Chicago Trip
I made a Chicago trip over the weekend Sara. We drove up to Waukegan to visit Mike, his friend Jason, and Jason's son Luke.
Sara and I had planned this trip for weeks. But I wasn't thinking about it all that much because whenever I plan a trip or look forward to it, what happens? It falls through. Case in point, my planned trip to visit Mike Scimeca on June 6th for his installation as Worshipful High Master at his lodge.
That failed spectaaacularly. I had already planned to attend a wedding with Sara. But she hadn't told me the date in forever, so I forgot. And I booked Mike. Then I had to retreat from Mike, because missing the wedding would be a calculated disaster. We go to the Nuermberger's house every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. So I told Mike I had to go to this wedding with Sara. I had to go. And he was not happy about that.
Happily, Mike forgave me. They ran out of food at his installation. So it was that I saw him at Pride Fest. Then he suggested Sara and I make a trip out for a White Sox game or a trip to the Shedd Aquarium. The White Sox game didn't work out, so we went to the Shedd.
What an adventurous weekend.
I had to come from Knoxville on Saturday to Moline, where I picked up Sara. I hoped to get to her place by 8. That turned into 8:45. We hit the road at nine. Road construction constricted traffic to one lane between That meant we got to DeKalb by eleven. Thankfully, we had a Subway that serves breakfast all day long. I was able to get one of those bacon, egg, and cheese flatbreads.
We finally arrived in Waukegan at like 1:39, well after I said I would get there. Sara and I greeted Mike, Jason, and Jason's 12-year-old son Luke.
We piled into Mike's car, and he proceeded to drive us directly to Chicago.
I was expecting us to take the Metrarail. If I had known he was intending to drive us, I would have said something. I have always been deeply stressed by driving in downtown Chicago. It is so badly congested. So I didn't realize what we were doing until he was getting onto 294.
Getting to the Shedd was interesting. If it hadn't been for Sara's excellent navigation allowed us to find the parking facility for the museum campus and Soldier Field. We'd been going in circles from 94 to 55 to Michigan Avenue. We would have ended up on the Dan Ryan if Sara hadn't indicated for him to turn.
We had a great visit to the Shedd Aquarium.I liked the big long gray fish whose name I can't pronounce. I just did a google search, and Arapaima looks like the name of it. I remember seeing a fairly decent fish with big eyes on the side of its head swimming in front of the glass, then a larger fish come out from the crevaces, and then a yet larger fish behind the panes of glass the further down I went in the Amazon exhibit. I think that one was the Arapaima. I liked the fish that were lined up just swimming still, staring at us. There was this type of eel fish, that, well, looked like it was mating with this other eel-like fish, because they had huge pie-eating grins on their face. Seahorses were in a couple of the tanks as well. Visiting the museum with Sara turned out to be highly entertaining. She made all kinds of interesting observations about every fish that we came across.
As always, a highlight of the visit is the Caribbean Reef, that giant tank at the center of the building, the one that has the sting rays, hammerhead sharks, and the giant fish that kind of just sit still because there's not really very much space for them to swim around. We did see one fish chase another. This one fish was a very interesting shade of pink and seemed to come right up to me.
Sara suggested that the fish become bored. Maybe some of them do. To me, though, I think some of the fish have taken the Shedd to be their home. It is a safehaven. They won't be attacked by other predators in the ocean. And there's always an adventure at every moment. Every day, something happens with those fish at the Shedd. Animals are unpredictable.
And people are unpredictable. Really, the planet is just one giant Shedd Aquarium and we're in the fish bowl. For example, when we were driving home, we got back ended on Congress heading westbound, a couple of blocks west of Michigan Avenue. Oh, did Mike explode at the guy when he climbed out of his car. Mike lit into him. He explained the sun was in his eyes. Actually, I can see why Mike was so upset. But it did draw a bit of a crowd. I saw people on the streetcorner stop what they were doing. I am hoping Mike didn't end up on the internet, this day in age. It was his fifteen minutes of fame, I suppose. Imagine it ending up on TMZ. "Mike Scimeca was just in a traffic accident on Congress in downtown Chicago. We have got video of him cursing out the driver behind him."
Then Mike told him to just leave. It could have been a lot worse actually. All I had out of the evening was some whiplash and a little bit of a headache. Sara had back pain. Mike's Corolla has some paint chipped around the dent in his rear bumper. Not even really a dent. I didn't see much aesthetic damage at all. The only thing he needs to worry about, really, is the possibility of some rust, like Jason said, when winter weather kicks in.
Mike was so stressed that he got an Amaretto Sour at the Silo in Lake Bluff later that evening. I was stressed enough that I had a pint of Blue Moon myself. With the orange slice. We watched College Football while Sara and I had ham and pineapple pizza. We got barn chips but those went fast. We saw Oregon playing Michigan State. We saw that the Hawkeyes beat Iowa State. Arkansas played Toledo. And the Cubs lost to the Phillies. But they have a magic number of 12 or 13 wins before they can clinch their playoff spot. Doable.
They could even beat the Pirates to face the Cardinals in the NLDS.
