south of the loop

Taken yesterday in Millennium Park:

Taken today in Millennium Park:

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current book: Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. Yes, seriously. I’m prepping for this.

current music: Am possibly going to Tift Merritt and/or Kathleen Edwards next weekend.

current socks: I busted out all the good Easter socks last week, including the ones with the chocolate bunnies with their ears eaten off. Right now, though, back to the stripey SmartWools, which are necessary to keep my feet warm. You can’t tell from the picture above, but it was actually snowing outside my 23rd-floor window. By the time it hit the ground, it was more of a wintry mix. Everybody’s favorite.

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It is 8F with a wind chill of -11F. The forecast calls for highs in the teens until Thursday, when it will climb to a whopping 26 degrees. And then it will snow. Again.

These are the forecasts that make me hate my life and swear I’ll never live another winter here. I’ve lived in cold climates for about 10 years now, and it never gets easier. Or warmer. Some people are all about outdoor winter sports (I actually know somebody in Wisconsin who belongs to a curling team), or view bitterly cold temperatures as “character building,” or claim to prefer cold weather to hot.

What are your secrets for getting through winter? I already have a down comforter, two cats, and the urge to hibernate.

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current book: On the bus tomorrow, I will be starting The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw, which I have to read and review by March 1 for Contrary Magazine. I’ll resume Kavalier & Clay at some point.

current music: So many good concerts in Chicago. So little desire to leave my apartment.

current socks: Lovely stripey SmartWools in greens, browns, and oranges.

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Still fucking snowing.

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On the Blue Line last night, I had a seat facing out. The ad above the seat in front of me introduced the new “wide-open” MRI at Saint Anthony’s Hospital—perfect, the ad told me, for those who might not be able to handle a conventional MRI. The ad ended with a bold-font command to “tell your doctor you want your MRI at Saint Anthony’s Hospital.” Um, no thank you:

With this new technology, Saint Anthony Hospital can now better serve all patients, including the very young who’s MRI experience can be a scary one, those with claustrophobia and people weighing up to 550 pounds.

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current book: About 80 pages into The Time-Traveler’s Wife.

current music: A handful of CDs my friend Ryan gave me last night. Thanks, Ryan!

current socks: Knee-high black SmartWools with gray and white polka dots. Mmmm.

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Morning:

Late afternoon:

Night (really only about 5:00pm):

Filed under: chicago, the view from my window by admin2
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Taken through my extremely dirty office window.

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I’m experimenting with my public transportation options this week, trying to find the best way of getting to and from work. This morning I walked to the seedy Wilson Red Line—12 minute walk, 35 minute El ride, 10 minute walk on the other end—which worked out fine. But I wanted to take the Metra home to see how that worked. The Metra is generally cheaper and nicer than the El; there’s only one stop between me and downtown; the ride is smooth enough that I can read without fear of motion sickness or headaches. As long as the weather is temperate, I really don’t mind the walking. It just means I can drink another beer at the end of the day (seriously—who the fuck am I?!).

I used to take the Metra to and from Hyde Park, but it is housed in an entirely different station than the northbound trains. And now I know why—the North Siders get all the good trains, the ones with the seat backs that slide so that you can always face the direction of travel, the ones with the doors that open by simply pushing a button and don’t require your entire weight be thrown against them. Do the South Siders know about this? Because there is seriously one good train on the southbound route. Most of them are holdovers from the 70s, as evidenced by their bright yellow and orange seats.

Six of the eight people near me on the Metra today were reading the Wall Street Journal (the remaining two were reading the Financial Times). Not a single Triple Crown book in sight. Weird.

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current book: Am just sitting down to write this damn Museum book review.

current music: Yeah right. I’m so freakin’ busy at work right now I don’t even have time to pull up last.fm or listen to my iPod. My boss swore to me today that it would get better.

current socks: My apartment is precisely 84.9 degrees Fahrenheit. I am wearing very little right now.

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I’ve been in my new apartment for three days now. Considering that just about everything leading up to this move went wrong, I’m just glad it’s over. I spent waaaaay more money than I’d wanted to; one bookshelf plunged to its death from the third floor balcony into the alley; the movers were an hour and a half late; the apartment wasn’t the one I thought it would be… but it’s done. The cats adjusted almost immediately, although they are a little suspicious of their new self-cleaning litterbox (not so much that they aren’t using it, thank GOD). It will take me longer to adjust: I now have access to all kinds of restaurants and cafes and public transportation options (options!!), which is a kind of muted culture shock. I have no central air, no washer/dryer, no nice kitchen, and that will all take a little time to adjust to. The windows are open all the time and the kitties loooooove the fresh air (I do too, but I do miss the a/c in the middle of the day). I’m a little nervous that they’ll rip open the screens to get at the pigeons who come to the window to taunt them, though.

I’ve gotten enough unpacked that I can live–the bathroom and bedroom are in functioning order, and the living room and kitchen are unpacked just enough–and it’s probably going to stay like this for a few more weeks, I’m afraid. Work is going to be really busy the next few weeks, and then I’ll be in Panama a week, and then I’ll be home for two weeks before I run the Chicago Marathon. I’ll resurface again sometime mid-October, perhaps…

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current book: Just a few pages left in Museum, and then I’ve got to write that book review on it… like, yesterday.

current music: My stereo system and CDs are in boxes, as is my home computer/iTunes (I’m writing on my work laptop right now).

current socks: Barefoot, which is kinda gross since my new floors realllly need to be mopped.

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I scheduled movers several weeks ago. Problem is, they didn’t schedule me. I found this out today when I called to confirm. I’m moving this Friday, by the way. They were able to offer me movers, but their trucks are booked all day.

So I started calling U-Hauls. Found a 10′ truck nearby—it’s almost certainly going to be too small, but it was all they had—and reserved it for this Friday. They require an Illinois driver’s license, which I don’t have. They’d accept my Indiana license if I had proof of being a student, but my U of C ID card was lost on the plane back from Factorytourpalooza. Called other U-Hauls, but there aren’t any trucks available.

Also, the moving company charges a helluva lot more if you don’t also reserve their truck—am working on negotiating this, since that part is obviously their fault—plus actually renting my own truck is going to cost a small fortune, since they charge a buck a mile, and I’ll be going from one end of Chicago to the other and then back again to return the truck. It will quite possibly take more than one trip, did I mention that? That the truck is too fucking small?

I had to get all of this down in writing because it seems unbelievable even to me. U-Haul will accept me as the secondary driver if I can bring somebody in with an Illinois driver’s license. My one friend who lives on the same side of town and who has an Illinois driver’s license is going to be out of town this Friday, and of course U-Haul won’t let me bring her in ahead of time to fill out the paperwork. NO OTHER U-HAUL has this stupid fucking policy, but apparently people on the South Side run off with their trucks all the time. Seriously? People steal U-Hauls? Because a) that would seem to be a highly visible and easily trackable theft, and b) you would spend bazillions of dollars in gas on the thing, although maybe they steal that too. 

I’m getting ready to call other truck rental companies, but I assume it’s going to be damn near impossible to find a truck for August 31. Does anybody have any suggestions? Negotiating strategies? Baseball bats?

Also, if you have an Illinois driver’s license and some availability around 10am this Friday, please let me know. I will make you punkin chocolate chip muffins every week for the next six months, I swear.

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