Category: everyday life

Pride Nails

As I already mentioned on Instagram, that’s the only time in the year when a grandma like me would get compliments from the hottest boys in town: I love your nails! The most handsome boys with the longest lashes you have ever seen :).

But here is more. What I love more than these compliments is how these boys hold each other’s hands tightly, walking up Michigan Avenue. When I see this stretched hand, and another hand catching it and holding, I want to cry. I want to take a picture of these holding hands.

And I think about the 16-year-old Vlad: Why do they look at us like this when we walk holding hands?! Why can’t we walk like others?!

I am glad they can. And I am glad that no Trump can do anything with it.

(a green drop is pistachio gelato, and I am not going to photoshop it)

The View

This week was a return “back to normal”, which was so intense that it was probably the “high end” normal. On Thursday, I was debating between two options: to attend the Open House for the Metropolitan Family (where I resigned from the community board a year ago) or to attend the ACM-hosted AI presentation at the Metropolitan Club.

I felt guilty about ignoring both groups, and was trying to measure my guilt. Finally, I decided that I would donate to the Metropolitan Family, and I will go to the ACM thing. They promised cocktails and light bites and DJ before the presentation, and I thought that’s something I deserve after several intense weeks. Also, I knew that our president would appreciate one more person from the board.

It ended up being a mistake, and the only good thing was the view (I never been to the Metropolitan club before, and it is locate on the 67 th floor of Sear’s Tower)

All the rest was mediocre at the most. And to be completely honest, I was so tired, that the best thing for me would be to go home right after work!

After The Storm

A bike ride on Thursday morning, after the tornado had nearly passed Rogers Park

New CAC Exhibit: Flyway City

Wednesday was the opening day of this exhibit, and I had a member preview ticket. I figured the exhibit wouldn’t be that large, and I could probably go there around my lunchtime. That worked well!

The exhibit was very informative. I was shocked to learn how many birds die every year during migration because the collide with the building glass! The exhibit provides valuable suggestions on what each homeowner can do to make it safer to igratory birds – I will definitely try not to leave the lights on when it’s not necessary!

And a literal “cherry on top” – Fannie May now serves gelato with all their signature creations!

Wednesday

On Wednesdays, I come to work very early to dial for my online personal training session. My personal trainer lives in LA, and that way, I allow him an extra hour of sleep :). I usually clip my access card to my waist when I get off the L-train, so I do not have to look for it when I am by our building. This Wednesday, everything was as usual, except that when I was by our building and reached for the card, I saw that the part connecting the card to the clip was broken, and the card was missing. I walked back, trying to figure out where that could happen, but didn’t see the card. Then I thought that it was rather dumb to look for it – it could fall off at any moment, even after I just left the train.

I texted my trainer that there was a high chance we would have to cancel, and entered the building through the Starbucks door. Our security issued a day pass for me, but it was pretty useless, because I couldn’t even get into elevator with it – they had to bus me up. And then I couldn’t get to the floor, because it was too early and there was nobody to open a door and let me it.

At that very moment, I suddenly remembered (and do not ask me why I didn’t think about it eaelier!) that my access card had an AirTag, and I attached it specifically for situations like that! I think part of the reason why I forgot about it was my continuous sleep deprivation, and another part was that I didn’t realize right away that my access card fall off with the AirTag. I looked at my phone and saw that the last time the card was seen was very close to the office. I ran out to the street, but the tag already moved. I tried to follow it, but the location was impresize, and I found myself going in circles. Finally, I was on the back side of Planned Parenthood building, and then the AirTag stopped issueing signals.

Disappointed, I headed back to the office, cursing myself for not checking the FindMy right away. I thought that this was finally may payoff fo the luck of winning two raffles. I got back into the building; now there were more people inside (I chased the AirTag signal for almost an hour!), so someone opened a door on our floor for me. I went to get breakfast, and saw our receptionist just walking it. I told her that I will need a new access card (which is a big deal, and I would need to pay a fine), and that I will stop by when she is back from her breakfast. I headed back to my desk, and before diving into work, I decided to open my personal email. I saw an email from the WordPress “Contact” page, to which I paid no attention at first (most times, these are people trying to sell something to me), but then decided to open. The email read: Hi, I have your access card!

…yea, it’s good to have a long and unsual name! There was nothing except for the name on the card! So a person who found it, got into trouble of Googling me, not just throwing the card away! She left her number, so I texted her immediately, and she said she would be able to come out of work for a minute, and told me where to find her. When I saw a person in the purple scrubs on the well-known corner, I knew it right away! I asked her: do you work at Planned Parenthood? And she said; yes! And I told her that I am escorting a couple times a week!

When I returned back to the office, nobody could believe me that someone found my card and returned it. One of my co-workers said: you are so lucky! You should try playing the lottery! I laughted: I just did!

Sponsor Raffles

At the PG DATA conference, we held a “Sponsor Passport” raffle: attendees could stamp their “passports” at each sponsor table, and those passports were then used as raffle tickets.

In case someone doesn’t know, I am not a lottery person at all, and the only reason I placed my passport in the box was to set a good example for others. I was called to draw, and imagine my surprise when I handed Pat the first passport and he said: Hettie!

I thought it was a joke, but it was not: I won a $100 Amazon gift certificate! Even funnier, two other organizers won the prizes, and then one of our meetup members!