I played Trivia Crack. Sara and Mike helped.
I also played Words With Friends. Sara and Mike helped me get some high-scoring words in that as well. A thirty point word put me within fifty points of Eric Field.
At home, I moved my car and crashed. Woke up at 6:30, showered, and went with Mike to his two church services. One was at the Methodist Church in downtown Waukegan. A very nice sermon about the ap reminding you to drink water, a metaphor for us to remember to tend to our faith lives.
The second one, at Living Faith Methodist on McAree in Waukegan, led to a different sermon from Pastor Megan Dean. She talked about the need for rest. Prayer as rest. Taking care of your body. Well, it's true that going to church over this summer was in a sense getting rest from work at Arc, working on Mary Poppins, or ridding the house of all items for the still pending fumigation.
I have barely prayed at all this summer. That is an opportunity to decompress the body into rest.
We had lunch at Red Robin in Gurnee. We got to see some of the game between the Bears and the Packers. The Bears were leading the Packers 10-3 at the end of our meal. I had the classic cheeseburger.
Mike and I helped Sara practice her lines for her upcoming role in "Murder on the Rerun" at Richmond Hill Theatre. As I had always used ice cream to help me to remember my lines for "I Take This Man" in 2013, I suggested we make a trip to Baskin Robbins. I tried their baseball flavor, the one with the vanilla with raspberry ribbon and peanuts.
The trip home was brisk. Dicey in the suburbs. I was extra nervous after our minor fender bender. Once we got off of 294 and onto 88, I was in much better shape.
DeKalb stop for root beer and licorice. Rock Falls stop for my lunch today. Turkey Sandwich, Kitchen Cooked Chips and an Arizona Strawberry and Kiwi drink.
Dropped Sara off at about 9:10. Went from Moline to Bettendorf to return the DVD of "Playing it Cool." Wound up renting "Safe House" and a couple of episodes of "Blind Date," which I used to watch on basic cable when I had insomnia in the mid 2000's.
Got almost 45 minutes into Safe House. It is reminiscent of The Bourne Identity. I like spy action thrillers with a rogue agent and CIA analysts scrambling to control him from Langley with car chases going on in exotic locations. Denzel Washington is so great. Why have I not gone to the trouble to see him in more movies? Glory. Malcolm X. Remember the Titans. Much Ado About Nothing. The Great Debaters. Unstoppable. Those are the only ones I think I've seen from beginning to end. Still need to rent Flight and finish that one. Watched parts of Ricochet, The Preacher's Wife, The Taking of Pelham 123, Fallen, and American Gangster. By way of HBO or Basic Cable.
Sara and I had planned this trip for weeks. But I wasn't thinking about it all that much because whenever I plan a trip or look forward to it, what happens? It falls through. Case in point, my planned trip to visit Mike Scimeca on June 6th for his installation as Worshipful High Master at his lodge.
That failed spectaaacularly. I had already planned to attend a wedding with Sara. But she hadn't told me the date in forever, so I forgot. And I booked Mike. Then I had to retreat from Mike, because missing the wedding would be a calculated disaster. We go to the Nuermberger's house every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. So I told Mike I had to go to this wedding with Sara. I had to go. And he was not happy about that.
Happily, Mike forgave me. They ran out of food at his installation. So it was that I saw him at Pride Fest. Then he suggested Sara and I make a trip out for a White Sox game or a trip to the Shedd Aquarium. The White Sox game didn't work out, so we went to the Shedd.
What an adventurous weekend.
I had to come from Knoxville on Saturday to Moline, where I picked up Sara. I hoped to get to her place by 8. That turned into 8:45. We hit the road at nine. Road construction constricted traffic to one lane between That meant we got to DeKalb by eleven. Thankfully, we had a Subway that serves breakfast all day long. I was able to get one of those bacon, egg, and cheese flatbreads.
We finally arrived in Waukegan at like 1:39, well after I said I would get there. Sara and I greeted Mike, Jason, and Jason's 12-year-old son Luke.
We piled into Mike's car, and he proceeded to drive us directly to Chicago.
I was expecting us to take the Metrarail. If I had known he was intending to drive us, I would have said something. I have always been deeply stressed by driving in downtown Chicago. It is so badly congested. So I didn't realize what we were doing until he was getting onto 294.
Getting to the Shedd was interesting. If it hadn't been for Sara's excellent navigation allowed us to find the parking facility for the museum campus and Soldier Field. We'd been going in circles from 94 to 55 to Michigan Avenue. We would have ended up on the Dan Ryan if Sara hadn't indicated for him to turn.
We had a great visit to the Shedd Aquarium.I liked the big long gray fish whose name I can't pronounce. I just did a google search, and Arapaima looks like the name of it. I remember seeing a fairly decent fish with big eyes on the side of its head swimming in front of the glass, then a larger fish come out from the crevaces, and then a yet larger fish behind the panes of glass the further down I went in the Amazon exhibit. I think that one was the Arapaima. I liked the fish that were lined up just swimming still, staring at us. There was this type of eel fish, that, well, looked like it was mating with this other eel-like fish, because they had huge pie-eating grins on their face. Seahorses were in a couple of the tanks as well. Visiting the museum with Sara turned out to be highly entertaining. She made all kinds of interesting observations about every fish that we came across.
