Chicago

Made it!



I'm on the 13th floor of a building hidden by the buildings two to the left of the Hancock Center, but only a handful of blocks from Northwestern Medical and the lake. There's a nice urban expanse out the windows, but pictures of that and the put-together apartment are to come. All the boxes are unpacked and I'm starting to figure out my way around downtown at least.

My days are surprisingly filled with errands, organization, and job stuff, but I'm looking forward to have some time to explore further. Definitely the most urban living I've done, but I'm looking forward to it. Being in DC the past two and a half years has conditioned me toward short buildings, so I have a feeling I'll still be gawking like a tourist six months in.

I drove from Maine to Connecticut, seeing my uncle and grandparents for the day. Friday morning was driving to DC. Saturday morning was getting the Uhaul, loading it up, and seeing some peeps before the voyage. Sunday was starting off early to meet Jordan and Raquel in Columbus for a quick lunch, then getting up to Chicago around 8pm.

I know I've been through it before, but western Maryland is really pretty land. Lots of small farms and rolling hills. Pennsylvania was pretty boring, West Virginia is everyone's friend for 70 mph speed limits, and there's not much in Ohio before or after reaching the midpoint. Indiana was very flat and filled with corn and wind farms, but it again gets bonus points for the 70 mph speed limit.

The Grapes of Wrath free audiobook kept me company for all of my drive, and I just finished it up today. Thoroughly enjoyable. It's only the second Steinbeck book I've read (?), but I'd like to get my hands on more. The voice actor did a good job with all the different characters, even if Tom Joad came off sounding a little like John Wayne and several of the men like Sheriff Andy from True Blood.




Thankfully, the weather isn't too chilly yet, although it might be getting too late to utilize optimally the outdoor pool. Eh, who am I kidding.

Funemployment

So, I quit my job on September 1st in anticipation of moving to DC and am just wrapping up a great couple weeks of Boston and Maine. I was in Boston for Labor Day weekend, enjoying the end of New England summer. A whole slew of people were in town from various parts of the countries, so it was great to see them all in addition to DC friends now in Boston and high school friends in the area.





Really superb weather for beer gardens, walking around Somerville/Cambridge/Boston, pools,cookouts, late night ultimate/ninja.



I also ate an enormous sandwich at Dave's Fresh Pasta.



Then it was up to Maine with my parents for a solid ten days. It was rainy for a few, but then really opened up into perfect summer/fall transition weather.









I was mostly just relaxing at home, but spent a couple nights in Portland too. It's pretty embarrassing not to know the city better, but after living in DC and walking around just a couple times, I have a pretty good sense of the layout already. There are a good amount of high school people who have ended up there, and it feels like a nice place to be. It reminds me some of the Somerville/Cambridge area, although I can't quite put my finger on why. It was nice to catch up and see some people I haven't seen since high school.

I did have my first laptop and coffee accident, but was able to save the computer. Unfortunately, the keyboard still refused to work after multiple attempts to clean. A replacement one is on its way from China, so hopefully the problem isn't with the connection to the motherboard. Thankfully, Jay is a tech hoarder and still had a wireless keyboard from the Bowdoin dump and run maybe six years ago. My current configuration isn't quite as portable as a laptop should be, but hey it's working.



My parents and I did a nice little hike up to the Poplar Hut, near Flagstaff Lake, for a night. The cabin is just a few years old, and they're looking to expand the system soon. We got a nice tour of its energy/environmental systems, and it was good to get up to that area.









We did a walk along Flagstaff Lake itself in the morning. Great weather.



Otherwise, my mom and I built a bench for Chicago, I did a bunch of website work for Recession Sessions, some job hunting, some windy sailing, helping to shingle the garage, seeing people and Brunswick, hanging out with the parents, and playing with the kitties. I got in a nice little bike ride down and around the bay too.





The air was warm, the water not too cold, making it perfect for a swim.



So being at home for a little while has been great. And tomorrow morning I start the drive to Chicago. I'll be seeing relatives in Connecticut, driving to DC on Friday, loading up the Uhaul Saturday, making my way to Chicago (or at least Columbus) on Sunday, and moving in Monday. There will be lots of driving, but I have The Grapes of Wrath queued up on the ipod to keep me company. It will be good to have the drive broken up a few times as well.

The moving will be a lot of work, and then there's the unpacking. My beard has gotten a little woolly so I'll probably have to get that back under control. Regardless, I'm looking forward to exploring a new city and seeing what I get my hands on there.