Category: everyday life

The Health Coverage

Mom received the approval letter for the Illinois Health Choice program, and I still can’t believe it’s all over! Too good to be true.

It was a ridiculously complicated process, and if it weren’t for Igor, nothing would happen.

From the first day in the US, mom used Access To Care, which is a charity to provide routine healthcare for those who, for any reason, are not eligible for Medicaid. or any other insurance. This program operates in Northwest suburban Cook county. When I told mom’s doctor that we are moving, she said they also cover Evanston and Rogers Park. But it turned out that our zip code is not eligible, and we had to look for alternatives.

After some research, Igor found that program mom could be eligible for: the program for older immigrants who spent less than 5 years in the US and are not yet eligible for Medicare. 

 I tried to submit my mom’s application online. Still, I got weird errors, and I had no time to continue during work hours when we could get customer assistance. 

So Igor spent two hours of his time to complete and submit her application. Later, however, she received a letter that they need her proff of income and some other proof of her status. With her income, it was interesting because we could only provide a statement from a Russian bank (in rubles), but that was all we had. Not relying on the mail, Irog went to their office and dropped the copies.

A week passed, and nobody called back. When a financial counselor from the emergency room called me, I explained the situation. She said she would follow up with the office. Only after that, the Health office called me back and asked what roubles mean and what’s the exchange rate!  

Ten days later, mom got yet another letter asking for proof of status. Since we already sent it twice, I called the office and left a message. They returned my call the next day, looked through mom’s file, and said: oh yes, she has everything! And proof of residence! You

are all good. 

So what it was, I have no idea, but yesterday, mom finally received a welcome letter! She has a doctor assigned, and this doctor is a ten-minute walk from her home! And this State program is tons better than what she had before!

The Crowds On The Streets

The crowds on the streets of Chicago during the past weekend were ginormous! It was not even pre-covid level; it was more than that! It was like being in New York on the New Year’s Eve.

Lena and I opted to wear masks outside most of the time because the crowds didn’t make it much better than inside. Who needs Lalapaloose with such crowds! (they said that Lala ended up not being a super-spreader after all). 

On Friday, our office building issued a mask mandate inside, and today, it was officially announced by the City. I am perfectly fine with that; as I already said multiple times, I would rather do things masked than not do things. 

Also, remember all these subscriptions I as purchasing in the past several weeks? Today, all the entertainment establishments sent out emails of proof of vaccination required to attend the event. It was decided by the League of Chicago Theatres. During the past several weeks, some of them even sent out surveys asking the patrons how they would react to the vaccination mandate. I was happy to answer – yes, I support it! 

Dr. Alyson Awdrey said during the press conference today, that the number of infected people per day in Chicago, although it has risen several times since June (from less than 100 to over 400), is still way below the 2,000 cases per day in winter. 

I hope that people will get vaccinated!

I Have An Out-Of-Town Guest!

I have a first out-of-town guest who is not a family member! Lena came to visit me from Ann Arbor, and it feels like in the old days, only it is easier now to get to all city attractions. She arrived Friday afternoon, and I started work early in the morning so that I could be done for the day by 3 PM.

After a brief tour of my new place, we headed to the Loop. We went to the Art Institute and saw Obama Portraits and Bisa Butler exhibits; then we went to the Millennium Park for the Classic Broadway concert, and then we strolled the night Riverwalk, and we even had time to have a late-night tea on my balcony!

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Funny Thing Happened Today

When I opened my apartment door and stepped into the kitchen, I could tell right away that it is warm. The past several days were incredibly hot, and each time I stepped inside my apartment, I felt the coolness. Toda, however, I could tell that the temperature in the apartment is the same as outside.

I had a thousand thoughts right away. I thought: I just told a number of people that the severe weather didn’t damage anything in my apartment! And that I didn’t have a power outage. And that I thought I wouldn’t need to replace an air conditioner before spring. And which repair service should I call? 

I was already counting my losses of time and money when I felt that it is starting to cool down. I checked the thermostat – the temperature was indeed coming down!

It was only then that I realized that today was the first day in two weeks that I came home before the time the air conditioner thinks I should be home and starts to cool the apartment!

I immediately remembered what my neighbor said the other day. I asked him where he was – I haven’t seen him for the whole week. He replied with the question: where have you being for the whole week?

  • I was working!
  • See – that’s what I mean: you should be at home more!

I guess, he is right!

