The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Cool little tool

I've just spent a few minutes putting together a little countdown clock for my blog. (Credit goes to Kris van der Mast for the code sample.)

What does it do? Well, it's driving the Dubya Clock and Other Countdown tools on the nav bar to the right.

Chicago Sunrise Chart

It's time for the semi-annual update of the Chicago sunrise chart. (You can get one for your own location at http://www.wx-now.com/Sunrise/SunriseChart.aspx.)

Date Significance Sunrise Sunset Daylight
2008
4 Jan Latest sunrise until Oct 28 07:19 16:33 9:14
28 Jan 5pm sunset 07:08 17:00 9:52
5 Feb 7am sunrise 07:00 17:11 10:10
20 Feb 5:30pm sunset 06:40 17:30 10:49
27 Feb 6:30am sunrise 06:30 17:38 11:08
8 Mar Earliest sunrise until April 12th
Earliest sunset until Oct 28th
06:14 17:50 11:36
9 Mar Daylight savings time begins
Latest sunrise until Oct 22nd
07:12 18:51 11:39
16 Mar 7am sunrise, 7pm sunset
12-hour day
07:00 19:00 12:00
20 Mar Equinox 00:48 CDT 06:54 19:04 12:10
3 Apr 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:30 19:19 12:49
13 Apr 7:30pm sunset 06:13 19:30 13:17
22 Apr 6am sunrise 05:59 19:41 13:31
10 May 8pm sunset 05:35 20:00 14:24
15 May 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:05 14:34
14 Jun Earliest sunrise of the year 05:15 20:28 15:13
20 Jun Solstice 18:59 CDT 05:15 20:30 15:15
21 Jun 8:30pm sunset 05:16 20:30 15:14
27 Jun Latest sunset of the year 05:18 20:31 15:13
2 Jul 8:30pm sunset 05:20 20:30 15:09
16 Jul 5:30am sunrise 05:30 20:24 14:55
8 Aug 8pm sunset 05:52 20:00 14:08
16 Aug 6am sunrise 06:00 19:49 13:48
28 Aug 7:30pm sunset 06:13 19:30 13:17
15 Sep 6:30am sunrise; 7pm sunset 06:30 19:00 12:29
22 Sep Equinox, 10:44 CDT 06:39 18:48 12:08
25 Sep 12-hour day 06:42 18:42 12:00
2 Oct 6:30pm sunset 06:49 18:30 11:40
12 Oct 7am sunrise 07:00 18:14 11:13
21 Oct 6pm sunset 07:11 18:00 10:48
1 Nov Latest sunrise of the year
Latest sunset until Mar 5th
07:24 17:45 10:20
2 Nov Standard time returns
Earliest sunrise until Mar 2nd
06:25 16:43 10:18
6 Nov 6:30am sunrise (again) 06:30 16:39 10:08
15 Nov 4:30pm sunset 06:41 16:30 9:48
2 Dec 7am sunrise 07:01 16:20 9:19
8 Dec Earliest sunset of the year 07:06 16:20 9:13
21 Dec Solstice, 06:04 CST 07:16 16:23 9:07

You can get sunrise information for your location at wx-now.com.

Mini-rant about résumés

<rant>

I'm reviewing a lot of CVs right now, and I would like to vent for a moment. Just a few things, though:

  • If you're applying for a Quality Assurance position, spelling and grammar count a lot.
  • Unless you've gotten an invitation to apply, the people reviewing your résumé have others to read. Write concisely. Highlight the important parts. Limit yourself to two pages of paper with a link to a longer version. Don't waste the reader's time. Even if you're perfect for the job, you go into the phone screen with a mark against you if your CV has Dickensian verbosity.
  • Don't put information on your CV that we can't use to hire you. If you put your age, marital status, immigration status, race, or anything else like that on your CV, a potential employer might bin the thing just to prevent any hint of bias in the hiring process.
  • But do put down your bona fides. If you say "Engineering Degree" on your CV, you actually do need to include the actual degree (BA, BS, BBQ), the name of the institution and the date. Like it or not, a degree from the Ira Bialystock Engineering School and Storm Door Company is not the same as one from Northwestern, and since we're going to call your school to check that you graduated as a precondition of hiring you, don't waste our time by having us guess. We will simply guess that you went to IBESASDC and not NU, and pass.

</rant>

When I wake up early in the morning

I almost slept through a story on Morning Edition just now, about sleep:

In our fast-paced, global society, many people consider it a big plus to need as little sleep as possible. But almost every sleep researcher will tell you that most people need at least seven hours of sleep for biological and psychological health. So there is a glaring disconnect between what the messages in our culture say about sleep and the messages we receive from scientists.

RIP Cali

A very old friend of mine put her dog down this evening. I know how hard that was. Cali had a good life, and was loved. And she knew it.

Every dog owner has to face this eventually: dogs only live a few years. That doesn't make it easier.

In the Jewish tradition—in which I was raised, despite both my parents and me being devout atheists—we always acknowledge the sadness lurking behind joy. It's a Jewish curse to find the cloud behind every silver lining. We dip an egg in salt water at Passover to remind ourselves of this. Not to mention the not-so-far-from-truth Jewish joke about the widow at the funeral shouting "how could you do this to me?" So maybe it's inappropriately personalizing someone else's pain, but a friend going through this reminds me of how short Parker's life will be, and how important it is to cherish what he brings to me, which is absolutely no less than how much Cali's life brought to my friend.

So, Tink, I know what you're feeling. And I know Cali was a happy dog, and loved you unconditionally, and lived as long as she could. Nothing else really matters.

Obama event

I just got back from an event in Chicago which convinced me that Obama will win the White House. 375 days, 12 hours to go.

In a completely unrelated vein, I am watching Parker try to destroy a Tyvek FedEx envelope. I think I've finally found a substance he can't destroy.

Update: Nope. He can destroy it just fine. I'll be seeing that Tyvek tomorrow morning.