Why I Oughta...

I turned these new calendars over from January to February early last week in the office on the 16th.  On the left is some art inspired by the 'Finding Nemo' movie.  And on the right, is the Electrical and Computer Engineering building that is pretty fancy.  And new!   Construction started in 2011 and the building was dedicated in October of 2014. From the ECE site : The ECE Building, located at 306 N. Wright St ., Urbana, is nearly twice the size of the department‘s former home, Everitt Laboratory. At 230,000 square feet, the new building is full of more than 20 lab spaces intended for student instruction and learning. These labs continue ECE ILLINOIS‘ tradition of hands-on learning, especially on cutting-edge topics like nanofabrication, optics, control, and robotics. Sounds like a pretty neat place. Here's a neat YouTube video that takes you inside the building. One thing that jumped out to me: while there are amazing labs of different sorts, there's still

So...here's something that I'm a bit ashamed to admit:  earlier this year when Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Tribune ran this piece you see above featuring Griffey and Tim Raines (who I don't think made the cut). What I was startled by was the last line:  Chicago AL, 2008.  Meaning....he played on the South Side.   I had to go back into the Googles and flail about to try to jog my memory .  Then it clicked:  this was a prototypical Kenny Williams deal.  Griffey got hurt and didn't play a ton of games for the White Sox, but for me?  Once a White Sox.  Always a White Sox.   Just look at that sweet swing .

Just two months after the closing of MWD Photography ( blog post covering the closing ) on the east side of York Road in the core of the Elmhurst City Centre and just about two months after the closing of a *kinda* similar business in the Elmhurst Olive Oil Co just north on York Road , it looks like we're on the verge of getting a new retailer in the City Centre. And it is called Fuego Loco Sauce Merchant.  And looking at the windows, there's two telling signs:  one of them is that they're going to sell hot sauces of varying degrees (pun intended) and the other is that this place is an extension of the Salseria Grill and Cantina that is just a few doors south . We'll see what happens here.  I think it is great to see more retail.  Not service and not just restaurants, so I have my fingers crossed that they'll succeed.  I'm guessing that they'll be trying to sell out of their store, but also in today's economy, I'd think that they'll be se

Elmhurst 3rd Ward Alderman Danne Polomsky posted this update above to her public Facebook page that links to this document that was delivered last week  by the City Manager that shows a series of development updates around town.    I'm not sure if this was just delivered to the Board, but it is a good document for all residents. But, in addition to the info here, it is notable to discuss the nature of how this was shared.  This is a great example of a public servant sharing info and being transparent with her constituents.  I'm sure that this document could have been 'found' by someone searching the archives on the City's site somewhere, but Alderman Polomsky has made open communication with residents a top priority.  It was part of her pledge as a candidate that she's worked to deliver on during her term.  And this (and just the fact that she's active on social media!) is further proof that she's living up to that promise. Importantly, this is a f

In marking the 12th anniversary of the blog earlier this week , I thought it would be interesting to (at least interesting to me!) document the 'look/feel' of the blog over the years.  Here's some screenshots that I've collected starting with today and going backwards.   February of 2016.  Orange and blue.  Responsive blog with two columns.  Right rail for widgets/gadgets and a family photo of the five of us in the top right:   May of 2013 .  Orange and blue with a cursive domain name.  Argyle in the background in orange.  Two columns with a different mobile version.  Right rail with gadgets/widgets.  And a family photo of just the four of us.  "Why I oughta" dumped from header: March of 2011 .  This is what the blog looked like on a Moto Xoom Tablet.  Remember those?!?  It was a maroon and grey layout with a right rail.  Still called "Why I Oughta..."  Photo on the right was just me and The Babe.: February of 2010 .  A lot of white

I was going through the girls' pin lanyards from our most recent trip to the parks and noticed that The Babe picked up a cute Yoda Valentine's Day one.   According to this post on the Disney Pins Blog , it is a new one that came out in November of 2015.  I know it is a few days past Valentine's Day, but I figured it was still worth sharing.  At some point when we get our place settled, we'll take these off the various lanyards (necklaces as the girls call them) and put them on a real pin board of sorts.  Oh...a guy can dream, right?!?  

All the way back on February 16, 2004, I posted the very first blog post here on the blog .  Well...it wasn't *here* then, but it was on what would become this blog. 12 years is a long time.  A lot of writing.  A lot of nonsense.  When I started, I was working for the House Republicans and living in Frankfort with my parents.  Today?  I'm living in my sister's house with my wife and three kids and a dog and working at Edelman.  Still writing nonsense, though. Over the past 12 years, I've now written  published 1932 posts.  Including this one.  Hundreds more on other blogs like the political satire one or our family blog.  But 1932 here.  Some started as "Chris Rhodes", but most as just me.  (Those of you who were around in 2004 will get that "Chris Rhodes" reference!) Here's a look at a screenshot of the archives totaling up the blog posts across time. I didn't mark the anniversary every year, but in looking back at the archives,