Yesterday, at PG Day Boston, they also had Sponsor Passports, and I participated again, joking about my PG DATA experience. A couple of people who attended both joked about the “staged wins.” You will never believe it, but I won a $100 Amazon gift card again! And again, my name was the first to be drawn.

I became somewhat nervous, thinking that this luck is for no good. How did it turn out? I will tell you tomorrow – too tired now!

CTA Message

Received it several days ago; that’s how it should be! I especially like the beach bus service 🙂

Happy Summer,

As the weather heats up and summer gets into full swing, we wanted to make sure you know about some improvements and changes that are coming to routes you tap onto regularly.

  • #124 Navy Pier: Last trip is at 11:55 PM on weekdays and Sundays, and midnight on Saturdays from 5/23/26 (Memorial Day weekend) through Labor Day, 9/7/2026.
     
  • #130 Museum Campus: No need to hassle with parking. Enjoy cultural and park activities by taking the #130 to the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, and Soldier Field.
     
  • June 7th through mid-August, daily beach service will operate directly to the lakefront and Chicago’s beaches on the following bus routes: [Weekend/holiday service will continue until Labor Day]

For detailed schedules and routing information, as well as the latest on all bus and rail service, please visit transitchicago.com.

Wait Time

That’s not about the conference. Today, I took my mom to the doctor’s check-up. It’s difficult to find the time when I can take her to the doctor, because she has become very inflexible and does everything very slow, so I have to navigate to secure appointment at the time when she only minimally alters here schedule. Today, our appointment was at 2 PM, and we were there at 1:40, as they always ask, and the doctor saw her only at 3:10! And he didn’t even apologize!

My mom often critisizes doctors for no good reason, but this time, her critiques were completely justified. I was especially mad that he literally didn’t say sorry he was late! He should know what it takes for a 91- y.o. to sit and wait for 1.5 hours!

It’s not much I can do regarding the doctor change, since she is on Medicaid, but I never had anything like that before, no matter what’s the patient’s status, and I am really upset!

iPhone Adventures

As I mentioned, I broke my iPhone screen on Sunday, and I was so busy with everything that I didn’t have time to figure out how and when I could repair it. I was so sure that I did not have coverage (after all, I knew all along that these iPhones are unbreakable!), that I only did a quick search on repair places. There was none close enough to my office that I wouldn’t have to take two hours off work, so I decided “to think about it tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow” finally arrived on Friday, when I could theoretically get off work slightly earlier. I finally asked Google the right question: not “locations of iPhone repair shops” but “how I can replace the broken screen”. And the answer was: click on this link to check whether you have coverage. I checked, and it turned out I did! Moreover, the screen could be replaced while I wait. Apple immediately listed available appointments, and the first available at the Michigan Avenue location was on Sunday at 1:45 PM. The next available at North Avenue was on Saturday, between 5:30 PM and 7 PM. I decided that I do not need to go to the Loop on Sunday, and booked 6:30 PM at North Avenue.

Turned out that was a mistake. There was track repair going on on the Red Line. I “knew” about it, but since I didn’t plan to go anywhere far over the weekend, I didn’t store this information in my operational memory. Also, I knew that the Loop was reachable via elevated tracks, just a slower ride. So it was literally me walking into the Jarvis station and realizing the train wouldn’t stop where I needed it. Also, I quickly realized that I have no time to figure out an alternative route, and the only way for me to get there was Uber, which had two major disadvantages in addition to having to pay for it: 1) it was slower than the L-train, especially on Saturday evening 2) I could not do anything productive during the ride, so it was wasting both time and money at the same time.

Finally, I arrived at the Apple Store at my appointment time (6:40 PM) and waited for a technician until 7 PM (as expected). But then he told me that, because it’s too late in the day, they can’t repair it while I wait, and I need to either leave the phone with them or come one more time. He assured me that if I come any other day before 4 PM, all parts will be ready and they will fix the phone while I wait.

I had to pay for another Uber ride to get home, because I didn’t want to spend an extra 15 minutes walking to the Brown line, and an extra 15 minutes waiting, first for the Brown line and then for the Red.

I didn’t want to come back on Sunday because it would still mean taking an Uber, and I decided to work from home on Monday, especially since it would be the last day Boris and I would be alone (I will have people staying with me during the conference).

Based on what I was told on Saturday, I headed to the Apple Store right after lunch. When I arrived, I was told that the wait time for repair would be three hours, “because we are busy,” and I still don’t understand why this couldn’t be scheduled. I can’t go anywhere without my phone because even my Ventra card isn’t physical anymore. And in any case, it’s 30 min in one direction.

It ended up being three and a half hours, and given where I am now with work, conference, and stuff, I am beyond mad. I had a couple of other maddening things today, all related to time wasted, so it’s very difficult for me to get into a calm mood.

A Long Bike Ride

On Sunday, Boris and I planned a long bike ride with a breakfast stop at Lea. For anyone else, Boris would be considered an Early Bird, but he still does not feel that a wake-up time of 4:30 AM is normal, so we compromise :).

We left the house at 5:40 AM with the goal of going as far south as we could, so we’d be back at Lea by 8 AM. There was a really strong wind from the south, so at some point, I regretted making these plans, but in the end, I was happy we went!

Below are some pictures from the Lake Front South; each time I go there, I do not want to go back north. I wish I could fly to Monroe Harbor each time I am going for a morning bike ride, and then bike south…