Month: September 2022

Things Are Going My Way

I am so glad that everything with mom got resolved, at least for now, and I can leave for my European conferences! As it usually happens, too many little things had to be done/fixed/completed, plus the new job and new responsibilities… 

I cooked and frozen as much of the vegetables as I could and gave the rest to my neighbor, Igor, and mom (local grapes are to die for! I never tasted anything like that!) 

I found a nail salon very close to mom’s apartment and as an extra bonus – with Russian-speaking owners, so now she can do her nails without having to go to the Loop with me. I picked up my new bike (turquoise blue with disc brakes)

I baked a plum cake because I didn’t want to throw away the remaining plums.

I am almost packed.

I worry about the state of my two October talks, especially about my new bitemporal talk, and I am not quite sure how to find time to bring it to the point where I want it to be.

I am not tired. I am happy with my work, and there are so many interesting things to do that I want to start everything at once. 

And I still found time to go to the beach today; most likely, the last time this season (unless I find some time tomorrow!)

About Mom

Now that several things related to mom are finally resolved, I can talk about what happened last week. I already mentioned several times that last Friday was a disaster and several things that didn’t go right. But there were more.

Mom had a passport appointment at the Russian consulate in NYC, and even before I knew that I would be starting a new job, I knew I could not go with her because it was just a couple of days before my conferences would start.

From the very beginning, we planned on Igor coming with her, although she complained quite a bit that it was not me who would accompany her.

We submitted all the paperwork in advance, and I told mom I would double-check that nothing had changed two weeks before the appointment.

So I did, and we put all her paperwork together. The appointment was on Wednesday, and Igor and mom were going to NYC on Tuesday. On Friday afternoon, mom received an e-mail from the Russian consulate saying that they are no longer accepting applications for biometric passports, so everybody who has appointments scheduled should apply for a 5-year passport.
Everything about the non-biometric passport is different, including that you have to bring the photos with you and you need a return envelope. I had not extra time at all, so I called Igor and asked him whether he could take mom to the passport pictures and whether he could buy an envelope. These items were critical given the upcoming Labor Day and the Post Office closing. (And right after that, I had to ask him to wait for the exterminator in my apartment!)

Since I would be in Milwaukee on Saturday, I told mom that I would come on Sunday to redo the paperwork. As it turned out, her knee started to hurt really badly on Thursday (and she didn’t tell me anything). Then on Friday, she leaned on her right wrist when she was standing up, and after that, she was unable to do anything with her right hand. So when I came on Sunday, I observed the situation and said that we were going to the emergency room.
Four hours later, we were back at her place, her right arm immobilized, and we had to do a follow-up visit. And she had to go to New York.

That was not the best couple of days for me, but everything got resolved. Mom’s new passport application was accepted, Igor survived traveling with her, I could find an appointment for her, and the doctor reassured us that nothing was broken and she didn’t need to wear a splinter anymore.

All I can say is it could be worse, especially given my upcoming travels! I hope that the crisis is averted for some time!

It Feels Right

I am back in the office, and it feels absolutely right. Last night, I was running around the house remembering all the things needed to go to the office – I thought I would never need them again, and I am so glad that the need had come!

Probably the most interesting part is that because the new office is located right next to the Ogilvie Train Station, it makes perfect sense to me to take Metra. During the morning rush hour, the trains run every 15 minutes, so it’s not much different from taking CTA, and the walk to the Rogers Park Metra station is so much nicer than it was in Palatine!

I took out my Samsonite backpack, which I bought for myself during the Black Friday sale, and I thought I would never need it again:). And here I am, and I even brought all of my little things to the new office.

This completely forgotten feeling that you can and should have things in the office. And that all the office supplies are there and available. And there are snacks and coffee, a hot breakfast and hot lunch every day, and salads and sandwiches whenever. And even the frozen yogurt!
But the most important thing is that there are people, live people in the office, people who need my skills.

I Did It – I Did Bike the Drive!

Last year, I saw people biking on Lake Shore Drive when I was doing my usual Sunday biking – I didn’t know anything about Bike the Drive! Since I learned about it, I did not miss my chance to participate.

As it was my first time, I didn’t know how things worked, and I thought I could bike as far as I felt comfortable and get off the Drive any moment. Only when I received the “day of the event” package in the email I realize that there were just a couple of opportunities to get on and off the course.

Judging by my usual long rides, I decided to turn back at Oakwood, which was one of the designated turning points, but when I reached it I didn’t see any opportunity to turn around. Most likely, I would be able to go to the most Southern point of the Drive – the Museum of Science and Industry, but then it would take longer than I planned to spend on this event. So I looked to my left, and when I saw a gap in the median, I moved to the left and merged into the stream of bikers going north.

When I reached Millennium Park, I stopped for activities and a pancake breakfast and then continued to the northern end of Lakeshore Drive.
I covered a total distance of 32 miles, and I didn’t feel tired at all – and that’s what I am most happy about.

When we were approaching the end of the Drive, one gentleman on my right said – you are always catching up with me, no matter how much I try to get ahead! I told him, sorry, that was not intentional (to be honest, I didn’t even register his presence). I said – I am just consistent. It didn’t feel like I stretched myself; I could do more (and I was not sore the next day).

