As I write, I can hear the planes over Chicago practicing for the Air & Water Show this weekend.

While I’m not able to see anything from my window, I do have pictures that we took from the show two years ago.  I can definitely identify one of these, maybe two.

I don’t talk about work on this blog for an exceptionally good reason.  Remember when Dooce got, well “dooced”, for telling her work stories to the internet?  Yeah, well, my stories would beat up her stories any day…except I don’t want to get fired.  We need to pay the rent.

Anyhow, what I will tell you about my work is that we recently moved offices.  It was hectic and unorganized.  And after a full week and a half in our new space, we still do not have internet or phones.

Close eyes.  Take a deep breath.  Walk away from coworkers.

Through the move, lots of things were thrown out.  This is one of the things that I found in line for the dumpster…

A quick call to Michael (the guy with a pickup truck) and we are now the proud owners of fully restored 1904 VV-XI Victor Talking Machine.  It does have a few minor dents, but the mechanics seem to work perfectly.  I can’t quite test this theory, however, because it requires old 78 rpm records…of which I have none.

I have no idea what to do with it.  I simply didn’t have the heart to see such a beautiful piece thrown in the dumpster.

Why fight the crowds downtown to see the official fireworks when the neighborhood kids put on such a lovely illegal show?

Yay Chicago!

One more stormy summer night in Chicago.

And one more rainbow.  This time from our back deck.

Are these things good luck?  Because we could use a little good luck.

We were greeted with this view of the city as we returned from our trip last week. 

Once again, Dave was driving fast while I was snapping pictures.

It was Friday afternoon, and I had left the office early to get ready for the weekend.  Sandwiches and a bottle of wine were packed away.  Despite the predictions for rain, we were going to Ravinia to see Dave Brubeck.

I was driving east on Chicago Avenue.  As I drove past a fire station, I noticed that all of the firemen were pointing up at the sky.  The view from the rear view mirror seemed ominous, but it wasn’t raining at all.  I turned right onto Milwaukee Avenue and suddenly felt a terrible wind jerk the car to the right.  The car in front of me was struggling to stay in its lane.  All of the trash and debris from the city street was suddenly 30 feet in the air.  Trash cans and newspaper stands were dancing around.  A very large sign for the Chicago Dramatists theatre company was ripped off a building and whipped behind my car and then around the front of it, cracking as the wind tossed it around.  Something unidentifiable shattered the window of The Matchbox, a bar across the street.

I didn’t think tornado.  Strangely, I thought of how horrible my face would look when something smashed a window in the car.  Vain, maybe.

At the same time, Dave was working away at his office, waiting for me to pick him up.  The sky grew green.  And then it grew dark green.  He could hear hail hitting the windows, and then pounding, and then booming, almost like glass breaking.  The building emergency system screeched an announcement to move to the center of the building.

I reached Dave on the phone.  He recommended a few places under bridges to pull over, but as I drove by they were already full of cars.  I kept driving as the rain started and the wind died down a bit.  When I reached Dave’s building we switched drivers in the POURING rain.  I was tired of driving.

Tornadoes are exceptionally rare in the city.  They can’t properly touchdown because of the buildings.  There were no tornadoes associated with this storm, but this was a storm that blew out windows of the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) as well as Dave’s office building.  This storm was not messing around.

And thanks to my (more accurately, my guardian angel’s) expert driving skills, nothing bad happened.  The car was perfectly fine.

Despite the excitement, Dave Brubeck was to be heard.  The jazz legend is getting old.  We had to go.  We started driving north in hopes of nicer weather.

Luckily, we had a tarp to cover the ground for our lawn seats.  And miraculously, it cleared up perfectly for the concert.

Yes, Pinot Noir tastes lovely from a plastic wine glass.  And it cures stressful situations quite nicely.

Dave Brubeck was cool.

There were four sets of musicians for the evening concert, with Dave Brubeck being the second.  After the third set a very meek Ravinia attendant announced on the microphone in her best NPR voice, “We are tracking a line of thunderstorms that will be at Ravinia at 9:45.  Thank you.”

The whole lawn audience collectively glanced at their watches and noted the current time to be 9:38.  The next artist started to sing, ”It’s a marvelous night for a moon dance”, while hundreds of people frantically packed up blankets and candelabras.  We made it to the car just before the sky opened up again.

Weird date night.

From his office on Washington and Dearborn, Dave had a pretty cool view of the party that was Chicago yesterday.

Oh, there’s the Stanley Cup.

An estimated 2 million Blackhawks fans showed up for the ticker tape parade.

Can you even imagine the pandemonium that would be a Cubs World Series celebration?  Someday.

#34 – Get my bike repaired.

The bike is repaired.  Only $160 corrected a bent wheel, replaced the brake lines and the chain, fixed the tires, and generally scrubbed the thing clean.  One tragic accident and one winter outside were not enough to put this bike down.

Probably more important than spending money for someone else to repair my bike, however, is the fact that I’m getting used to riding my bike on the city streets again.  Dave and I took an 18 mile trip yesterday, down to the lake shore bike trail.  It was a lovely day to get out for a ride.  We didn’t quite realize how far we had gone until we got home and mapped it out.

Oh, and we were stupid enough to ride 18 miles on the same day we had promised to help Michael move out of his apartment…his 3rd floor apartment.  Needless to say, we are both SO VERY VERY SORE today.  Perfect day for sitting quietly at home and watching the Indy 500.

We did not go on the tour sponsored by the Chicago Architectural Foundation on Saturday that we had intended on.  The only reason, well, is because we weren’t smart enough to buy tickets in advance.  Who knew these things sell out?  Architecture must be cool.

But we had gotten ourselves dressed AND out of the apartment at a reasonable time on a Saturday, so we decided to just stay downtown and make a day of it.

We played tourists at Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue, mostly just people watching and spending some relaxing time together.

Yay, it’s summer in Chicago!

This last weekend was a very enjoyable whirlwind.

Dave’s cousin, Phil, was in town for work for a couple days last week.  He brought along his lovely wife, Rachel, and their cute little baby, Libby, for the ride.  It was a really fun visit, with lots of baby snuggling and several parties with family and friends.  I love it when we have visitors.  Being centrally located in Chicago is paying off.

Upon mentioning the cuteness of the baby to my Mom, however, she promptly intensified the, “When do I get a grandchild, already?  Just conceive a child now, PLEASE.  You don’t love me unless you give me a baby.  I would like to spend time with my grandchildren before I die” comments.

Also this weekend, my little sister, Morgan, who is not so little anymore because she is off to Nursing school in the fall, was confirmed on Sunday.  Dave and I made a day trip to Indiana on Sunday so that we could be at her Confirmation.  I’m really glad we made the trip.  It was great to see Morgan and spend a little bit of time with my family.

All this family fun, combined with a little sleep deprivation and a lot of work drama, makes Katie and Dave want take Wednesday off work just to sleep all day.  We won’t really do that.  I have lots of work to do, and Dave gets free bagels at work on Wednesday mornings.