Happy 2011!

Cutter's Log - Stardate 1102.10.10
Current Song - Deacon Blues (Steely Dan)

I knew I was going to do something for New Year's Eve. I didn't know exactly what. So I let the surroundings guide me around.

My grandparents thought it was a good idea to take the Metra from Elburn into Chicago. Turned out to be a fiscally good idea. Last year when I was in Chicago for Christmas Shopping, I parked at a parking garage. Between walking all over the towers and crossing the river 10 times, the parking bill was something like $29 or so.

Park in Elburn for only $1.25, go to Chicago for $6.50 and go back for another $6.50. Or, if it is the weekend, buy a Weekend Pass for $7 (I think, I made the mistake of buying two one-ways instead).

The trainride itself wasn't as enjoyable as I thought. Let me explain - all I do when I'm traveling and not driving is looking at the scenery. The windows are green-tilted and you couldn't really see out of them. Plus, it was dark out by the time I boarded the train.

What I did see were a lot of nice downtowns in the suburbs. Everyone thinks the suburbs are full of manufactured houses that look alike, divided highways with trees in the middle, and complex after complex of national chain stores. Just go into the heart of these towns and you'll find some good things. They do a good job in keeping their mom-and-pop stores open (compared to Sterling, where they may not last two years). Geneva, West Chicago, Winfield, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Villa Park and Elmhurst. After that it gets dry. Perhaps one year it will be worth just getting a weekend pass and do shopping at these places. I remember one year being in Glen Ellyn for some Illinois HS Glory Days research on a high school, and the building was in a downtown bank building.

Half of our riders were college kids from Wheaton, that's when the most departures and arrivals occured.

I got into Chicago by maybe 8:00. So I thought I would just walk around and see what's happening. I was probably walking in the wrong part of downtown. Note to self - the Loop is full of work buildings. So after walking along Wacker Drive I got to Wacker and Michigan. I don't think I've photographed any other intersection more than this one.

It occured to me then that I wondered what my sister Diana was up to. She lives in one of the Loop apartments. I called her, and she was spending some time with her boyfriend that night. Still, it was nice to talk with her.

I wanted to go ring things in at the Original Billy Goat Tavern. I had been there a couple of times. It's a haven for newswriters, due to the Tribune Tower being almost just above it and the old Sun-Times building a couple of blocks away. For some reason it closed early and I was forced to change plans.

There was this restaurant on Wacker called Houlihan's, and I got there around 11:15. So I ate dinner there (good food) and ate as slow as I could while watching Chicago's televised version of the countdown. Around 11:40 or so the main TV turned to the Carson Daly countdown. I was wondering what was up with that, because that happened an hour ago (New York is in the Eastern time zone, and Chicago in the Central time zone).

This young couple from New York was sitting at the bar. There were only six of us left by 11:54. So they invited us all to the bar area. I had just finished by chicken strip dinner and took my refill of pop with me. At 11:56 the TV was put back on WLS. The New York couple was complaining. So I had to inform them about the fact that they are in Chicago and the time zone thing and such. The place was open for a few more minutes while I chinked my glass with the others.

It was a quiet walk back to the Metra station, compared to the hustle beforehand. I had four or five young couples ask me how to get to Navy Pier. From where I was standing at these times, it was hard for me to figure it out. I knew how to drive there using the bi-leveled streets, but walking there is another story.

The train ride gradually got quiet. I was the only one left in my car by the time Elburn came up. I was tired, and drove to the BP in Elburn for a drink. The clerk there had a problem with a young couple and felt bad about it because there were two young men and myself behind them. The clerk, an Indian, kept apologizing and all that. Pretty soon we were talking about gas station work because somehow I said "I also work at a gas station."

Whether the Dr. Pepper kept me awake is hard to tell. I drove down 88 to the DeKalb Oasis and decided to get some more pop. I don't know if it was me, or the ground, but I wound up driving over a large median. When I drove back, I saw signs for the East part of the Tollway and none for the West part of it. So I felt stupid having driven over the same median to get back to the correct part of the Oasis.

I got home safely and took a big nap. Maybe it was all the walking I did, which I don't mind a bit.