Archive for July 2016

It's Her Party and I'll Cry If I Want To; Bernie Sanders Can't Crack a Smile

It was a week when I should have been spending every night packing up the house. We have done a lot but there is so much more to do. It was a week when I could have been watching the City Series, a chance to see the White Sox one last time before they throw... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 29, 2016 at 7:23 am • 

The Password is "Intense"

I just got back from my annual baseball guys trip with the usual group of high school friends. As always, we picked a weekend series featuring one of the Chicago ball clubs at an out of town park, said goodbye to our wives and hit the road. This year we set out for Milwaukee and... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 26, 2016 at 7:26 am • 

"But Doctor, How Do You Know that is MY Biopsy?" -- Maintaining Patient Identification.

    It ain’t me babe     No, no, no, it ain’t me babe. Bob Dylan, 1964 Get the right diagnosis to the right patient. That is the mantra of any good laboratory. No institution does it exactly the same way, but linking each specimen received to the patient it came from is an essential part... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 25, 2016 at 7:34 am • 
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When It Hurts to Say I Told You So: Advanced Prostate Cancer Cases on the Rise

Diagnose a patient’s prostate cancer in its earliest stages and you have a great chance of curing it. Starting in the early 1990’s, that was the philosophy behind Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood testing in men. It wasn’t a perfect test, and many men with increased PSA proved not to have cancer when their prostates... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 20, 2016 at 7:16 am • 

We Take a Shine to YInMN. It's the New Blue!

Have you seen her dressed in blue? See the sky in front of you. The Rolling Stones-1967 Once again, I have mislead my blog readers. I told you that white was the decorating color of the year. That may be what Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore want us to believe. But they missed the boat on... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 19, 2016 at 7:49 am • 

10 Things That Have Changed In A Year, and One That Hasn't

It seems like yesterday, but it has been about a year since I started writing “Down-Size Maybe,” first as an independent blog on Word-Press, and for the last eight months as part of ChicagoNow. It was meant to be a blog about our home building experience, but like the whole failed concept of “Down-sizing,” the... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 14, 2016 at 11:14 am • 
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Cole Porter and Suburbia--A Great American Weekend

Just slippin on by on LSD Alliota Haynes and Jeremiah- 1971 Yes, I know. I swore I would not go near the Taste. I documented my reasons, and I swear by every one of them, even though Whitney from SpotHero did give me some parking alternatives. What I had neglected to take into consideration was... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 11, 2016 at 7:40 am • 

I Recognize Taylor Swift's Boyfriend-How Cool Is That?

What to do with expiring airline miles? Last year, I made the mistake of using them for a slew of magazine subscriptions. Now the mailbox groans with Time and The Economist, Sports Illustrated and ESPN Magazine, Inc. and Fast Company. Issues of Vogue and Glamour stack up unread until they line the bottom of the recycle bin.... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 8, 2016 at 7:24 am • 

5 Reasons this Curmudgeon Won't Be at Taste of Chicago

I assume by now the booths are up. I assume the lines are long. I assume the music is playing. And I know I won’t be there. This marks the 19th, or perhaps it is the 20th, consecutive year that “Taste of Chicago” will be celebrated down by the Lake without me. I have nothing... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 6, 2016 at 2:14 pm • 
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After Watching "Independence Day: Resurgence" I Wonder. Could Will Smith Get Me Through an Apocalypse?

Barb and I had free tickets to the local multiplex, one that features small theaters with large reclining chairs and reserved seating. Unfortunately, it is a theater that caters more to the mall type crowd than to empty-nesters, so the selection of films was less than optimal. We settled on Independence Day: Resurrection, the sequel to... Read more »
By lesraff,
July 4, 2016 at 7:32 am •