I like listening to audiobooks on my iPod when I’m washing dishes or cooking. It helps pass the time and makes my chores far more enjoyable. However, I frequently end up catching my headphone cord on a cabinet handle or other protuberance as I’m moving to and fro in the kitchen. That ends up yanking the cord right out of my iPod and causes a major inconvenience as I have to stop what I’m doing to fix the problem.

So now I’m thinking that I really need to buy a speaker mount for my iPod so I don’t have to deal with headphones at all. I don’t have a lot of extra space on my counters, but if I can find something that mounts on the wall, I’d go for it. It’s got to be better than what I’m dealing with now!

Remember how last month a rogue trader cost banking giant Societe Generale a mind-boggling $7 billion in losses?

Well, a similar thing happened yesterday, though admittedly on a much smaller scale. This time, a rogue trader for MF Global, a futures firm based out of Bermuda, let loose at the Chicago Board of Trade, racking up losses to the tune of $141.5 million.

The trader was a man named Evan B. Dooley, who worked on commission from an office in Memphis. He apparently was able to make wild trades in his personal account by backing the action with money from the firm’s account. MF Global has assured investors that they’ve made changes so that this kind of thing won’t happen again.

The full Tribune story can be found here.

Don’t you think it’s time that every investment firm reviews their procedures to make sure a single person can’t devastate their finances like this ever again? How many more of these massive scams are we going to have to read about?

The last of my 1099 forms arrived this week, so I’m finally ready to do my taxes. I’ve had all of my receipts and other records organized since the beginning of the year, but have been procrastinating because of the 1099 situation.

At any rate, I’m planning to use Turbo Tax Online this year instead of paying $350 for an accountant like I did last year. I know that in some instances it’s better to have a professional prepare the returns, but my taxes are so straightforward that it’s not worth it for me. I mean, it’s not like I own Wilmington real estate or have major capital gains to report.

It shouldn’t take me more than a few hours to get my taxes done. I know I’m going to end up owing about $500, so I’m not looking forward to the result here. Hopefully my cut of the “stimulus package” will arrive sometime soon to make up the difference!

Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is a tough one:

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)

I’ve read so many books that, inevitably, I only remember the strongest, most well-defined characters after all these years. As such, these are the women who stand out to me, even though they were far from perfect. I loved them despite (or perhaps because of) their flaws, even the ones on the list who ultimately committed suicide:

Francie Nolan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the d’Urbervilles), Amy Dorritt (Little Dorritt), Brett Ashley (The Sun Also Rises), Anna Karenina (Anna Karenina), Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and Edna Montpelier (The Awakening).

Obviously there are too many here for me to give specifics about why I liked these characters, but to generalize, I think most of them were strong in their own ways, be it sheer presence, force of will, or a quiet strength/endurance. These are the characters that stand out to me, and whose stories I would willingly read again and again.

One of my favorite places for seafood is Poor Phil’s Bar & Grill in Oak Park. I’ve been going to Poor Phil’s for more than 15 years now, and never get tired of their menu. In fact, the first time I ever tried oysters was at this restaurant, way back when I was still in high school. I remember that I went on a double-date with my best friend and two guys who were our lab partners in chem class. I wanted to appear more “worldly” than I really was, so I ordered oysters as an appetizer, while everyone else ordered the usual fries and onion rings.

I actually didn’t like oysters that first time, but have acquired a taste for them over the years. Now, my husband and I make it a point to go all the way out to Poor Phil’s at least once every couple months or so in order to enjoy a plate of chilled oysters together. I find that I crave oysters as much for the ambiance at Poor Phil’s and for a great day with Jerry as for the eating experience itself.

And yes, we eat our Gulf oysters raw, which I know is a concern to some people who fear they might get sick from doing so. But that rarely happens to healthy individuals these days — especially since modern post-harvest processes (such as freezing, heat-cool pasteurization, and high-hydrostatic pressure) significantly reduce the chance of Vibrio vulnificus infection.

At any rate, I’ve been enjoying oysters for a long time now, and have never suffered any ill-effects thus far, so I’m not planning on changing my habits anytime soon!

I haven’t had much to post about here recently, so it’s given me a chance to think about what I want to do with this particular site. It’s pretty much been a catch-all, general type of blog where I just post about anything and everything under the sun. But I’m thinking about narrowing the focus a bit and talking about just one or two topics from here on out (like sports or current events). Or maybe I just need to take a week off and come back with a fresh perspective….

I don’t know; I think I’m just feeling burned out on blogging in general, especially since I’ve made approximately 3,600 posts on all my sites combined in the last 14 months. Yikes!!

Back when I worked at my office job, we made extensive use of employment agencies to help with hiring new staff. We used a temp agency to find workers for the factory, and we used an executive recruiting firm to fill management positions.

The temps we got for the factory were generally pretty good, but we had a hard time holding on to the executives that the recruiting firm sent us. It seemed that we rarely got a candidate who was a good match, despite the fact that we spelled our our requirements in great detail.

The problem was with the recruiting firm itself. Apparently their screening process wasn’t as thorough as it should have been, so everyone ended up wasting a lot of time and money.

It’s too bad my former company didn’t use A.E. Feldman Associates for their recruiting needs. For the past four decades, A.E. Feldman has been highly successful in recruiting and placing executives in various financial, accounting, legal, consulting, human resources, and technology positions all across the country, and I’m sure they would have done a better job at finding qualified candidates than the firm we ended up going with.

