Events

I had planned a longer post this evening, but I had about 2 hours of chorus work to do and I didn't have any energy for half an hour after getting home. We may have our hottest night of the year tonight, with a forecast low of 26°C, before having our hottest day of the year tomorrow. (We had 36°C on June 17th; tomorrow could be 37°C.) So I'm going to drink another glass or two of ice water and pat Cassie for a bit, then gird myself for tomorrow's sticky walk to doggie day care.

I just walked Cassie about 7 blocks (1.4 km) and she took her sweet time, sniffing every blade of grass. Part of that I'm sure was that she spent 3 nights boarded, which she finds exhausting. The other part was that it's still 30°C just a few minutes before sunset. And yay, woo, we get even worse tomorrow: As Chicago Public School students return to class Monday, the heat index is expected to break [38°C]. The National Weather Service in Chicago issued an excessive heat warning from Monday afternoon to...

Welcome to an extra stop on the Brews and Choos project. Brewery: Big Time Brewery & Alehouse, 4133 University Way NE, SeattleTrain line: Sound Transit, U DistrictTime from Chicago: about 4 hours by airDistance from station: 300 m Let me start by saying Seattle had beautiful weather last week...until just before I arrived on Thursday. That didn't stop my friend and me from visiting Seattle's oldest brew-pub, just off the University of Washington campus. As you can see, though, we opted to sit inside...

Garmin has a feature on some of its watches that helps you avoid jet lag by coaching you on sleep times and other things at various points around a trip. This morning, my watch advised me to get lots of light between 7am and 9am (Seattle time). So I have ensconced myself in the best-lit room available to me in the SEA-TAC terminal, with windows on three sides. Just one problem: Since arriving, I've heard that the city "really needed" the non-stop rain and gloom Seattle has "enjoyed" since the evening...

Funny thing about visiting the West Coast: staying awake past 10pm is not fun, and I wake up at 5am. Plus, Hazel decided that I was her person last night, so at various points of the night I had a 20-kilo pittie in the crook of my knees or pushing me off the bed. (Note to Cassie: this is why you sleep on the couch.) We have typical Seattle weather today, so we'll be dodging raindrops, and possible making a Brews & Choos visit. Updates as conditions warrant.

American Airlines wants you to know what country you're in: Next update from Seattle.

I'm flying out this evening for a couple of days in Seattle, where apparently we'll need SCUBA equipment on account of the rain. Today in Chicago, however, we have nearly-perfect weather, so I have no reason to complain yet. Regular posting will return Sunday.

Started on AA512 ORD-SEA; finished at home

CityNerd lays out the economic benefits to people who live along the Amtrak Northeast Corridor from going straight to 600 km/h magnetic levitation trains instead of just to 300 km/h high-speed rail: The infrastructure desperately needs some kind of an upgrade, though. It's approaching 100 years old, to the point where a single blown circuit breaker in New Jersey can halt trains from Boston to Harrisburg.