That’s How I Go Shopping These Days

Last time Boris was here, he talked me into using the bike’s luggage rack. Before that’ I was a little bit sceptical about my abilities to keep the balance/ Also, I didn’t realize how much stuff you can carry on your bike this way. Now, I am shopping at Devon Market, and at once a week the Glenwood Street Market.

And I am planningt to use my bike for shopping as soon long as possible (not sure how winter will look like)

Severe Weather

Today is the third day in a row with an excessive heat warning. For the past two days, the heat was accompanied by severe thunderstorms. Yesterday, I went to Siskel Center to watch While Sheikh – the first movie of Fellini’s centennial retrospective.

There was no rain forecasted for yesterday, except for some possibility later in the evening, and since the event was indoors, I thought I would be fine.

There was no rain all day, but when the movie was over, and I was about to exit, I saw that people are crowded by the exit – the rain outside was heavy! I thought I am lucky that the entrance to the Red Line is right in front of the Siskel Center doors and promptly ran there, thinking that I got it light. Well…

Inside the station, I heard the announcement that the traffic on both the Red Line and the Brown Line is stopped because there are trees on the tracks in both cases! I thought of getting out and calling Uber. But then I thought that it is raining like crazy, and many people will be calling Uber, so I might have to wait long, and that it will cost at least fifty bucks under the circumstances. So I waited, listening to announcements and hoping for some positive news.

Forty minutes later, I gave up and left the station to call Uber. And I was right – I was picked up by the second driver (the first canceled), and yes, it cost my 50+ bucks. but at least the rain almost stopped :).

How To Foster Diversity

Just published on my professional blog

Hettie D.'s avatarThe World of Data

Some time ago, I had a conversation about supporting diversity in academia. A person I was talking with asked me what concrete and specific actions would help increase diversity and give opportunities to individuals who can’t succeed in the academic world otherwise. For a while, I was thinking about a good answer. But the more I thought, the more I felt I need to answer another question first.

The question is,whydo we need diversity and inclusion? Many people genuinely believe that diversity and inclusion are buzz words, that it is “fashionable” to talk about diversity, or even worse, that this concept is invented by democrats, or lefts, or communists, or anybody else who corrupts our youth in the universities – you name it.

But the truth is that we all – we as a society, we as a country, we as humanity – all need to foster diversity.

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… And Music Again!

Just a week ago, I wrote about the live concerts, how much I missed them, and how I can’t get enough of them now. But today’s concert stands out even among this season’s excellent programs.
Today, Augustin Haidelich performed Sibelius Violin Concerto, and I do not have proper words to describe my emotions. I didn’t hear of this concert before, and it carried me away from the very first sound. I was so beautiful; I was barely holding tears after ten minutes of the performance.

The music was becoming more and more beautiful with every note. I felt as if my heart is going to explode.
I didn’t know that Sibelius dreamed of becoming a violin virtuoso but lacked the necessary motor skills. In the performance program notes, they cited one of the music critics:

Here is one of the ew concertos that speak Sibelius’s dearest wish to become a great virtuoso Every time this music is performed, the audience hears a love letter written to the violinist Sibelius was never able to become.

I felt it more like an orgy than a love letter, but I can wholeheartedly agree with the level of emotions :).

There was a standing ovation at the end of this piece, and Haidelich went for the encore.

I found multiple recordings of this concerto online.

The Siskel Center Reopening

The Siskel Center is opening tomorrow, but they had a sneak preview of one of the movies yesterday – free for the members.

Both Igor and I signed up, not for this particular movie but for the sake of being a part of reopening. 

Yesterday morning, the Siskel Center sent out an email saying that they need to limit the occupancy of the theaters to 50% of capacity and that some people who already signed might not be able to attend. 

They didn’t tell us when the doors will be opened, so when Igor and I stopped to check out the situation at 5-50, there was already a small line:). 

Long story short: we believe that everybody who came was seated after all, and we didn’t have to come over an hour in advance. 

As for the movie itself – I am not sure what to make out of it. We both agreed that we would rather have some other movie for the opening night. For me, it felt like a waste of time to spend two and a half hours stating that one shall not kill, that jealousy is bad and that the child’s talents should not be exploited. And all of that with some creepy elements. 

But I will let more cinematography-wise people decide.

The movie: Annette

Visiting Michigan

Over the weekend, I was at the beach house of my son-in-law’s family. His mother was trying to organize this trip for a very long time, and each time, something didn’t work. We finally made it, and I was also able to convince my mom to go. The weather was absolutely perfect- very warm and sunny, but not too hot. There is a real forest surrounding the house, and the water is as clean as it can be. Of course, that also meant more time with Anna, John, and the girls.

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