Starbucks is out, Dunkin' Donuts is in!

So, I'm here in Chi-town for a couple weeks on Reserve Duty and I can't get up on the net to save my life.
I have things to blog about - there is a whole city plus the Society of Professional Journalists conference with all its shine and spark. But no - walking around with my laptop: Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Wasn't quiet working.
I'm just about to give in and go to Starbucks and fork over my hard earned cash and buy another T-mobile account (Historical note: I had a T-mobile account my last semester of grad school - to use while I was interning in New York at the UN, bla, bla bla. Well, to make a long story short - didn't use it so much and then when I moved to Grand Rapids - no Starbucks with T-mobile and the b*astards made me buy out the account? What the ...)
Anyway, back to the present, I'm almost desperate enough to crawl back to T-mobile and my girlfriend, the wonderful and beautiful Annemarie Neff, decides she wants ice cream. Well, who doesn't want ice cream after a day of thrifting? (I totally found a Ralph Lauren dress for $1.91 - bring on the holiday parties, I say)
So, we head to the nearest place which just happened to be the Dunkin' Donuts off of California and Milwaukee and what's the first thing I see when I walk in the door - a guy on a laptop.
I order a double scoop of French Vanilla (that's vanilla ice cream make with eggs - so it's a little more yellow in color than regular vanilla ice cream) and one of Uber-duber Chocolate (my name for it) - all the while eyeing the guy in the corner. Does the store have Internet access and how much does it cost? I ask the woman behind the counter. Well, I about peed my pants - not only does the store have Internet access but it's free. Yes, you read correctly boys and girls - FREE. I am currently typing this from said Dunkin' Donuts (doughnuts for you AP-fends) for FREE. The only down side is they don't have soy milk. (You know me I love my soy milk)
But hey I can bring in my coffee mug (ode to credit card debt - pictured on my flickr site) with soy already in it and just buy a small cup of joe!
Anyway, here is to many happy years together - Free wireless and I.

Newest hat and scarf

The primary is over.
Election night was madness. All 45 of my precincts came in just before midnight as I raced to finish all four of my stories on deadline as it "whooshed" past me. Screams across the newsroom as I realized the numbers on "Election Magic," the state's website, were wrong. Well, there was little magic happening. But a phone call later and all was well. The numbers were corrected on the page before they went to print. Oy.
And now I'm busy working on hats, scarves and other knittable treats to put away in the gift pile.

I miss my air conditioner

It's ugly, hot.
I'm so exhausted. I don't have air conditioning at home or in my car. It's like 105 inside the house!
For the past week I've had to stand infront of my fan after I take a shower to get into my clothes. Without the fan, by the time I get my clothes on there already soaked through with sweat.
And the car is no better. It's like a 120 inside it and I drive about 45 minutes to an hour to get to work. I've been wearing skirts to stay cooler but my legs are slimey with sweat by the time I reach my destination. And by the time I get home it takes all the energy that I have left to take a COLD shower and sit on the couch infront of a fan.
Oh, I hope it breaks soon.
Is it? I hear the rumbling of a storm in the distance - could it be rain? Could it be? Please, I'd like a good nights sleep. I have so much work to do....