact that the city seemed totally unprepared for what hit them. It was as if they had NEVER experienced a large rally before in their lives. AND, the Marine Corps Marathon was that weekend as well and their heads were still up their asses about that one. The Metro ran very few trains AND they were running really short trains. Even the CTA runs extra trains with more cars when there is a Cubs or Sox game. I know they had no real clue about how many were coming, but even I knew that there would be more like 200,000 people. The next day I heard that on a regular Saturday, WITHOUT an event, they could expect about 200,000 people riding the Metro before 3:00pm. The day of the rally they had over 400,000 through in that time. It took us HOURS to get home because we had to wait for trains. The ONLY advantage to going to the wrong end of the mall, and keep in mind those people could not see or hear the rally, was that they got on the trains before the attendees did so they got home earlier.

Next post, the day after and THE moment with Rahm.

I went, I saw, I rallied on the mall! Part I, the journey

I am finally rested enough to talk about my exciting grand adventure to D.C. I am sorry to start this off by saying it was a sh*t storm in this country last night so now we need to start digging ourselves out from under it. I blame the Dems for not getting much done while they were "in charge", but I also blame the country for giving the keys back to the asswipes who wrecked the country while they were in charge. In the words of Tim Gunn, make it work people.

Off the podium, now we can begin.

The minute Stewart and Colbert announced they were holding a rally on the mall, I announced I would be there. I wasn't sure what the message/purpose of the rally/rallies was, but I knew I would be there. When I informed the roomie that I was going, he was quick to jump on the train for the ride. No pun intended, we actually took the Amtrak train to D.C. Dean booked a sleeper so I just had to pay for my train fare. Apparently, when you book a sleeper, your meals are included. The secret is to find the sleeper lounge in the Amtrak station so you will get special boarding priority and so you can book a reservation for your first meal in the dining car. The food was pretty good, but because we were not the first in line for breakfast, they ran out of food and we had to wait for first seating at lunch.

The train was FULL of folks attending the rally so a good time was had by all. The compartment itself was smaller then I thought but was roomy enough, after you settled in, to be quite comfortable. Dean had said he wanted the top bunk, but upon entry it was clear that; a) he wouldn't fit, b) there was no window, c) there was no way in hell he would have fit. There are bathrooms in the hall and they have a shower in them. Yeah, good luck with that. I had already planned ahead by taking a shower right before I left for the train. The bed was very narrow and not bad. The top bunk dropped down and the two facing seats fold down to form the bottom bunk. Tip to the traveler, ask for extra pillows! In case you were wondering, they come by your roomette and put your beds together for you and then come back in the morning and fold them back up.

We were 2.5 hours late into D.C. due to an accident on the tracks from a prior train. No clue where this was, it was like midnight in the middle of nowhere. We pulled into Union Station in D.C. and were able to take the Metro to Silver Spring, MD, to our hotel. While a part of me was sad to be so far from the mall, it was nice to get away from the madness to a quiet place at the end of the day.

Tomorrow, the rally.

Exercise is Dangerous!

I was out biking today and I noticed 2 buses stopped in front of me. I would make it between the buses and the cars if the bus doors were closed. So, I slowed to a crawl and waited until all of the passengers were off the bus and the bus doors all closed to make the attempt to pass the bus. Needless to say, one last customer waited until I was moving to demand to get off the bus and I guess you could say I got "doored". I was barely able to miss the bus doors, but I did manage to crash into the curb and the car parked next to the bus. My chain came off the bike and I peed my pants, but I escaped with my life and no major damage.

Candide INDEED!

I had only barely heard of the musical Candide before. Dean asked me if I was interested in attending the show and I was quick to say of course! Apparently it has quite the history, that constitutes a soap opera in and of itself. The show, at the Goodman, was SPECTACULAR! Our little Piccolo can put on some great shows, but there is nothing quite like a professional Broadway style event to make you realize that neighborhood theatre is just that, from the hood. Sighs.

