OK, all my computer issues have gotten sorted. I've arrived in New York, ready to continue the 30-Park Geas, in a hotel that has adequate WiFi and air conditioning. I am, however, two days behind in my reporting.
Saturday was Baltimore, starting with Historic Charles Street:
City Hall:
And, of course, Oriole Park at Camden Yards:
Later, Philadelphia; right now, lunch.
I've largely solved Yesterday's frustration (more of a PEBCAK issue than anything else, wouldn't you know?) so now I have a new one: the touchpad on my laptop isn't working. It's probably a driver issue, but still, it makes navigating—doing anything, really—that much more difficult.
Anyway. On to New York for my first-and-only Yankees game.
Forgot to mention: Philadelphia beat Altanta 12-10 yesterday. As soon as I get my technical problems fixed I'll have photos of the massive thunderstorm that caused a two-hour rain delay. And after a nail-biting day when the Cubs and Milwaukee were tied for first place, the Cubs won and Milwaukee lost, putting us a full game up once again.
Windows is designed to be secure (don't laugh). One security measure is to lock users out after a certain number of failed login attempts. Vista, however, tries lots more times to login than you might think. So, even if you mis-type your password once or twice, Vista might think the KGB is trying to break into your laptop and lock you out.
I know this because, 36 hours into a 7-day trip, I appear to be locked out of my laptop.
Now, I can unlock my laptop in seconds by logging in while connected physically my network. Only problem, my network is 1100 km away and I won't reconnect to it for a few days.
So, great, at least my laptop is secure from someone who knows my UID and password. Of course, if someone ripped the hard drive out and connected it to another machine, he could read the unencrypted parts without any problem. Since I would like to keep the laptop intact, and it's the encrypted parts that I kind of need right now, it's inconvenient, to say the least.
When I calm down and I don't want to beat the Windows Vista team lead over the head repeatedly with my laptop, I'll explain why this "security" only matters if you aren't actually a malicious hacker, and why if you are a malicious hacker it's irrelevant. In other words, what I'm going through at this exact moment is much like the people lining up for crosses in Monty Python's Life of Brian: it'll only hurt if you're honest.
Baltimore did not prevail against Los Angeles last night, which, being typical, explains the two-thirds of seats at Camden Yards without people in them. I've pushed on to Philadelphia where the game starting in two hours may coincide with thunderstorms, also forecast to start in two hours, even now forming ranks just east of Harrisburg like the Bears' defensive line. As a practical result of this, I will not be taking my 20D to the game, so I won't have the same quality of photos from Citizens Bank Park as I got from Camden Yards.
As promised yesterday, I'll have photos from Baltimore and Philadelphia tonight. I have now firmly decided that WiFi access at a hotel is not only required, but stands as an adequate proxy for a great many things.
Just a few quick hits before I dig my umbrella and baseball tickets out: first, the Northeast Corridor rail service rivals anything Europe has to offer. It's fast, frequent, clean, efficient, inexpensive, and mostly on-time. I love walking 10 minutes, hopping a train, and getting off two states away in a little more than an hour.
Second, I appreciate what Camden Yards did for baseball: it brought back what was good about the jewel-box parks (like Wrigley) and improved on the model. Contrasting that with the K (1974) or (ugh) Shea (1962) simply isn't fair.
I'm flying out today to begin a four-day tour of baseball parks in the Northeast. Tonight: Angels at Orioles, Camden Yards, Baltimore. (The cheezy graphic is from MLB.com.)
The Orioles (48-54) are in last place (and want you to know that there are still seats available at the park for tonight's game). The Angels, at the moment, have the best record of any team in baseball, 63-39. (The Cubs' record is 60-43, second best overall and top of the National League.)
Photos from the park may have to wait until Sunday evening as I've got to scoot to Philadelphia Sunday morning to catch the Phillies (54-49) host the Braves (49-53) at 1:30.
According to NPR, John McCain proposes bringing Prime Minister's Questions to the U.S. Former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, the Rev. Archibald Spooner, and Mrs. Malaprop expressed their strong support for the propsal.
Seriously, the mind reels. McCain doesn't know the name of the border between Iraq and Pakistan (it's called "Iran"), and admits he doesn't know how to use a computer. Can you imagine him in the well of Congress answering questions from the 300-plus Democrats arrayed against him? And yet, it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to see a President Obama (178 days, 17 hours until inaguration) fielding the worst the 250-or-so Republicans could toss at him.
That said, he's finally proposed something I agree with—even if HuffPo's Matt Littman gave him the idea.
...even though it's heavy. I'm reading Paul Johnson's History of the American People right now, and enjoying every page. For starters, he writes well. It's a story, after all, and he tells it like one. He also has a British perspective, which I think lets him see through and explain myths that natives might not.
People seem to think history is boring, which is sad. This book could cure that, as long as the reader starts with a basic curiosity about what makes us Americans. Even Parker enjoys it, but that's probably because I've spent many hours in the past week sitting outside with him at various pubs in Chicago, occasionally tossing him popcorn and crisps.
We get about 30 days a year like this in Chicago: 24°C, perfectly clear, light breeze. As much as I'd have preferred this weather yesterday (I had a flight scheduled but had to cancel because of low ceilings), today Parker and I took advantage of it and walked to Whole Foods. Round trip: 5 ½ km.
Actually, it's all about work. See, I've got a ton of work to do tomorrow, so this way, Parker is all pooped out and sleeps all day. So it's not about goofing off on a summer day, it's about hard work, which in turn is all about preparation.
On this day in 1925, John Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in Tennessee by a dozen apes.
In related news, the Census Bureau reported Friday that the geographic center of ignorance in the U.S. has shifted radically east since January 2001, now placed at 38° 53' 52" N, 77° 2' 20" W.