Events

British citizens go to the polls (or, as they say, Parliament goes to the country) the day after tomorrow. At the moment, neither the ruling Conservative party nor the opposition Labour party is predicted to win the 323 seats (out of 660) necessary to form a government. Most forecasts give Labor 267 seats to the Tories' 281, which means that once again they will need to form a coalition government. The Economist has a tool to illustrate the problem facing the two major parties. With the UK Independence...

A couple days ago I sent Peet's Coffee a note: I see that the Summer House Iced Tea blend is out of stock. Any idea when it will be back? It's the best blend I've found for iced tea. They responded this morning: Thank you for your interest in our tea line up, especially the Summer House Iced Tea. At the present moment we do not have specific information regarding the Summer House Iced Tea, but let me tell you why. Peet's has recently joined forces with Mighty Leaf to provide a more diverse and...

Yesterday's forecast didn't pan out exactly as plans. Afternoon rains held the temperature down to 26°C, so rather than being the warmest day since September 29th (28°C), it was the warmest day since...April 17th. Today it's just soggy, and we're about to get a cold front. So I'm going to dash over to the nearest Whole Foods for lunch to make sure I get my steps in. As for the concert, well, we sounded better than we did on Friday, but there were more people on stage than in the audience. That's one of...

If you want this view: ...let me know. The apartment will be available July 1st. I'll post the listing once it's up.

As I mentioned yesterday, we finally have a late-spring weekend in Chicago. It got up to 24°C officially at O'Hare yesterday; today's forecast high is 27°C. Parker got a 3=hour, 12.5 km walk, while I managed 26,000 steps and 21.4 km of my own. And we just got back from another 5,000-step walk before he gets to do his second-favorite activity: a Ride in the Car! Apollo's final concert of the season is this afternoon, too. I'm kind of sad not to see the chorus again until rehearsals resume mid-September....

Blogging might be spotty this weekend. After last night's concert, a group of us from the chorus went out and stayed out. Fortunately none of us seems to have any real responsibilities today. Even better, the forecast calls for the warmest day of 2015 so far on Sunday, when we expect 27°C. That would also be the warmest temperature since September 29th. So Parker and I may spend a good bit of time outside. Possibly I'll break last week's Fitbit record. Or possibly I'll just take a nap...

Citylab has a must-read on Spiro Agnew and the legitimization of right-wing suburban fears that led to the current policing crisis in America: Initially, Governor Agnew offered a rather moderate response to the riot. But he soon took the lead of a conservative backlash that blamed radical agitators (that should sound familiar) and liberalism for nurturing black misbehavior. Agnew's pivot to the right came as the riot subsided, on April 11, when he met the state's mainstream black leaders and accused...

Apparently cheese grease contaminates the cardboard: Paper is particularly susceptible to food and beverage contamination, and it "ends up suffering the most from getting mixed with other materials," says [Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Research Specialist Darby] Hoover. The culprits: gooey cheese and oil stains. Even if you remove the crusty cheese and sauce the slices leave behind, grease will have already soaked into the cardboard, ruining it for recycling. In a single-stream system (where...

It's 15°C and sunny outside; why am I inside? Right. Work. I did get a 5 km walk this morning, but somehow I think I'll need more steps today. The nearest Whole Foods is 1500 m away, for example. I feel a walking lunch coming on. Still, though. Work.

Color me excited: Aerican Airlines will use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a regular route between Chicago and Japan, the airline told employees Thursday. It will be the first U.S. airline to use the highly touted aircraft on a regular route at O'Hare International Airport, although some foreign airlines use it. American will start daily service Aug. 18 from O'Hare to Narita International Airport near Tokyo, according to a memo Thursday to Chicago employees from Franco Tedeschi, an American Airlines vice...