In wake of the recent attacks on Mumbai, I found myself more concerned than I expected over the welfare of the victims, and especially of the local Indians. Not typically callous to or ignorant of woes and tragedies that befall my fellow humans around the world, but I was certainly more drawn to the news stories, to the many posts and to the general press coverage than anticipated.

Since those attacks, I have pondered the reasons for this. I think it must be because of chickenmonkeydog. As you may know, we have a readership that includes a number of individuals in or from India and Pakistan. And through their comments on this site and on their respective blogs, I have come to know more about and be more interested in India, Pakistan and the people in that corner of the world. No, I didn’t ignore it beforehand – one of my closest friend in the UK is a native Indian – but it certainly wasn’t in my ‘Top Corners of the World’.

Something similar happened years ago when I began to work with Survivors Fund, an organisation dedicated to assisting survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Suddenly, Africa became much more than a geographic location with places and peoples of the world. It became very human, a place filled with personal stories, personal histories, personal tragedies and, of course, personal futures.

With so many demands on our attention (family, friends, jobs, the economy in today’s market, homelands, etc.), it’s easy to overlook much of what is going on in the world. I don’t say this as a criticism, but more of a statement of practical reality. (The street riots in Jos, Nigeria, have barely made the news in the wake of the assault on Mumbai.)

The internet has given us the ability not only to learn about the comings and goings of people and places around world, but also to connect and interact with those with whom we might otherwise never have crossed paths. And that can only be a good thing.

The relevant text in the above photo is as follows:
Cheese… $.50
Cheddar, American, Swiss, Bleu ($1)
Spicy Jack, Goat ($1.50)

For the first time in my life, I think, I was nervous about cheese.  What is one to assume about the nondescript “cheese” item (selling for $0.50)? What could it mean such that it is called out separately from “Cheddar”, “American”, “Swiss”, “Bleu”, “Spicy Jack”, and “Goat”?

I was especially worried that “American” cheese costs more! What could possibly be a lower cost form of cheese-product?

To cope with the hundreds of thousands of visitors that come each year, the cliff edge has been protected by a wall and warning signs abound of the dangers.

Visitors to the cliffs are admonished to avoid karate-kicking the wall blocking access to the cliff edge.

Come close to read the small text explaining what the extreme danger is, only to realize the warning indicates that the cliff you now are standing on is “Extremely Unstable”.

Hopefully you readers can provide some thoughts on what this last warning sign might mean. Please help!

“Blimey!”, I thought, “You don’t see that very often any more.” The mobile phone has pretty much done away with the pay phone these days. Not entirely, mind you, but it’s become enough of an old dinosaur that I certainly didn’t expect to see someone using it this morning.

So, what else lingers about these days but doesn’t really get much use?

(On a related note, over the weekend, I found myself having to explain to a 4-year old what a cassette tape was and how it doesn’t get really get much use anyone, at least not in the West.)

“Sure. Go ahead an throw it on top – we’ve got plenty of room up there.”

Each step just about came up to just below his waist. There were 13 steps leading from the ground floor to the next. So, this little fella was pulling and scrapping his way to the top, time and time again, for fun. He was giggling, laughing, talking and singing on each trip. It was a hoot.

As I watched on, I began to think about whether or I would climb proportionally sized steps for fun. I am 6′3″. Would I repeatedly climb 13, three-foot steps just for fun? For that matter, would I go back up almost 40 feet (close to a 3-story building) in stairs to collect whatever it was I forgot this morning as I ran down the stairs this morning, late for work? Could I even run down the stairs if each step was half my height?

(They may also look the same elsewhere at O’Hare, but this is where I’ve noticed them.)

I know it is hard to see in the pictures, but note that this door:

(1) Requires a security code input prior to use.
In case of an emergency, you’d better hope that you happen to be an airport employee with a security id code, and not just some Joe or Jane Traveller.

(2) Not using a security code would be a violation of both city and federal laws.
Break the law or stay put in an emergency – you can only choose one.

(3) Door can be opened in 15 seconds.
If this is a real emergency, fifteen seconds will seem like a really, really long time.

Why all this guerilla on gorilla violence!? Won’t somebody please think of the homonyms?!?

Please note that the editors of chickenmonkeydog do not support violence and do not condone the endangerment of the mountain gorillas.

Thanks to a reader from Chicago for the contribution.

Read email containing details of absentee ballot.

And so that you can see that I am not making this up, I’ve also produced a screenshot of my Yahoo email inbox which shows the arrival of the two emails in question:

View screenshot of Yahoo inbox.

A bit of house-keeping here: A few months ago we created ourselves a delicious account for chickenmonkeydog blog. So, we wanted to flag this up to our readership and suggest that you check out our recommendations.

Go on. Check ‘em out. You’ll be happy you did. We promise.

Go on.