In Blago's Back Yard

I’m tired.

It’s been a long day of meetings and traversing hither and yon across southern Illinois.

I began the day in Mt. Vernon which is south of Effingham. Then, I had a meeting in Centralia which is southwest of Effingham. Then, I drove to East St. Louis which is west of Effingham where I had another meeting in the afternoon.

Now, I’m at a Holiday Inn just outside of Springfield which is northwest of Effingham. It’s also where Rod Blagojevich lives. I'm practically in his back yard. I’ll be sure to say hello if I see him during this trip. (I actually saw him and his hair at my workplace in Chicago about four months ago).

I hate to say it, but I’ve totally blown off eating healthy while on this trip. For lunch on Monday, I had a double Whopper (add mustard). For dinner last night, I had a double Whopper (add mustard). They’re just so damn tasty and convenient.

I tried to eat healthy tonight at Denny’s. I noticed that they had Boca Burgers on the menu (the vegetarian burger) so I ordered that and a salad instead of fries. The waitress was an elderly woman and I felt so sad for this poor woman who was obviously having to work well past retirement age.

My order arrived and it was a double cheeseburger with hash browns covered in cheese. I didn’t have the heart to ask her to take it back.

Tomorrow, I have an afternoon meeting in Bloomington about an hour away. That means I can totally sleep late in my Holiday Inn abode and I am SO going to do that.

After my meeting, I’ll drive to the tippy-top corner of northwest Illinois where I’ll have two meetings on Thursday.

Tomorrow, I’m going to do my absolute best to eat healthy. It will be a challenge seeing that I’ll be dining in America’s chain restaurants, but I think that with a little creativity it can be done.

Night-night.

The New Governor's Mansion in Illinois

Since Blago refuses to step down, my guess is that they'll just transfer the governor's mansion to the correctional facility in Joliet Illinois.

Remember When. . .

With all the ugliness going on right now with politics in Illinois, I thought that posting some memories of election night would be a nice antedote.

Here are Iwanski and Danny Wanny, monitoring minute-by-minute election results via multiple wireless devices.

Meanwhile, Miss Healthypants encourages the opening of champagne.

And a cork is popped.

A very happy crowd gives a toast to our new leader.

From left to right:

Iwanski's sister and nephew, Iwanski, Miss Healthypants, Karen (Mrs. Wanny) and Danny Wanny.

Blogging About Blagojevich Some More

When I heard about our governor's incredibly smarmy dealings, my first thought was, "There goes our chances of hosting the Olympics."

You see, Chicago is one of four cities selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games. The other cities are Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro.

However, his actions don't appear to be having any negative impact on our bid as mentioned in this article. But you never know.

Oh, and I have a vested interest in Chicago hosting the Games. You see, if the Olympics are held here, I am SO going to rent out my downtown apartment and make a bucket of money.

I plan on renting it out for, like, $1,000 per day.

Or to the highest bidder.

You know.

Blogging About Blagojevich

Our governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has just been arrested by the FBI on charges that he accepted bribes to appoint Obama's successor:

"Federal authorities arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper's editorial board who had been critical of him fired.

A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti. Otherwise, Blagojevich considered appointing himself. The affidavit said that as late as Nov. 3, he told his deputy governor that if "they're not going to offer me anything of value I might as well take it."

"I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain," Blagojevich allegedly said later that day, according to the affidavit, which also quoted him as saying in a remark punctuated by profanity that the seat was "a valuable thing --you just don't give it away for nothing."

It's such a shame. He has such pretty hair.

Some Excitement at Work Today

Guess who was at my workplace today?

Our governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich.

I wanted to ask him what sort of shampoo he uses to get his hair so fluffy, but his pesky secret service guy was in the way.

I asked our receptionist to tell Blagojevich to stop by my office before he left, but he didn't.