Another thing that I need to think more about is that I didn’t eat anything before the ride and didn’t drink anything. Initially, I planned to each some fruits before going, but I didn’t feel like I wanted any, and I left the house at 6 AM without food or drink. I thought that I might feel too hungry in the middle of the ride, but I felt great. At 8 AM, when I stopped at Millennium Park, I went to find breakfast. I’d already covered 21 miles by that time and thought I would be very hungry. However, I ate just two pancakes and two breakfast sausages and didn’t want more. I had a great feeling in my body, not needing to process any food and focusing on the ride.
There should be at least two of my photos from the ride, but I found just one on the event website. I will try to find more later 🙂

Official event photo

In Milwaukee

I didn’t miss the train and spent a day with my girls in Milwaukee. We went to the forest where Nadia had her Forest Camp and spent more than two hours walking around while Nadia showed us all the places where they’ve been. I was very happy to be in the forest – I do not have anything like this close to me anymore, and also it was a joy to listen to Nadia talking about her summer experience and to observe how she interacts with Kira.

Continue reading “In Milwaukee” →

Pre-Holiday Traffic

As I already said, Friday went completely wrong. Skipping all that was wrong in the morning, I will start at 3 PM.
When I had the exterminator on August 21, he said that he would check the situation with the trap on September 2 (initially, he said – in two weeks, but I told him that I would be unavailable then, so we agreed on September 2).
On August 31, I decided to call and check whether my inspection is scheduled, and it turned out that it was not and that there were no more openings. By then, I knew a mouse was in the trap, and it started to disintegrate.
Finally, after checking all the possible options and redirecting me three times, they told me they could schedule an inspector to come between 3 and 5. I told them that I would need to leave at four at the latest, so could they please make sure that the inspector would come before that?
When nobody showed up by 3-40, I called the company, and they said that the inspector was stuck in pre-holiday traffic and won’t be there till five!
I was desperate – there was no way I could find somebody to wait for an inspector, and I had no time left before the train. Frantically, I called Igor, and he agreed to come to my house after five, although I had already tasked him with three things that had to be accomplished on the same day.
Then I called Uber and was shocked to find out that the usual 30-35 min trip to Union Station is projected to be an hour long, and the wait was about 10-12 min. When the app finally responded that the driver would be there in 4 minutes, I rushed downstairs with such a speed that my Apple watch asked – did you fall?
The train departure time was 5-08, and all along the ride, the projected arrival time was something like 5-04 to 5-06. I called Anna saying I am missing the train; there was one more train three hours later, and Anna suggested I exchange the ticket until it was not too late, but I decided I would give it a chance. The driver was awesome; he used each opportunity to advance in the traffic, at the same time not doing anything risky. We arrived at an unbelievable 5-02, which allowed me not only to make the train but also not to be the last person who jumped in!

And the exterminator came to my apartment at about 5-20, just when Igor arrived. Because I didn’t instruct Igor properly, he didn’t ask about the hole, so the question of what hole to patch remains open.

There Are Days…

One of the days when everything that could go wrong went wrong. Plus some more. I do not even want to talk about it.

The only good thing was that I did not miss my train to Milwaukee, although, with the pre-Labor Day traffic, I had almost no chance. 

Oh, and I managed to have some time at the beach 🙂

The Art Institute And Gelato

It was more for today’s day! After all of the morning /afternoon activities in Palatine, I returned to the city and met the youth from the shelter in the Art Institute.

We were there a month ago, and although some of the youth appeared interested, the field trip was pretty chaotic. I was unsure how things would turn up this time, but to my surprise, seven of the youth showed up, including a couple of folks who were there on our previous Art Institute outing. Another surprising thing was that everybody was very engaged, and we stayed in the museum until it was about to close. I had to answer the same questions they usually ask in Medieval art: where are people of color? And as usual, they shake their heads in disbelief when I tell them that people lived in one town or village throughout their entire lives, and they didn’t know: you mean, they didn’t know there were other places? They thought that people everywhere were like them? 

After the Art Institute, I took everybody to the new gelato place. Some people started to walk forward, and our volunteer coordinator told those still there that I was taking them for gelato. 

— What is gelato?

— It’s a kind of ice cream.

— Ice cream?! Hey, stoop! STOOOP! She is taking us for ice cream!!!! 

We got to the gelato place. When the youth realized they could try multiple flavors, one of the girls asked: can I try all of them?!

The staff of the gelato shop was super-patient, and when the youth got all the flavors they wanted, there was peace, quiet and eternal happiness. 

Deer Grove!

I took a day off today to do several things in Palatine. The only thing I was not able to schedule was a meeting with my old neighbor – out schedules didn’t match. All the rest went great. As previously, I took UP-N Metra to Clyborn, and switched to NP-NW to go to Palatine. One of my Palatine friends picked me up, and we went for a walk at Deer Grove. Everything looks like the-end-of-summer, but I was really happy to walk the same path I used to walk and to see the prairie. Then we sat and chatted in her house, and she took me to my last implant check (finally done with that!). From there, I walked to my hair stylist appointment, and from there, my other friend picked me up and we had a long late lunch and talked about a million things.

It was so good to be together with the people I love and miss, and it was great to reunite with the prairie, if even for a short time!

Continue reading “Deer Grove!” →

Mice Again!

How difficult is it to finally find where is a hole the mice enter my house?? Apparently, close to impossible.

How difficult is it to find a time for the third inspection? Apparently, very difficult! I am more not at home than at home these days! 

We’ll see how it will end up!

(I called a handyman to patch the presumed mice hole, and he found a mice in the trap which apparently came from the opposite direction…)