Chicago MMXII

Its been a long time since I've flown out of O'Hare, but from what I can remember I would agree. I have to fly out of Midway for work all the time, so I'm growing used to it.

I got to use the priority boarding screening line! Kind of feel bad for the hundreds who had to wait in the regular one.

Btw I couldn't sleep last night and drank all the whiskey in my minibar. Yeeeeah.

Where did you stay?

IDK about food options. At O'Hare I know Chili's and at Midway there is some burger and beer place (Halsted Grill?) near the Southwest concourse.

I have a sunburn that is brighter than the actual sun.

Ohare has the bayless place. Midway will too eventually.

Midway has a Potbelly. Case closed?

Au contraire

I spent several hours in the Irish Pub in Midway right before xmas, and it was actually rather pleasant.

Airports are the best.

I took some time out of my busy weekend to talk to Jeff about how much I hate Potbelly.

o rly?

Airports are horrible! They are only tolerable to pass through.

This Toronto downtown one is kind of cool, though. On an island and free snacks

My feelings about Potbelly are well documented here.

There's some filming going on in the Loop for something called "Boss" (with Kelsey Grammar, the bystander I asked helpfully informed me). Also I saw two people with full-on punk rock Mohawk hairstyles today whilst at lunch.

i don't like potbelly because their veggie sandwiches are heavily mushroom-based but they have a new "mediterranean" sandwich that intrigues me (hummus, artichokes, other veggies)

a) I also like airports. Traveling by air can often be a pain in the ass, but I generally find airports to be pleasant and comfortable places to wait. Pick up a cup of coffee and a newspaper and relax for a while.

b) I'm also intrigued by the Mediterranean sandwich at Potbelly. I don't have a problem with mushrooms, but their veggie sandwich is nothing more than mushrooms and cheese. Kind of boring.

(I mean, I know you can get tomatoes and lettuce and onions and whatnot on it, but still.)

(Also, the last time I flew out of O'Hare, I had a great salad from the Frontera outpost.)

Airports are probably fine but I associate them so firmly with stress/frustration/physical discomfort/flying somewhere I don't want to go, that I hate them by proxy.

otm

if i wasn't actually going anywhere it would probably be fun to sit around an airport and people-watch

I like going places and airports are a necessary part of that. I usually don't have too much trouble dealing with them. But I get no pleasure from them either.

They are non-places when a third-place atmosphere is sometimes necessary IMO. Need more napping lounges and places conducive to socializing.

I dunno, you load up enough podcasts, pack along an old magazine you're halfway through, crack open a new book, splurge on a New York Times at Hudson News, tear out a Ben Tausig crossword puzzle, get some coffee and a pastry, listen to some music, you don't have anywhere to be but right there, no responsibilities, on a leather chair in a clean environment: that's nice.

I'm mostly talking about hanging out in O'Hare en route to somewhere else. On the return trip, I tend to be tired and just want to be home already. And the wait is usually accompanied by a pleasant anticipation, since I pretty much exclusively fly for my own pleasure -- i.e., never for work or out of familial obligation.

http://www.transitchicago.com/alerts/#aRailAlerts

Red, Brown, and Purple lines are all currently suspended due to a fire or some shit. Yay.

ugh

I know right

guess i'll be taking the bus home

I'm hoping it's all cleared up by 5:30, including residual delays and accompanying nuttiness.

what if someone is currently aboard the red line?!

my mr is trapped :(

Oh that sucks.

I'm in a cab. Suck it public transit, cars forever.

^ this is why people hate the 1%

Jeff is the 1%

Jeff is short for Mitt Jeffney

Is the mr. stuck between stations, A? I hope he at least has a seat.

fire is apparently at roy's furniture on sheffield

i just texted -- he's on a bus! phew.

Yay!

Oh shit, not Roy's!

haha that sounds ridiculous but I like that store. They had decent furniture for cheap and they delivered it and set it up for you. It's where we got our bed and our dresser and one of our chairs.

I had been at work since 6:30, so I didn't want to be enraged by a train delay.

Also, why does a fire at Roy's furniture on Sheffield necessitate suspending trains? It's not near a train station.

I guess it's near the tracks. Okay. I suppose you don't want trains running through billowing furniture store smoke.

Wow, we just got an email about this at work. I can't remember ever having gotten a similar notice. I'm probably not leaving for another couple hours, so hopefully everything will be OK by then.

yes the sun-times story said roy's was "engulfed" so i guess a pretty big fire?

what a weird word

It's a lot of smoke - http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8680800

LL, please give your K8ie my condolences about Roy's. I know she was a fan, too (she is the one who told me to shop there). I had been meaning to go there to look for a kitchen table.

Oh, weird. Ok.

Lots of smoke at Lincoln/Fullerton.

apparently the metra to ravenswood isn't running either due to a fatality?!?!

End times!!!

All the news sites are telling people to take the 35/22, which was my first alternate, but that's going to be complete chaos so I need to find a more creative solution to this problem.