Bruises, regrets and kismet

I woke the other day to find a large bruise on one of my thighs. This is NOT a TMI moment, because I bruise like a Georgia peach and I wake up with bruises all the time and can't remember them. I once woke up with what looked like little paw prints on my chest and sure enough, that night when I went to bed and Miss Kitty stood on my chest, I realized, they were actually little paw prints. So, I woke up to find a bruise on my thigh and could not figure out where this came from. Having errands to run, I dragged my bike out of the basement and when I went to get on said bike, WHAM! I hit my thigh in almost the exact same spot on my bike. It appears that for my own health and safety I had to relocate my water bottle holder to a safer position on my bike. Note to self, fill water bottle and take it with you when you leave the house. A water bottle does you no good at home empty. Mystery solved.

While riding my bike, I realized that the one thing I regretted about the whole cancer gravy train thing was that I did not make more efforts to walk and work out while I was down for the count. I have gained back the weight I lost and then some and I am not comfortable. I need to get off my ass and get moving, but the motivation level around here is nil. I must say that since buying a bike I actually love to ride, and that actually fits my size, I love riding I just don't do it enough. I need someone to start cracking the whip!

Speaking of bikes, I have been telling myself to buy a bell for the bike. It is like a car horn, until you need it, you don't need it. I have looked online and at bike shops and not found anything I liked. Recently, I had volunteered for a bike rally thing and it served to remind me that I needed a bell. Oh yeah, and a helmet. Imagine my surprise when a box arrived yesterday and in it was a thank you letter from the bike rally organizers and, a bell. :-)

Where is the Pink????

I have now been to Walgreens, Dominick's, Jewel, Target, Wal Mart, you name it and I am NOT seeing the love/pink this year. I used to think that the entire world turned pink for the month of October for breast cancer awareness. Now, I feel like the world forgot. I was trying to find pink ribbon M&M's for my party or some other pink wrapped candy and I was very hard pressed to find anything other then those awful pink disk things they try to pass off as mints. I am sad, to say the least.

A new page

September 27 will be 2 years from the date of my first fateful mammogram. No clue how I will spend the day, but I do want to spend some time reflecting.

I took my wig and some others that were given me, along with the baby caps I had, over to an organization that used to be called "Why Me Org." They were grateful for the donation and I was glad I could pass it forward.

Apparently I will be the first one, in my of my various circles of friends, to turn the big 50. That is not this February, but 2012. One friend suggested going on a cruise and getting together as many friends as possible to join us for said cruise. In mulling this option, I decided that I don't think I want to do that. The number one reason would be that I would be the only person on the cruise going as a solo so I would have to be a third wheel in someone else room. (Very heavy sigh)

One way only?

I was reading the Tribune online the other day and happened upon the photos of the Muslims protesting the possible future burning of copies of the Quran. The first thing that struck me about the picture was the fact that almost all of the signs were in English (the protest was happening in another country), and they appeared to have been professionally printed. I thought to myself, "My, how organized." I understand that they would be upset with the notion of someone burning something they hold sacred, but I seem to recall large numbers of people in the Middle East burning American flags and our politicians, in effigy.

In America, we hold the flag up as a symbol of freedom and as a source of national pride. BUT, we also hold that the right to freedom of speech and religion allows for the burning of flags and bibles and people in effigy as a constitutional right. So, when they burn our flag, that is ok but if we burn something of theirs that is wrong? While the flag may not be a "religious" symbol, although the far right equates patriotism with religious ferver, it is a sacred symbol. If we were going over there to burn a Quran, that would be a whole different thing. The fact that it is happening on American soil is testiment to the fact that it can happen in this country.

I have no problems with any religion, but if we have to respect your religion and customs, you have to respect ours. The only thing I can think at this point is that some people need to take a chill pill and learn a little tolerence. What if we are all wrong and there is no God at all? All those people who have killed in the name of religion are gonna feel pretty stupid, don't you think?

Ah, the memories...

I have posted a few pics of Ian's graduation to Facebook and the rest have been uploaded into the pics on my profile. It was amazing that Ian and I could relate about the "good times" at boot camp. Although his boot camp was a great deal more vigorous and 100 times more physically challenging, we were able to share our little stories and bond. Ian thanked me for teaching him the trick of laying under your bed with your fingers laced in the springs to catch a quick nap on the floor. If anyone catches you napping, you were merely squaring away the sheets under the bed and they cannot really yell at you for trying to keep your bed extra sharp looking. He did not use my hint of going to church to nap, as he found it far easier to just crawl under his bed.

