Molly and I went on a mini-vacation to Chicago last weekend, as evidenced by the photos. Briefly, it was a good time, we had fun. We left after work on Friday...at the time, I was a little frustrated due to a situation with a variety of shipping failures totally unrelated to Chicago. UPS and USPS both failed me pretty hardcore (although admittedly, the USPS problem was my fault), while FedEx continues to be awesome. That's the moral of that story, which I may complain about at another time.
Anyway our intention Friday was to drive to somewhere outside of downtown and take the train in. Due to the timing of the stops and when we'd be arriving, the plan was to make it to the Metra train, park the car, and that would be it. We wouldn't have to drive downtown, and it would be in theory, a lot cheaper. However, something the both of us learned is that Chicago doesn't make it easy for you to leave your car parked overnight at the Metra parking lots. After searching whatever place we were in for parking (and a bathroom), we gave up and ended up driving downtown anyway. Once downtown, we attempted to hang out at Navy Pier, which was closed, and at Millennium Park, which was also closed. In particular, Millennium Park was getting prepared for a wine and food tasting fiesta the next day, so there was security actively shooing us away if we were even off the street sidewalk in the direction of Millennium Park.
So Friday was a little rough, but Saturday was a lot better. Despite being cloudy, the weather was actually very pleasant for the ridiculous amount of walking we did. We successfully hung out at both Navy Pier and Millennium Park (although in the day, it's not quite as awesome, but still pretty awesome), and achieved success at the Shedd Aquarium, a giant fountain whose name I forget, a water taxi, and free drinks on the hotel (booya).
Saturday night we ventured into the Wrigley Field area to attend an improv comedy show called "The Harold" at the IO Theatre. It was a tiny place, but the show was awesome. They claim a lot of famous alumni from SNL like Tina Fey, Chris Farley, and a bunch of other people that you can read about at their site if you really want to know. I found out later that one of the guys we saw is featured on a lot of the Sonic "drive-thru" ads. We also walked by Wrigley Field, which is surprisingly right in the middle of the city (as opposed to right off the highway, where I might expect a baseball stadium). I can only imagine that place is pure chaos on game days. We were also surprised to see that Wrigley field is about a block from the most openly gay community that I've ever been in. Fair enough.
Saturday was a long day, and the drive home Sunday was rather uneventful (thankfully). Ending up having to drive downtown really wasn't that bad of an option, if you ignore the 74 dollars we paid for parking. Probably the weirdest thing about the whole trip was all the Detroit Tigers gear we saw walking around. The Tigers were in town, and it appears all of Detroit came with them. At first I thought, "man, there might be more Tigers gear around here than Sox gear" just kind of joking. But after paying attention a little more, definitely there was more Tigers gear. Really odd, but I guess Chicago isn't that far away.
Another vacation conquered. Molly has posted her photos here...I haven't gotten mine up yet. I know, I know, I'm working on it!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Remote fixed
The exit & menu buttons on my remote control haven't been working very well the last month or so. Today I got fed up with it and tore it apart (okay, so this may have been the second time). A little pencil eraser on the button contacts, good to go. Just like the old electric slot car days, erasing on the track. Some classic tips from dad come through again!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wedding Recap
Last week was the Howard/Fast wedding in Traverse City. Everything went rather well. The weather was beautiful, although there were an abundance of fruit flies. The wedding was at Ciccone winery, which was quite nice. I took a ton of pictures, but I don't have them posted anywhere yet (obviously other than the pictures I sent here to my blog). I gotta do that one of these days.
So everybody had a good time, no major disasters that I saw anyway. Molly and I did have a run-in with an unfriendly lady at a salon who didn't appreciate me parking in front of her business and walking to Mancino's across the street. For being such a touristy town, there really seems to be a lot of drama about parking spaces and who they belong to. I wasn't really the DJ for the wedding, but I did do a little emcee-ing at the beginning. That was officially the last scheduled psuedo-DJing event that I have, so that's pretty exciting. The hotel was indeed right on the water, which was cause for some hanging out on the beach the couple nights we were there. A little chilly at night, but we survived.
On Saturday (wedding was on Sunday) we went on a wine tour on the Old Mission Peninsula. I was able to get some serious restocking done on my wine rack. Didn't quite get a full case, but I was close. The lame part is a lot of the wine that I got I know I could have achieved cheaper from Meijer here in Lansing. But, it's a lot more convenient to not have to remember what wine you did or didn't like; you can just get a bottle on the spot.
That's about all I got. We tried making plans to re-visit the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes so I could attempt to take this photo again, just with a sweet sunset behind it (like this one), but it didn't work out. Oh well. As always, it was good to see everybody again (even you Eric =) and I'm looking forward to the next wedding in October in the greater D area.
So everybody had a good time, no major disasters that I saw anyway. Molly and I did have a run-in with an unfriendly lady at a salon who didn't appreciate me parking in front of her business and walking to Mancino's across the street. For being such a touristy town, there really seems to be a lot of drama about parking spaces and who they belong to. I wasn't really the DJ for the wedding, but I did do a little emcee-ing at the beginning. That was officially the last scheduled psuedo-DJing event that I have, so that's pretty exciting. The hotel was indeed right on the water, which was cause for some hanging out on the beach the couple nights we were there. A little chilly at night, but we survived.