At any rate, if I’m ever go back to the corporate world, you can bet I’ll recommend A.E. Feldman Associates for any executive recruiting needs!

I just read an article from Men’s Vogue (I didn’t even realize there was a Men’s Vogue magazine until today!) about the 10 Best Rivalries in Sports. It focused about individual rivalries rather than teams, and ran the gamut from horse racing to chess to F1. Here’s their Top 10 in descending order:

10. Greg LeMond vs. Bernard Hinault (cycling)
9. Alydar vs. Affirmed (horse racing)
8. Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost (F1)
7. Garry Kasparov vs. Anatoly Karpov (chess)
6. Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus (golf)
5. Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert (tennis)
4. Richard Petty vs. Dave Pearson (NASCAR)
3. Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain (basketball)
2. Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe (tennis)
1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (boxing)

Hmm, this certainly isn’t the type of list you’d find in a sports magazine, is it? I mean, Alydar vs. Affirmed? Seriously? And how exactly does chess factor into a freakin’ sports list? Hasn’t the writer ever heard of, oh, I don’t know… Ohio St. vs. Michigan, perhaps? If Russell and Chamberlain earned a spot on the list, why not Larry Legend vs. Magic?

Sorry, but this list is pretty worthless IMO!

My grandfather will be turning 90 soon, so I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise that his health is steadily deteriorating. He stays in my uncle’s house and doesn’t require professional care, but he does have to use a bunch of medical equipment and accessories to make his life a bit more comfortable.

For example, a doctor recently recommended oxygen therapy after noticing low O₂ levels in my grandfather’s blood. So my mom had to buy an oxygen concentrator and some other stuff to help ease the problem.

I’m really starting to worry about my grandfather because he seems weaker and more immobile every time I see him. It’s difficult to admit this, but it’s probably time to start preparing for the worst.

I guess the Chicago Bears aren’t interested in pursuing any free agent quarterbacks this offseason because I just read that they re-signed Rex Grossman to a 1-year deal today. According to the Tribune, Grossman will earn a base salary of $3 million, and can earn an additional $2 million in bonuses and incentives.

I am not in favor of this move at all. I have not seen much improvement in Grossman in his years as the Bears starter, and it looked like he actually took several steps backwards in ‘07. He doesn’t seem to be the longterm answer for the team — but obviously I don’t have years of experience as an NFL talent evaluator, so who knows. Maybe Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith see something in Grossman that no one else does.

Well, now I wonder what the Bears are going to do with their draft picks. This could get interesting….

Friday night is usually Movie Night in our house. Jerry is too tired from a long week at work to actually go out, so I try to rent a couple of DVDs during the day and have everything ready by the time he comes home.

Then after dinner, we’ll watch part of a children’s movie with our son, and after he goes to bed, we’ll break out the beers and put in a regular movie.

Today I’ve got The Game Plan and We Own the Night, so it should be a fun evening. It would be perfect if we had one of those home popcorn machines, but I think that’s asking a bit much. We’ll just have to settle for microwave popcorn instead!

This week’s Booking Through Thursday question is a simple — yet interesting — one:

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

I am definitely a product of the digital age, which is why my answer here is, “Neither.” I would much rather have a library of tens of thousands of electronic texts at my fingertips rather than a few hundred paperbacks or hardcovers.

I’m not at all interested in building my own library, so I have never felt the need to purchase lots and lots of books. Instead, I just want to read a book, absorb the story and characters, and then move on to the next one.

Plus, if I save a few trees along the way by not consuming paper products, well, that’s all the better!

Ewww, I would find this totally gross even if I wasn’t a dog-lover! It’s no secret that dog meat is commonly eaten in China, but I always assumed that it was served in an inconspicuous manner — like in a stew or something.

However, this AFP photo I saw today shows just how wrong that notion is. Take a look: it’s a plate of cooked dog paws at a Chinese restaurant, and reason #92 that I’m bringing my own food if I ever travel to China.

How nasty is that???

It’s a longstanding tradition in professional sports that older players routinely put younger players (especially rookies) through hazing rituals or practical jokes. You know, taping guys to the goal post in football, leaving the rookie with the $10,000 tab at a restaurant, etc.

But Brett Myers took things a step further last Saturday when he orchestrated a pretty complex prank against second-year guy Kyle Kendrick. Myers convinced manager Charlie Manuel and several other people in the Phillies’ organization to go along with the gag, which was telling Kendrick that he’d been traded to the Yomiuri Giants of Japan for a guy named Kobayashi Iwamura.

Kendrick was visibly shocked, and couldn’t even gather his thoughts for a news conference. Then, with cameras rolling, Myers announced that Kendrick had been punk’d.

I watched the video clip, which is now on YouTube, and have to say that I felt bad for Kendrick. He looked like he was about to cry, which certainly shouldn’t be the point of a “prank”, right? I didn’t find it funny at all; watching this just made me feel uncomfortable.

What do you think?

Like most people around here, I’m still trying to make sense of the shootings that recently took place at the NIU campus in DeKalb. It’s just so different when one of these things happens close to home.

With the Columbine and VT shootings, I was able to maintain an emotional distance because those campuses were so far away. For those events, I was just reading about terrible tragedies in the news.

But when it happens this close, at a school where so many of my friends spent their college years, on a campus that I drive past at least once a month… well, it’s impossible to view the event simply as “news”.

We might never know why Steve Kazmierczak did what he did on February 14; even if we do find out, it’s not likely to make sense to us.

Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the victims here.