Chicago

Back from Chicago. We had a fun, cold time. The plans were to leave on the 6:40 AM flight on Tuesday. Well around 3:45 AM I woke up and decided to check in (Employees using travel benefits can only check in 4 hours prior). The flight had canceled. Suddenly all of the morning flights with plenty of seats were full. I rebooked us on the 6 AM flight. I woke Kelli up as we had to leave at 4:30 AM in order to have time to park, shuttle, security and get in line by the 5:30 AM boarding time. All worked well. We didn't score first class though. We were in the very last row. Kelli had a window seat with no window.

On the ground in Chicago I guided us to the subway and off we went. Now before we left I used the Chicago Transit Authority website to plan the trip. We got off at the stop it stated and then walked the wrong direction for almost 3/4 of a mile. Once we figured out where we were, we turned around and got on the correct bus. This whole time there is blowing snow. We arrive at the hotel and drop our bag off as it's only 10AM. We walk through a few stores to keep warm, stop by a Starbucks and then trek over to the Jerry Springer Show studio. I say trek because the snow was 3-4 inches high on some of the walkways. Waiting in line Kelli and I felt like we were the smartest and hottest people in the world. The extreme majority of Jerry Springer show audience is just as trashy as the guest.

 

 

One odd thing about the Jerry Springer show....you can't bring in lighters or cigarettes! Most of the audience smoked and had to "check" their smokes. They got a claim check to get them afterwards.

The show was wild. I thought it was fake. Nope. Lots of really good fights, a little nudity and good ole "wow". Toward the end during the audience question session women have the chance to "earn" beads while asking a question. Lots of women flashed their breast. Many were really gross looking. Kelli and I had fun and had our already positive self esteem boosted even higher.

After the show it was 5:30PM....rush hour. The buses were packed. We climbed on the #3 bus to get to the auto show. The bus was so full and the windows so dirty from snow we could barely see outside. Every bus up to now had a sign and a recording stating the next stop. We had no idea where we were to get off. Thankfully a man saw our confusion and told me when to get off.

The auto show was amazing and huge. Kelli was worn out 1/2 way through and relaxed while I finished up. The bus ride back was easy.

The hotel we stayed at was a trendy Holiday Inn Express which happened to be a block away from where our friends Jason and Jackie live. I trekked down to a really good hot dog place and had a Chicago style hot dog. Funny thing though, people who live in Chicago don't eat Chicago style dogs just like people from Texas don't drink Lone Star beer. Anyways we met Jason for lunch on Wednesday at a very good Indian buffet, Jackie was sick.

Getting back to the airport was much easier. We rode the red line to Jackson station and transferred to the blue line to the airport. The flight I wanted to get on suddenly had 80 standbys. Something canceled. I quickly went over to an open gate and went to work on the computer. I booked us on a flight leaving in 20 minutes to Northwest Arkansas (near Wal-Mart HQ) and then a flight to Dallas. I wasn't going to wait around to see how many of the 80 standbys would get on the later flights to Dallas as they were already full. Being able to see exactly how many seats are open on each flight is sooo nice. We made it home uneventfully. I picked up overtime today. I wanted something like 4-5 hours. I got 3.3. I have two 1/2 hour flights...then sit for 3 hours and have two 1 hour flights. Oh well. It's extra money. I am pretty sure I will be sitting at home the next 3 days. No open flights.



Time to get ready to go to work.