While you’re there, ask THEM what you should do on the way back when it’ll be too late to go there.
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I hate to act like a tourist. I am not visiting Chicago, Chicago is benefitting from my presence.
I make a point of thanking them for being open and for making such great coffee. They are always very nice people.
In fact, I probably have a more in-depth knowledge of what is available in the area than they do. I spend the weeks before my trip studying positive and negative changes. That is how I found out Foxtrot went out of business.
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Spent the morning cleaning my mother’s refrigerator. Three garbage bags.
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Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died Tuesday morning after a struggle with a sudden, fast-spreading infection.
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That’s two, Dean and John Barnett.
Whistleblowers claim they’ve received death threats.
I’m not one for conspiracy theories. Maybe this is all an unfortunate series of coincidences. But it’s not impossible, like the Flat Earth and faked Moon landing garbage. Corrupt organizations have done worse things (e.g, mafia, Republican party, and so on).
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I now engaged in my dreaded stop-over in Chicago, Dead City.
Using Google Maps, I found a Panera Bread that would be open until 10pm. It was located in a mall, far but not too far to the south. I have never been to Panera Bread, but there is a first time for everything. I exited Union Station and looked down South Canal Street. It was too far to walk with a suitcase.
I have been forced to drink Starbuck’s “Coffee.” The people who work there clearly love their jobs.
I have found where the entire population of Chicago sought refuge on this Friday evening. They are all crowded into the Great Hall, having a celebration called “Get Drunk and Make Lots of Noise.”
My train leaves in three hours. I will have to have an Amtrak sandwich. Or should I go for the microwaved cheeseburger?
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You could walk a few blocks west to Greektown and/or the West Randolph restaurant corridor.
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By the way, I wasn’t making this up.
I cannot describe the noise produced by thousands of people in a large, arched space. It was like Satan invented a turbojet.
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Probably good. But it’s as far away as the Southgate Market. Most things along there seem to be bars or full restaurants.
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This week my manager told me she was leaving to take a job closer to where she grew up. Whoever they hire to replace her will probably not be as good as she. So it might be time to update my resume.
There was a hiring boom in 2017. That’s when I joined along with three others. For three years there were seven of us and we were a high-functioning group. Then came the pandemic. Since then everyone else has either quit or been fired. I will be the last one of that group left. People they have hired since the pandemic have been marginal.
For the past year it has been she and I. The only two people in our department who knew what we were doing. I wouldn’t say we were friends, but our working relationship was thus: She went out or her way to make my job easier, and I went out of my way to make her job easier.
I had some time today to work on a long-term project. It involves searching for the best picture available of specific properties and buildings, and then idealizing them for CMYK reproduction. One of my skills. I have been working on it between more pressing projects for the past four months. A wave of despair flooded over me when I realized that by time I finished it, there would be no one in the company who would notice or care.
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I just volunteered to be a lead on two projects at work. I’ve never been the lead before. But I do have interest in one, and no one else was volunteering. The other, I don’t really want to do, but I’m the one who has the knowledge to do it, so I got voluntold.
Crossing my fingers and hoping I can at least do them both justice. This might be a step up. If I can manage them well enough. But that’s something I’ve never done before.
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Update
Today was her last day. She was willing to work for another week, but the company forced her out today so they wouldn’t have to pay her health insurance for June. She has some kind of chronic condition — none of business what — so she has above average insurance costs.
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I never thought I’d be one of those dads that freaks out over the thermostat. But for the last month I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s always so cold in here. I keep setting the air conditioner to not turn on until it hits 75°. Which is still quite cool.
But every night I go outside (where it’s still getting down to the 40s at night) and walk back in to a cold blast of air from the vents that makes me shiver. I’m wearing three layers and feeling chilly, my fingers are numb. It’s June now. And the thermostat keeps switching itself to cool, even though it was way below the limit. Or so I thought. I thought I was going to have to replace the thermostat because it’s obviously broken.
Turns out it’s my daughter. Every night, I switch it up to mid-70s (a cool but comfortable level), and then she comes in and switches it way down again.
Tonight she tried to confront me about fixing it and switch it back. Told me I could use a space heater if it was cold. I told her I shouldn’t have to wear 3 layers of clothes and gloves inside the house and run a space heater in June and if she wants to live in a refrigerator she can just buy one and do that.
My wife, ever the exhausted and annoyed voice of reason suggested we set at at 73°. Which we agreed to. It never gets that warm in here, so at least it’s a step up.
It feels kinda funny, because now I’ve become that stereotypical “Don’t touch the thermostat! Do you wanna pay the bills?” dad.
But seriously, what is wrong with this kid that she enjoys hypothermia and frostbite and actually thinks using a space heater during summer to get a room up into the 70s is a reasonable solution?!
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I tend to run hot. I might not be happy with the thermostat set to 75, although it’s going to depend a lot on humidity, airflow, and activity. A good fan can make a huge difference for me.
Supposedly the temperature range for best sleep quality is 60 to 67. I’ve also seen 72 as a cutoff point above which sleep quality degrades a lot. The thing is, if it’s too cold you can pull up a blanket and get cozy; if it’s too warm, you’re screwed.
Personal comfort varies a lot though. My dad used to make fun of his dad for wearing sweaters most of the year in Florida and only turning off the heater when it went above 85. But then he started on thyroid meds a couple of years ago, and you’ll find him in a sweatshirt and knit cap almost all of the time.
Temps can have a lot of variance throughout a house too. The corner where my computer is runs about 5-6 degrees warmer than in the hallway where the thermostat is, but the living room tends to run a bit cooler than the hallway year round. Some areas follow the season more (especially the upstairs bathroom, which is built into a roof gable and has no HVAC) and some follow the heat/AC more.
Our compromise is generally 72 for the AC, 69 for the heater. And several fans.
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You should remind her that central air is the most intensive use of household electricity. Thus air conditioning makes the world hotter. Perhaps install a ceiling fan in her room?
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