On Saturday (wedding was on Sunday) we went on a wine tour on the Old Mission Peninsula. I was able to get some serious restocking done on my wine rack. Didn't quite get a full case, but I was close. The lame part is a lot of the wine that I got I know I could have achieved cheaper from Meijer here in Lansing. But, it's a lot more convenient to not have to remember what wine you did or didn't like; you can just get a bottle on the spot.
That's about all I got. We tried making plans to re-visit the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes so I could attempt to take this photo again, just with a sweet sunset behind it (like this one), but it didn't work out. Oh well. As always, it was good to see everybody again (even you Eric =) and I'm looking forward to the next wedding in October in the greater D area.
Bonnie Consolo
EDIT: Sadly, the YouTube videos that I referenced below have been removed, and I'm once again left without any trace of the Bonnie Consolo videos. Until they re-appear...
Today I've made an amazing discovery - I have finally found the video of Bonnie Consolo, the woman with no arms. This was a staple of Mr. McKinnon's World Geography class back at PHS; we watched it many times on the old filmstrips. It's outstanding. I've been trying to locate it for years, and finally it has appeared!
Today I've made an amazing discovery - I have finally found the video of Bonnie Consolo, the woman with no arms. This was a staple of Mr. McKinnon's World Geography class back at PHS; we watched it many times on the old filmstrips. It's outstanding. I've been trying to locate it for years, and finally it has appeared!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Happy Labor Day!
No work today, it's a celebration! I'll celebrate with some Black Eyed Peas followed by some random tidbits.
As summer is winding down, there's still lots of excitement going on. Fall volleyball season just started, and is slated to go up through the end of October, which is a little ridiculous. We got a "postseason strip" for the Tigers, which means we have tickets for every potential playoff game, which is awesome (if necessary, of course).
Also lots of travel in the near future...the Howard wedding is next weekend, Molly and I are going to Chicago in a couple weekends, the Stratton wedding then is in October sometime, and then November I'm heading to Ireland with the roommates. Looking forward to all of those things.
Some lame news, Capital One doesn't seem to want to give me a credit card. I am trying to get one for the trip to Ireland (they have no international transaction fees), but I've been denied twice now. I have one more shot to get in before the trip, although it may be down to the wire.
Molly and I saw Adventureland yesterday. It was a little lame, actually. I am generally frustrated by movies that the entire conflict is due to two people not telling the truth, or otherwise withholding information from the other. Sure, it's a movie, suspension of reality, blah blah, but still - when the conflict actually never should have happened, in my book that's on the same level as a final climactic battle involving energy balls - LAME.
I also saw District 9 last weekend. That was a good movie, although a little on the odd side. Stuff like the catfood bit? That seemed just totally random.
Midland was named Best Tennis Town 2009. Congrats go out to Salgat and the rest of Midland. Boo-yeah.
A brief update on the pictures I posted last weekend - Eric and I went to Hockeyfest 2009. It was at Joe Louis Arena, and generally wasn't awesome. Would have been great if I was a kid involved in hockey. But what made it worth the entrance fee was the tour of the Red Wings locker room. That was pretty awesome. You can check out my photos here.
Hope everybody is having a spectacular Labor Day!
As summer is winding down, there's still lots of excitement going on. Fall volleyball season just started, and is slated to go up through the end of October, which is a little ridiculous. We got a "postseason strip" for the Tigers, which means we have tickets for every potential playoff game, which is awesome (if necessary, of course).
Also lots of travel in the near future...the Howard wedding is next weekend, Molly and I are going to Chicago in a couple weekends, the Stratton wedding then is in October sometime, and then November I'm heading to Ireland with the roommates. Looking forward to all of those things.
Some lame news, Capital One doesn't seem to want to give me a credit card. I am trying to get one for the trip to Ireland (they have no international transaction fees), but I've been denied twice now. I have one more shot to get in before the trip, although it may be down to the wire.
Molly and I saw Adventureland yesterday. It was a little lame, actually. I am generally frustrated by movies that the entire conflict is due to two people not telling the truth, or otherwise withholding information from the other. Sure, it's a movie, suspension of reality, blah blah, but still - when the conflict actually never should have happened, in my book that's on the same level as a final climactic battle involving energy balls - LAME.
I also saw District 9 last weekend. That was a good movie, although a little on the odd side. Stuff like the catfood bit? That seemed just totally random.
Midland was named Best Tennis Town 2009. Congrats go out to Salgat and the rest of Midland. Boo-yeah.
A brief update on the pictures I posted last weekend - Eric and I went to Hockeyfest 2009. It was at Joe Louis Arena, and generally wasn't awesome. Would have been great if I was a kid involved in hockey. But what made it worth the entrance fee was the tour of the Red Wings locker room. That was pretty awesome. You can check out my photos here.
Hope everybody is having a spectacular Labor Day!
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