One of us*

Sigh... It finally happened. I lost my link to Web of Science, the best scientific search engine of them all. I have been logging in using my UC Riverside account for the last 9 months, but today my account was rejected. Illinois State University is a relatively small school: it has a patchwork of lesser academic search engines and subscribes to only about half of the journals that I need.

Also, I have 52 days until my site license for JMP expires, and I have to decide whether to wrangle a new license, try to figure out how to get SPSS to do my bidding (I have SPSS, but it and I have a love-hate relationship), or return to the dreaded (but omnipotent) SAS.
So UCR has cut me off. I would guess that my UCR email account will disappear soon, so everyone please use my ISU (ilstu) email account.

I suppose that I was just a little bit smug when I got here with my doctorate from a big UC school with seemingly limitless access to resources. I also had good hair and decently fashionable clothes. Well, now I have no Web of Science, no unlimited journal access or stats software. I have lost my tan. Also, all of my clothes are worn out and I can't replace them. So, I am no longer big city; I am just as Normal as everyone else.

*

Stolen bat

Some loser just stole the flying bat off of our front porch! We bought that thing when we first moved to CA in 1999. You may remember--it flew in jerky circles and the eyes lit up.
There is this presumption that theft is less common in the flyover region of the US. The other day, some woman in the locker room actually said to me:"Don't worry about someone stealing your bathing suit--this is the midwest." However, I would like to point out that this bat was flying around our front porch for many years when we were living next to a meth lab/stolen car emporium/homeless hangout in Rubidoux, CA, and no one touched it.
In contrast, I grew up in Cleveland and recall that pretty much every cool thing that I had ended up stolen. On the first day of kindergarten, my gym shoes with the rainbow laces were stolen (before I even wore them once). My first bike was stolen the first time I rode it anywhere (and it was locked up on a busy street!), and my first jeans jacket (the only enviable piece of clothing I owned) was stolen days after I got it.
We have replaced the flying bat with a spider that is matted and missing a leg due to Argos. Steal that!

Driveability

Re: the previous post about walkability, here are some stats from the LA Times about commute times. (Click the picture to make it larger.)