Feeling ill this morning? Did walking from your car to your office leave you winded like a 3-pack-a-day pensioner? Don’t worry … it’s just the air.

Yesterday‘s Air Quality Index was the worst Atlanta has had all year. On top of 14 days at Smog Alert status, we shifted from Orange (“Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”) to Red (“Unhealthy”). To deal with this increased nastiness, we all need to limit our “outdoor exertion to morning or late evening hours when the ozone is low, to avoid high ozone exposures.”*

So tomorrow, if the AQI isn’t any better, just call your boss and say , “I need to limit my activity … the EPA said so.”

Or just invest in some smashing new accessories.

..behind the quiet streets of Atlanta, … in the offices… in the homes…. a WAR rages on!! This war is not fought with clubs or guns… not with Tanks.. or missles….

…this war is fought with Popularity!! How popular are you RIGHT NOW?

I was tested… and found lacking… :-( …too embarassed to even post my score… I crawl back to my cave to at least post about AIMFIGHT. What’s it all about? Basically its about how many online users (AIM) have you in their buddy list…

Maybe you will do better than me… All I know is that I need more buddies…

The Mayor’s campaign is returning some money:

Over the past several years, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s re-election campaign has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in contributions that exceeded the legal limit, her campaign officials say.

Mandatory campaign disclosures show Franklin, who is preparing for the Nov. 8 general election, returned about $90,000 to dozens of donors in recent months. Her campaign manager, state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta), said about $70,000 of the money was returned to about 40 donors who contributed more than the $2,000 limit allowed under state law. The rest was returned for other reasons, he said.

Does she really need any of the money? I mean, she’s extremely popular, wins awards like nobody else, and doesn’t really have any serious opposition.

My guess is that it’s really all building up for exploring a U.S. Senate campaign…

So after a long day at the office… and too much time in traffic, I arrive home to find out that the air conditioning had died!! I called a bunch of places, but most were already closed. A couple that were opened wanted to schedule me for next week. Our kids seemed not to mind… Going upstairs (as heat rises), was like walking through warm water. We all ended up sleeping downstairs… Upstairs the thermometer read 86 degrees when I went to sleep! That’s 86 at 11 PM!

This morning, I had to call another six places, but finally found someone (outside of Atlanta) who would come and fix us…

Wow, this summer is hot!

I want my very own Bat Signal…but instead of signaling that guy it would prompt the Pothole Posse to spring into action. I would be able to mount it on my dashboard and it would be disguised as a hula dude.

Could you work on that for me?

Blogwise is now reading the ICBM meta tag of pages to place them on a Google Map. Here’s Atlanta, chock full of bloggers. And here is a page that tells you how to add the information to your own blog. I’m guessing that someone one day will make a much better local page that uses the Google Maps API and places Atlanta blogs on there quicker than Blogwise does, but for now, this will do.

The other day I saw one of those 285 Sucks bumperstickers and wrote the URL down in my notepad so I wouldn’t forget it. I think I only visited the site once years ago and I wasn’t that surprised this morning to find that the domain isn’t viable anymore. Still, that kind of road-rage-turned-”sucks”-site does hold some appeal, just not as much anymore.

Now, you have some really great resources if your commute is horrible. You can get money back for carpooling from the Clean Air Campaign. You could also avoid trouble by using Georgia Navigator or SuperGreg’s Google/Yahoo! Traffic/Weather mash-up maps. Or you could simply broadcast your frustration via blog, podcast or a nostalgic and still-available bumpersticker. Whatever you do, be safe.

Happy driving everyone!

is Tooner Field at the Ted in its new and improved form. For your and your child’s enjoyment, here is a coupon for a free Kids ticket (12 and under) to one of this weekend’s games (not counting Saturday).

Loyal Commentor Kim (eventually we’ll start making Loyal Commentor paper hats, like those old Burger King crowns) has noted that the mysterious PieBar, formerly known as a building that suited you to a T, opens tonight. We are all intrigued.

But the real question is: which is the bigger draw, Mysterious New Pizza Place or Duran Duran at Chastain Park?

Last year DeKalb County decided their students needed a more rigorous math curriculum. Are their students more intelligent do you suppose? DeKalb moved algebra down to the 8th grade for all students, and they start freshman year of High School with Geometry.

This immediately strikes me as trouble; I just canít believe that all DeKalb students are ready for Algebra in 8th grade. Will they just fail and get stuck there until they pass? My worries came to light this morning as I was reading the AJC who reported on Georgia studentsí end-of-course exams.

DeKalb county has the worst scores in the entire metro Atlanta area with over 66 percent failing the Algebra end-of-course exam. Shocking, hardly.