Comments from Chicago

Just a couple of thoughts from last week's trip...

1. Gina & Dave, thank you so much for opening your house up to us. I had a lot of fun; it was great to see you two & Jenni and Jeff. I may have to buy that bowling game :-).

2. Jenni & Jeff, thank you so much for coming up! It means a lot to me that you made the trek. Jeff, congrats on winning Settlers! Hopefully, we'll get to see each other again soon!

3. Most of you know I'm no fan of suburbs--I'd much rather be in the city. But I do like how Chicago's suburbs are setup. They really compliment the city; they have unique things you don't find in Chicago or other suburbs, such as forest preserves & unique restaurants. As I once heard it put, suburbs in the Northeast "have no soul;" Chicago's at least have some. But I'd still rather be in the city.

4. The hotel I stayed in, the Renaissance Schaumburg, was easily the most technologically advanced hotel I've stayed in. The HD TVs were AWESOME! You haven't lived until you've seen sewage on Discovery's HD Theatre channel :-). But the same channel also had "Sunrise Earth" each morning where they'd spend an hour or two just showing sunrises...amazing. Almost enough to make me go out and buy an HD TV right now. They also had TVs in the bathroom mirror(!) and the fitness machines in the gym. You could also hook up your laptop to display to the TV monitor.

5. Speaking of the hotel, when the clerk checked me in, she saw my # of nights this year and asked, "Do you have a home?" :-)

6. The teaching went well, though I was feeling a bit claustrophobic by the end. It was at a Department of Defense contractor, and as such, Zach (fellow trainer) & I had to be escorted at all times when we were in the building, including to the bathroom. It really does wear on me after a while--I do like having some alone time during the day.

7. Zach & I went into Chicago one night; it's difficult getting there during rush hour! The "reverse commute" concept doesn't seem to apply--traffic's heavy both ways during rush hour. We ended up driving to a far-our stop on the Blue Line and took that in; about 90 minutes in, 60 out. We probably could have saved some time by taking Metra (Chicago's commuter rail), but Zach wanted the real experience on the El. We went up the Sears Tower & then had dinner back at ground level. It was my third time up the Sears Tower, and it never gets old--Chicago has amazing architecture; I love the view when flying in from Lake Michigan.

8. If you like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's in Schaumburg. If you don't like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you've never had Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you're vegetarian...well, I won't go that far. But it was GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDD.

Alright, enough rambling. Later!