As always, a highlight of the visit is the Caribbean Reef, that giant tank at the center of the building, the one that has the sting rays, hammerhead sharks, and the giant fish that kind of just sit still because there's not really very much space for them to swim around. We did see one fish chase another. This one fish was a very interesting shade of pink and seemed to come right up to me.
Sara suggested that the fish become bored. Maybe some of them do. To me, though, I think some of the fish have taken the Shedd to be their home. It is a safehaven. They won't be attacked by other predators in the ocean. And there's always an adventure at every moment. Every day, something happens with those fish at the Shedd. Animals are unpredictable.
And people are unpredictable. Really, the planet is just one giant Shedd Aquarium and we're in the fish bowl. For example, when we were driving home, we got back ended on Congress heading westbound, a couple of blocks west of Michigan Avenue. Oh, did Mike explode at the guy when he climbed out of his car. Mike lit into him. He explained the sun was in his eyes. Actually, I can see why Mike was so upset. But it did draw a bit of a crowd. I saw people on the streetcorner stop what they were doing. I am hoping Mike didn't end up on the internet, this day in age. It was his fifteen minutes of fame, I suppose. Imagine it ending up on TMZ. "Mike Scimeca was just in a traffic accident on Congress in downtown Chicago. We have got video of him cursing out the driver behind him."
Then Mike told him to just leave. It could have been a lot worse actually. All I had out of the evening was some whiplash and a little bit of a headache. Sara had back pain. Mike's Corolla has some paint chipped around the dent in his rear bumper. Not even really a dent. I didn't see much aesthetic damage at all. The only thing he needs to worry about, really, is the possibility of some rust, like Jason said, when winter weather kicks in.
Mike was so stressed that he got an Amaretto Sour at the Silo in Lake Bluff later that evening. I was stressed enough that I had a pint of Blue Moon myself. With the orange slice. We watched College Football while Sara and I had ham and pineapple pizza. We got barn chips but those went fast. We saw Oregon playing Michigan State. We saw that the Hawkeyes beat Iowa State. Arkansas played Toledo. And the Cubs lost to the Phillies. But they have a magic number of 12 or 13 wins before they can clinch their playoff spot. Doable.
They could even beat the Pirates to face the Cardinals in the NLDS.
I played Trivia Crack. Sara and Mike helped.
I also played Words With Friends. Sara and Mike helped me get some high-scoring words in that as well. A thirty point word put me within fifty points of Eric Field.
At home, I moved my car and crashed. Woke up at 6:30, showered, and went with Mike to his two church services. One was at the Methodist Church in downtown Waukegan. A very nice sermon about the ap reminding you to drink water, a metaphor for us to remember to tend to our faith lives.
The second one, at Living Faith Methodist on McAree in Waukegan, led to a different sermon from Pastor Megan Dean. She talked about the need for rest. Prayer as rest. Taking care of your body. Well, it's true that going to church over this summer was in a sense getting rest from work at Arc, working on Mary Poppins, or ridding the house of all items for the still pending fumigation.
I have barely prayed at all this summer. That is an opportunity to decompress the body into rest.
We had lunch at Red Robin in Gurnee. We got to see some of the game between the Bears and the Packers. The Bears were leading the Packers 10-3 at the end of our meal. I had the classic cheeseburger.
Mike and I helped Sara practice her lines for her upcoming role in "Murder on the Rerun" at Richmond Hill Theatre. As I had always used ice cream to help me to remember my lines for "I Take This Man" in 2013, I suggested we make a trip to Baskin Robbins. I tried their baseball flavor, the one with the vanilla with raspberry ribbon and peanuts.
The trip home was brisk. Dicey in the suburbs. I was extra nervous after our minor fender bender. Once we got off of 294 and onto 88, I was in much better shape.
DeKalb stop for root beer and licorice. Rock Falls stop for my lunch today. Turkey Sandwich, Kitchen Cooked Chips and an Arizona Strawberry and Kiwi drink.
Dropped Sara off at about 9:10. Went from Moline to Bettendorf to return the DVD of "Playing it Cool." Wound up renting "Safe House" and a couple of episodes of "Blind Date," which I used to watch on basic cable when I had insomnia in the mid 2000's.
Got almost 45 minutes into Safe House. It is reminiscent of The Bourne Identity. I like spy action thrillers with a rogue agent and CIA analysts scrambling to control him from Langley with car chases going on in exotic locations. Denzel Washington is so great. Why have I not gone to the trouble to see him in more movies? Glory. Malcolm X. Remember the Titans. Much Ado About Nothing. The Great Debaters. Unstoppable. Those are the only ones I think I've seen from beginning to end. Still need to rent Flight and finish that one. Watched parts of Ricochet, The Preacher's Wife, The Taking of Pelham 123, Fallen, and American Gangster. By way of HBO or Basic Cable.