I'm spending my afternoon in Panera Bread because the power has gone out in Burbank.  The AC is great in here and I can spend some time online with the free internet!  I wasn't the only one with this idea and Panera is much busier than normal.  All my fellow refugees are here!  Anyway I found a seat and I'm glad to be here!

I just got home from an evening of relaxation at the Starbuck's and I ate dinner at Panda Express.  I decided to ride my bike up there and enjoy the last day of moderate temperatures before the heat and humidity return tomorrow.  I was busy on the internet and before I knew it, I was there past dark.  I didn't realize it at the time but that was a huge mistake.  When it came time to ride my bike back home, a distance of about a mile, I was once again disturbed by how dark all of the streets are in Westmont.  In the past few years, I have been annoyed with the darkness of the streets in Westmont and Downers Grove, especially during the winter months because I walk everywhere.  I thought it was even worse this evening, riding my bike, because I could not see where I was going.  I grew up in Chicago and there were lots of street lights around and I guess I just don't understand how these dark streets here can be safe for the people who walk, ride, and live down them.  Its 2010, why can't they put in some street lights?  I am sure there are reasons that probably now include money issues but they seriously need them.  People get murdered, robbed, and shot in the suburbs too.  If someone wanted to hurt people, these streets would be a haven for them.  I would imagine that Chicago is safer even with all of its evils because at least the people there can see them coming.  Here, you can't see 2 feet in front of you.  So I guess my message to all the dark suburbs is TURN ON THE LIGHTS!!

If you have not yet checked out the new Windows Live site, its now time.  Days ago Microsoft updated the site and its now more social than ever.  The new home page tells you what your friends are up to and shows you some headlines from the news.  The new profiles tell your friends what you’ve been up to and you can also add some your favorite things, for example you can add your favorite movies, music artists, and books.  Also, the new Windows Live Photos is a great place to store photos, with 25 Gb of storage.  In addition to all these great things on the web site, Microsoft has updated the Windows Live Essentials, which is a bundle of software that helps you manage your e-mail, photos, videos, your blog, and more.  I must say that the new Windows Live is great, but what I like the most is being able to access my Hotmail from Windows Live Mail, upload photos with the Windows Live Photo Gallery, and being able to post to my blog with the Windows Live Writer.  These tools are very helpful with managing my day to day activities on the internet.  I highly recommend to all my readers to check out the new site at http://home.live.com/!