Ian said he enjoyed the experience and felt he was better for it. I said that I was happiest knowing I was finished and would not have to do it again. We both agreed that the best two words to describe boot camp, in any branch, are sleep deprived!

Sideways

I was having a difficult time falling asleep a few weeks back and I found myself turning sideways on the bed. I didn't think much of it the first time, but when I realized it was becoming a reoccuring thing, it gave me pause. It was like whenI was constipated and figured that taking off my clothes and being naked would somehow help matters. I chaulked it up to some sort of weird primal thing and just went with it. The other night it finally dawned on me that by turning sideways, I was moving out of the hot spot in search of a cooler spot on the bed. Because I only have a double, there is no cool side so I was turning sideways.

A Better Time

My first night of bootcamp, I ran (read walked) half a mile and then they tested us to provide us with a baseline. I ran (again, read walked) 1.0 miles, half a mile at a time, did 40 deep knee bends (allegedly), did 30 killer sit-ups (allegedly), 20 push-ups (not even going to pretend on this one), and 10 squat thrusts (kinda). My time was 23:18 minutes. I barely did any of the exercises and I pretty much walk most of the way. I was a hurting cowgirl for 2 days following that little "test". But, I survived and kept going back for more.

Last night was our "final exam". I was able to mostly run the entire 1.5 miles, do all of the exercises, albeit not as well as the young kids, and live to tell the tale. I had the most improved time. My new time was 18:30. Not bad for the fat old lady bringing up the rear huh? The young kids who were able to keep up with all the exercises barely improved their times. Some shaved as little as 10 seconds off their time. This only confirms my theory that, for the most part, the kids in the class were not all that bad off to begin with.

Next stop is yoga. I bought yet another Groupon and will try my hand at yoga. This ties into my long-term fitness goals that started by purchasing a yoga mat 2 years ago and a bag to carry my mat in last year. Baby steps, don't wanna hurt myself by going to fast. After all, who in their right mind would sign up for a fitness bootcamp that starts at the end of July in an outdoor park?

Head Down

They keep yelling at me in bootcamp to run with my head up. I find myself looking down at the path directly in front of me. I find that I prefer to see the steps in front of me then to look up and realize I am not even close to the end of my journey. It seems to be a habit I developed while doing the whole BC thing. Rather then realize that the whole process of 3 surgeries, 8 doses of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation, would take a whole year to complete, I tried to think of just one thing at a time. How much longer to the next procedure? How many doses had I completed and how many I had remaining. By keeping my eyes on only the next procedure/dose/step, I was able to stay focused and not panic. It is the same when I am working out. By keeping my eyes focused on the next few steps I can keep going at my slow but steady pace.

I am not the fastest, but I always finish, even if it is in last place. I accept this. The other thing that helps motivate me is the fact that I am almost twice as old as everyone else in the class. I could be their mother. Considering my age, condition and myriad of medical issues, I think I am doing pretty damned good. I hope to use this momentum to keep going and lose some serious weight. I sat on my fat ass long enough for 3 people, so it is time to get moving and stay moving.

Stupid Ideas

People traveling to India for medical procedures have brought back to Britain a new gene that allows any bacteria to become a superbug, and scientists are warning this type of drug resistance could soon appear worldwide.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD THINK ABOUT GOING TO INDIA OR PAKISTAN FOR MEDICAL PROCEDURES????? That is the BEST place you can think of to go for a tummy tuck??? REALLY?

Fitness bootcamp update

I was able to go to acupuncture last night and was hoping for a reallllly good nights sleep. No such luck. I was woken up at least twice hot as hell and sweating like a horse. Oh well, maybe it will be better tonight? One must keep up the hope part of their life.

Fitness bootcamp is tonight and it is hot and muggy out. The part that sucks the most is the bugs. I am not just talking millions of mosquitos, I am talking those damned biting flies. It is hard to think about working your muscles properly when a small creature is biting them. Oh well, this week and next and then I am going to try yoga. Yoga is indoors, does not involve running and is supposed to be better for me. We shall see.

Night Sweats

GF, I now feel your pain! I can go to bed at 9, wake up at 8:30 and still not feel rested even with a sleeping pill. With everything going on in my life, and all of the house guests, acupuncture has taken a back seat. As soon as my Michael leaves I am back on that horse.

Stupid People

I was reading the news and came across two stories that back my claim that stupidity should be the test for procreating.

