Soliciting and Gambling are not allowed on CTA trains...
The plane ride went fine. Harold whined a bit, but the plane was loud enough that nobody really noticed. While we were descending, I got a terrible pressure headache. I think the cat did too, because he went crazy. I tried to console him, but he scratched and bit me. All of the handles on his carrier broke. He's not that heavy. Really.
This town smells slightly different, and both the pigeons and the pizzas are much larger here. Nobody lies about how great the pizza is here. The cheese alone is far superior to what we're used to (we are in the midwest after all) and the pizza is truly a pizza pie. It doesn't feel like I'm in Chicago yet, but I still haven't been downtown. Chicago is huge. I'm not in the suburbs, but it feels like I am. I'm also getting my cardinal directions all messed up- the beach is EAST of us. EAST. I just have this strong feeling that South is < that way from me, but it isn't- the lake is ^ that way. A rockin' cafe is also ^ that way. I haven't tried their coffee, but their iced tea and internet are okay. They're also huge and they have board games.
Our place truly is steps from Lake Michigan and steps in the opposite direction to the El. CTA is very confusing for a first-timer, but it is smarter than Tri-Met in many ways. The fares are a bit spendy though, but soon we will have unlimited passes from school. There are also many very convenient things located nearby. Several convenience stores, for example. Dominick's (Safeway) is two blocks away, as is Walgreen's. Dry cleaners run abundant in the neighborhood. Across the street are a thai restaurant and an athletic club. I will explore more shortly.
My interview with Whole Foods Market went pretty well, except for the part where I couldn't figure out how the buses worked, and although I had given myself an extra 20 minutes, I was 20 minutes late. I called, and they didn't mind my being late. They did mind that I only want part-time. They otherwise liked me. They said "if your schedule changes, CALL BACK." I don't expect to get the position. Evanston is a nice part of town though. Howard (where the CTA lines meet) is not.
The indie newspaper here (Redeye) sucks. It's 50% tabloid, 50% yawn, and 0% comics. Even their sex column was a yawn. And I mean a yawn. Like, it was so boring that it wasn't even amusing. I mean, Holy Moses! Who can make a sex column that boring?? I miss Dan Savage, crude though he may be. I'll have to check out the Chicago Reader to see if it's any good.
The facilities are a bit ghetto, but in a charming way. The other computer in this lab eats people's passwords. I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds scary. We also are getting our fridge replaced immediately, since the other one was old and presumably leaking freon. And the printers don't work. The computers are so old that they have no USB ports. They have disk drives. They're also run on Windows XP. Blecch. No wonder they're virus-ridden. The practice rooms are okay though. The piano is terribly out of tune :-). People practice drum set till 10pm, and then politely heed the noise curfew. This is a good thing, since we don't go to bed till about then, and this means that we can be noisy that late too.
The kitchen is smaller, but more efficient. The closets are very deep. The bathroom door is very skinny. The walls are solid cement covered in layer upon layer of paint. The place is rather charming, in a 1920's sort of way.
Tonight Tayler is going to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Highland Park. They will play Bruckner's 7th symphony. Since the train adds about $10 to the cost (it has a transfer between cta and metra, which are two different fare systems), I decided to stay home and wander around the neighborhood. $35 is okay, $70 is not okay. Besides, I don't appreciate Bruckner nearly as much as he does, and we'll have plenty of chances to see the CSO when the season starts up. We're also attending free concerts at the music festival downtown. Carlos Kalmar is even a guest conductor for some of them (what a coincidence).
Our stuff gets here Friday morning. That should help it feel more like home. The landlord is being a sweetheart and letting us take an empty parking space for our relocube over the weekend- this means we won't have to bust our wallets on the $1,000,000 liability coverage (probably $100+ for two hours) plus street permit for a freight truck.
Oh, and milk is really expensive here. Like, it would almost be worth it to go ahead and buy organic milk instead. Almost. The milk had better be 2.3 times as good here as it is in Oregon, because that's how much it's costing us...
I need ice, my wrist hurts. I need an ice cube tray.
I haven't checked out AiR I yet, nor have I explored the studios. We've been busy...
I would post pictures, but I don't have internet on my mac at the moment, and this dinosaur has no USB port. Teehee. Usbosaurus Lackus.
Wow. I feel like a nerd.
Also, does anybody have any suggestions for good, cheap internet? Our place is "cable-ready" (there are cables in all sorts of odd places- the closet, for one). Do I have to subscribe to an internet service, or can I just hook up and sign on? I am totally clueless about this. Help?