So after the (disappointing to say the least) elections, I got up on Wednesday morning and went for a walk. To Union South, where I got a bunch of cash – for traveling and because I knew I was meeting the kids for dinner in Chicago at a restaurant that only takes cash. I got checked in for my Southwest flight and got in the As for both legs of the trip. I got a latte at Aldo’s and walked home to eat some breakfast, pack and work.
Megan & I agreed that I’d drive the car to my university lot and leave it there for her to drive home – I have the valet key, and left her the regular one. The car was only there a few minutes, and it’s $4 as soon as you drive in, but that’s still way cheaper than a cab, and I had time to go to the library and pick up my holds, for more to read on the trip.
Then it was just the long bus ride to Chicago. I had to change buses in Janesville, and the first bus had wifi, but no electrical outlets; the second no wifi but newer, cleaner, and outlets. So I arrived in Chicago with a charged laptop and 3 assignments left to grade.
I took the L up to Wicker Park, red to blue. Texting with the kids constantly to coordinate – Al put his name in for a table for 3, and John was on his way on the bus. Gotta love the CTA – Al told me the Damen stop, closest to the restaurant, was closed, but no mention of that fact on Google maps, on the platform, or even in the stop announcements on the train. I had to get off at Western, and walk back. The only place it said anything about Damen being closed was the sign on the stop, that I didn’t see until I walked past it on my way to the restaurant. I got turned around off the train, and I was in a hurry, and I fell and skinned my knee. But dinner was good, Big Star, a hipster join in Wicker Park, Al’s pic for his belated birthday dinner, and it was good to see the kids. We split a queso fundido – melted cheese with sausage & chiles and corn tortillas to dip. I had a fish taco, fried fish, and a veggie taco with potatoes and corn and chiptloe rajas, and two bottles of Flywheel Bright Lager.
Al’s newest tat, on the table at Big Star. I expect he’ll have this arm a full sleeve too, in a year or two.
After dinner, John figured out how to bus east and get the subway north, but Al rode the blue line all the way to the loop with me, and he caught the red north, and I waited to get it south.
I stopped at the Jewel and bought a sixpack, and headed back to Mark’s apartment. I got in, and ordered my taxi for 4:30, showered, and opened a beer, and tried to watch a Sopranos – I drank about 1/3 of the beer, watched the first 15 minutes, and then woke up for the credits – guess I’ll have to watch that one again. I set my iPhone alarm for 3:45, and went to sleep.
The cab was prompt and cost $30 and I was at Midway before 5:00. But I had trouble pulling up my boarding passes on my phone, and I didn’t get TSA precheck, and had to go thru regular security, and the gate was way off in a corner, and I had to change planes in Houston, where my coffee choices were Peets or Duncan Donuts. First world problems. Made up for by the fact that the flight was almost empty and I got a whole row. I ate the graham snacks they gave me and a pear I brought, and mostly slept.
#firstworldproblems gate 4AB at midway – a zillion miles away & no Starbucks. Even the jetway was long
— Debra Shapiro (@DebsLunch) November 6, 2014
On the second leg of the trip, Houston to Albuquerque, I bought the $8 not-so-great wifi and finished grading. I arrived in Albuquerque, and paid for another $30 cab ride, that got me to the hotel in time for the conference opening talk. I did spend most of the day suffering from the first day of conference, hadda get up at 3:45 to get here mush brain blues. We ate dinner at Church Street Café. More on the rest of the trip, next coupla posts.