A woman was pulled from the lake in the early morning hours by fishermen when the group she was partying with on a boat decided to ALL jump off the boat at 1:30 am to go for a swim. Apparently the boat floated away and it looks like 2 of the four drowned. First of all, drinking and boating REALLY don't mix any more then drinking and driving. Second of all, I thought it was basic common boating sense to either a) anchor the boat before ALL jumping off or b) leaving one idiot behind to rescue the others or at least call for help.

A man, fleeing the scene of an accident, blew a stop sign and crashed into.........wait for it..........a police car. The cop has his police lights activated at the time. The man was charged with aggravated DUI, reckless driving, etc. It doesn't say what time the accident happened, but it is my guess, it was after 10:00 pm. Which reminds me of another story.

A young high school student was killed by a drunk driver as he pedaled home from a convenience store. The student was a good kid, well liked and apparently doing well in school. He was struck and killed around 1:30 am.

Every single time I read the papers about someone getting robbed, shot, mugged, etc., the first thing I do is note the time of the crime. Almost EVERY SINGLE TIME the incident occurs after 10:00 pm (more like after midnight) and before 6:00 am. What is it with stupid people and being out after dark? Does the darkness beget stupidity or merely attract it?

All of these incidents are tragic, but tragically, they were all avoidable. Who the hell goes out boating on a lake at 11:30 pm? REALLY?

This just in: Two teens were shot over the weekend after a confrontation between two groups in downtown Evanston, police said. The teens, 16 and 17, were discovered at about 11:42 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Benson Avenue and Davis Street, said Evanston Police Commander James Pickett.

I REST MY CASE!

I live another day

So far, almost 2 weeks (3 classes a week, 5 actually attended) and I they have not manged to kill me yet. It isn't like they haven't tried, but so far, I live to tell another tale. Most of the class members are in the early to mid 20's. One of my coworkers joined the class with me and he is in his early 30's. He is barely able to keep up with the rest of the class. He was surprised to see that I was staying abreast of the class (every pun intended) and I explained to him that I was managing to keep up because I don't do the same exercises as the rest of the class and I cheat like hell. I have pulled my cancer/chemo card out of storage and taped it to my forehead. I have not done any exercise in over a year and nothing really physical either. I have no upper body strength left because just about all of the muscles in my chest were sliced and I wasn't doing any upper body work.

So, my secret is that I do a modified version of the exercises they assign and I cheat like hell. When the instructors are not looking I am walking or standing. If they are told to do 30 reps, I may do 25. No matter how I do it, I will just keep doing it for another 2 weeks. My next step is yoga. I got a groupon for 4 weeks of unlimited yoga. We shall see.

Bringing up the rear

I started my first day of fitness boot camp and I have to say I hate the person who invented this shit. My worst fears were realized when I was, in fact, the fat lady who was the last one to cross the finish line. We ran 1/2 a mile, had our introduction to boot camp, ran another 1/2 mile, did 40 deep knee bends, 30 sit ups, 20 push-ups, and 10 of those frog things where you drop down, kick your legs up and hop back up. After that, we ran yet another 1/2 mile. I will neither admit nor deny that I kept an accurate count of my calisthenics, but I did as best I could. I was the last person to cross the finish line by a good 3 minutes and I am happy to report that they cheered me on. I explained the whole cancer/chemo (gravy train ride) thing, and I further explained that I would not quit but I would do the best I was able to do and that was not going to make me first across the finish line. I found the running hurt the lungs more then it tired out my legs and the push-ups were hard on the upper body after barely lifting things for a very long time.

That which does not kill us will just hurt like hell for a very long time. I will go back for more punishment on Wednesday and Thursday this week. I have 3 classes a day for the next 4 weeks.......really??

More stuff I did not know

I have known for a while that you should drink water at room temperature in order to hydrate more quickly. When you drink really cold water your body has to warm it up before it can be used. What I did not know is that the act of drinking ice water will aggravate the hot flashes by upsetting the body's normal temp. I knew that air conditioning was not the best alternative, but I did not know that having a fan blow on you directly will dry you off while helping close the body's pores. By closing pores, you are again upsetting the body's natural cooling systems. Of course, the Chinese herbalist/acupuncturist telling me this was a man who has never experienced a hot flash. All good in theory I guess.