Chicago

Jeannette and I had a great time in Chicago over the last weekend. It was cheap and quick, but exhausting. Here's a brief timeline:

Saturday

• Wake up at 4:00 AM
• Go to Mickey's Diner at 5:00 AM
• Leave for Chicago at 6:00 AM
• Find out the tolls are less numerous, but more expensive in Illinois. $1.60, $1.20, $0.80, $1.00, when they used to be $0.35. 11:30 AM
• Follow my GPS instructions to the Lakeshore Theater through Wrigley Field before a Cubs game, past half a dozen Walgreens, then to the theater, located in the most prideful neighborhood I've seen. 1:30 PM
• Jeannette needs to use the bathroom, so we try Bed Bath and Beyond, no dice, try Marshals, no luck, try PetSmart, the doors are keycoded, and the sales staff wants you to buy something before you get to use the 'privilege.' 1:45 PM
• Take a stroll out to the lake, it starts pouring like mad, Jeannette and I hide out under a tree until it clears, then rains again. Jeannette looks miserable, and my infusion set has become undone. We have to head back to the car. 2:15 PM
• Get back to the car, Jeannette changes pants, I've dried off enough, and fixed my insulin pump situation. We're off to see Julia Sweeney in "Letting go of God." 3:05 PM
• No crowd at the theater, the show has started, we are late. 3:15 PM
• The show finishes, it was really nice to see, and we walk back to the car in the rain. 5:45 PM
• We're off to Orland Park, IL to see Hemant Mehta, author of "I Sold My Soul on eBay." 6:00 PM
• Jeannette and I are both soaked. We walk into the bookstore fifteen minutes late. The book signing hasn't even happened yet, Hemant is chatting with a few 'groupies' who are waiting for the signing to start. 7:15 PM
• We get to chat with Hemant, snap a quick picture, get a book, buy pajamas, look at the tigerdirect.com outlet, then head off to find an Indian restaurant Hemant recommended. 8:15 PM
• My GPS is a great tool, but horrible sometimes. After driving around the suburban Chicago area, we end up right by O'Hare. We give up finding a good Indian place, and will settle on room service. 9:15 PM
• I forget which hotel we are staying at. Is it the Hilton, or Hyatt? I guess Hilton, punch it into the GPS, end up in the middle of a bridge, rather then at the hotel. Then I remember the Hilton is in O'Hare. We drive around twice, and settle on parking the car, just to walk in to see if we have reservations or not. The GPS happens to have the phone number for the Hilton, even if the directions are a bit fuzzy, so I call them, only to find out we're at the Hyatt. 9:45 PM
• Jeannette and I have been soaked twice, haven't had food, and are cranky. We get into the hotel, and are surrounded by muscled men and women. There is some sort of body building conference going on. 10:30 PM
• We order cake and a pizza, watch a show about how possible things are in Star Wars, then get to sleep. 11:30 PM