Chicago, let me tell you about it
 

My car broke down and cost $650, after getting towed twice. The hostel is under construction and is dirty, stained and moldy, the interactive fountains are not working, the parking situation is far from ideal and basically it's stinky and full of panhandlers.

PZ sounds lovely on the phone, though.

oh, and it's unbelievably hot in the allegedly air-conditioned hostel. something is whirring, but it ain't cooling the room. I just showered and already sweat is pouring off me.

UGH! It sounds beastly! Hope the day improves as we go along, monster!

argh I just typed a long post in thr dark (I can't touch-type) and it disappeared. Left the room at 7am, just got back (11:15pm) to find that not only was it as hot as all Hell, but it stinks of stale piss. One of the girls must have wet the bed last night, Hebe and I think it's the girl below her, her mom (the other chaperone} I think knows it's her and plans to deal discretely tomorrow.

Today was a crazy schedule day that made my hockey/soccer/swim mom life look sane. cemetary, history museum, lincoln monument, water tower, field museum, art museum, boat tour, Navy Pier.

And the common area we are supposed to have is all torn up and off limits. they apologized and said one day when we arrived, but it's still torn up

Chicago Chicago
Is my kind of town.

Hey, what's that smell?

Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Is my kind of town.

:lol:

Do the lifts work at least?

I heard that you press a bell and a moment later
up you go in an elevator
just as fast as a polecat
a-climbing a tree

???

Did they, in fact, lift you up where you belonged?

(Sorry, high adrenaline today...gearing up for busy busy busy.)

Monster - you might've been better off to stay someplace in the burbs and take the train or cta into the city as needed. The downtown hotels tend to be either expensive or old (in our experience).

Any chance of hitting the Museum of Science and Industry?

I loved the coal mine and the U-505 is one of my favoritest things ever.

Oooh, I so wanna see that!

If you get the chance, come around Christmas time. They have a Christmas Trees from Around the World display that I thought was really cool. It was temporary, but we also liked the Titanic exhibit that was there the last time we went. They had stuff that had been brought up on display.

We're in a hostel, not a hotel.

Normally I love Chicago, but this has not been the best visit, and the behaviour of my night group has been horrendous tonight. My day group are cool, though -checked out Chinatown today (after Frank Lloyd Wright house and temple, Hull House and the conservatory.....) and then finished at Millenium park.

No, mostly the lifts do not work -the construction people have them jammed.

On the plus side, I think I got the toom temp fixed -ther fan is blowing slightly cooler air as I type

I'm sure I'll have no problem shoehorning another museum in there, wolf :lol:

97 in our area today. No breeze. Fuck you Al Gore!

25 degrees in here. 77.
With the window open and the fan on.
No, my precious skin is not going to say hello to the sun today.

Well, not until at least 17.00 anyway.
The 'rents will be back by then and reading a book in the garden will probably be a good idea.

The Christmas Trees sound very cool.

I saw the Titanic Exhibit. Twice, I think. Once in Baltimore, and darn, I forget where I saw it the second time ... possibly also Baltimore, or maybe at the Franklin Institute.

Actually slept for the first time last night! for a few hours! i;m home, the kids are STILL on the train (deraillment).

Just as a final flourish, the stupid teacher packet the tickets in with the food we were transporting by car. Just as we hit the Indiana Tollroll, the y rang. We turned rouns at the toll booth (paid another toll) headed back, they rang again to say they were getting reticketed for $70 great, turned round agaian paid another told ....hold on, not sure we're ok..... in the shoulder with the flashers on waiting...... OK we're good......

(although they didn't get on the train for another couple of hours and they're still two hours away)

You'd think this is the first time they'd done the trip, but no, it's happened every other year for maybe 12 years (6 trips)

I'm already into the beer -beest will be heading out to the train station.

The botanical gardens are wonderful. Everyone should go. And the Jane Addams Hull house and accompanying story is inspiring.

Beest is happy -I brough leftovers from chinatown to feed 10 :)

Beer and Chinese food can make anything better :)

PZ, we walked past your office this morning and I waved, even though you weren't there! :lol: Sorry we couldn't manage a meet.

Kids still not home, at this rate I will be in bed before Hebe gets home..... We all left the hostel around 11am (Chi-time), it's now nearly 7:30 pm (AA-time = 6:30 Chi-time). I hope the teachers are buying them some dinner! Although i think they're all asleep -Hebe is not answering her phone....

They just got back. Only 3.5 hours late on a 5 hour journey.

And I as well. Maybe next time.

I don't know how you manage to run on fumes the way you do. I hope you get a chance to catch up on sleep now.

Not yet -9am soccer game, high school orientation, 11:30 soccer game, 2;00 busking downtown then swam 100 lengths today. Now watching Stanley Cup :)

Tomorrow: Swim meet, soccer game, Pot luck dinner thingie..... but I might theoretically be able to sleep in (never works -I seem to wake at 5 regardless.....)

You're fucking insane.


I mean that in the nicest possible way.

no soccer -swim meet ran way too late. But I did swim a half mile tonight (44 lengths). despite being very very sick with a stupid cough

Spoke to one of the teachers at the 4th grade soccer game yesterday (she has 4th-grade twins). I had found her unusually unsympathetic on the trip. Turns out she had no idea who my night group was and is now (a) utterly sympathic and almost apologetic and (b) mad as all hell with the teacher who did the groups, and suggests he thought I might be the only chaperone able to handle them. Sorta flattering, in a backhanded way, but no fair! You got a group of 4 bitchy princesses who make eveyone's lives miserable... you at least split them up into two pairs...... and I had another "troubled" kid on top of them....