Well, not quite yet. But it’s coming on fast, people, and if you love me you’ll realize my affection will be reciprocated upon the receipt of material goods.
Don’t know what to buy me for my birthday? I’ve made a handy list for you.
Month: April 2003
Not quite gone
But fading fast is Kemper Insurance Cos. It’s amazing how one of the biggest insurance companies in the country has pretty much fallen apart in a little more than a year.
I guess it goes to show how competitive the marketplace really is. See my story on the latest layoffs.
What have you done for me lately?
I’m not sure why, but I haven’t been in the mood to blog lately. I’m not insanely busy right now, and there’s plenty to talk about: the NBA playoffs, certain idiotic statements by certain Republican senators, a little post-war nonsense, and more.
But there’s an itch that I usually get that makes me think, “Oh! I should blog about that.” And the itch doesn’t go away until I do.
No itch lately, though.
Looks a lot like last year
Great pitch, no hit. The Cubs have scored only one run in the last two days off the much vaunted Padres pitching staff, and have lost by a total of 4-1.
Another great outing, this time by Clement, wasted. Good thing I wasn’t getting my hopes up! Right?
Damn, evil Yankees
I should not be letting the evil, evil Yankees’ red-hot start (17-3) and instead should be delighted by how well the Red Sox (14-6) and especially the Cubs (13-7) are doing.
And yet … I’m not. What can I say? I’m bitter. I admit it. Is that the first step toward recovery? I hope not.
UPDATE: At least the Mets suck.
The key to the Cubs’ season
Simple: Reconfigure the schedule to play every remaining game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Cubs beat them yesterday, 16-3, and have won the first three of a four-game series, scoring more than 10 in each game.
Please, Cubbies, don’t do it. Don’t get my hopes up. Please.
He did one good thing
Newly christened lame duck Illinois Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, nominally a Republican, did one good thing while in office before deciding he didn’t have it in him to run again without the backing of his own party.
He appointed three independent U.S. attorneys in the state of Illinois, prosecutors committed to ending our state’s infamous history — er, present — of political chicanery, corruption and outright silliness.
That hurts pols on both sides, as the Trib’s John Kass pointed out yesterday.
So there’s at least one good thing. He also played a key role in saving the homes of thousands of suburbanites who would have been bulldozed, literally, by the Daley machine that had the Senate this close to federalizing the decision about whether to expand O’Hare Airport. Now that deal is dead because the airlines are broke.
But it almost happened. And Fitzgerald stopped it. I guess that’s two good things. I should learn to count. Fitzgerald knew how to count what matters — not the support of Illinois’ all-too-cozy two-headed monsters, but right on one hand and wrong on the other.
Some words
“So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God is on our side
He’ll stop the next war”
— Bob Dylan, “With God On Our Side”
Dubya’s lookin’ at you, Syria.
Sneak peek
Here’s an abbreviated version of my April 21 print edition Insurance Journal story on the insurance industry’s reaction to the nightclub tragedies in Chicago and Rhode Island.
OK, so the Iraqi people have been liberated
But what about us, Dubya? What about us?
More promo
Remember that 2,000-word story on the California homeowners market I was bitching about?
RedEye sucks
It does, it really does. And I tell them so every opportunity I get. Fortunately, I get them pretty regularly. The best part is, RedEye pays me for the privilege.
About a week after the thing started running I saw an ad where they wanted reader feedback. So I dutifully shot off an e-mail explaining as patiently as I could what an insult to the intelligence of 18-to-34-year-olds the pseudo-newspaper was.
I received in reply an invitation to join the RedEye reader panel. Every week or so, I receive via e-mail a password to participate in the latest survey. They ask questions about the latest issue, how often I read RedEye, how much money I make, etc.
For every fourth survey I fill out (they take about five minutes to complete), I get a $10 CTA transit card, though I could have gotten gift certificates to Border’s and some other places I now forget.
And at the end of each one, when they ask if I have any comments to add. I share my unsubtle point of view. How fun.
Back, with a little bit of vengeance
Let’s play catch-up. …
The only thing worse than having your moviegoing experience interrupted by someone who answers his cell phone in the middle of the picture is to receive a phone call from someone who’s in a movie theater, while the movie’s showing. Thanks a lot, Mom. …
Good riddance, Jerry Krause. Organizations may win championships, but it helps if they’re organized around Michael Jordan, doesn’t it? …
It’s amazing how hard it is to reach your destination when you don’t know where it is. Damn suburbs. …
Any time an employee for a big box store tells you the item you’re looking for is “at the end of the aisle, on the right,” it’s a lie. And when you turn around, the employee will be gone, never to be found again. …
Here’s a story I filed last week from RIMS, if you’re interested. …
I saw Tom Palmer speak at the University of Chicago last week, and whoever said he was brilliant, was right. …
And finally, there’s no delay at Meigs Field. Isn’t that great?
kboreilly.com 
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