Category: everyday life

The War Zone

Yes, I am very well aware that many people live in real war zones, and it might be insulting to them to call the current Chicago situation “the war zone,” but there are too many episodes that feel a lot like it.

When Y visited me yesterday, we talked about the raids; I knew that she was very reluctant to travel across the city when things are so unstable. I asked her why she was afraid – after all, ICE is mainly going after Latinos, but she replied: Oh no, they take Black people as well!

Now, that I watched several news clips, I see what she meant!

I am unsure whether YouTube pieces are visible to people outside the US, but if they are, you would understand the public outrage. Also, here is a SunTimes article (this one should be available to non-subscribers).

When the ICE agents jump from the helicopter to the roof of the building to conduct arrests, I don’t know what else I can add to this picture.

Also, as it turned out, Trump did not deploy the National Guard to Chicago (it was very confusing on the evening news yesterday, so today’s update is that he wants,  but the deployment is temporarily blocked by the Federal Court, so we are unsure what will happen next).

I spoke with Vlad and Dylan today; they are following the Chicago news and say they stay optimistic, trying to do the right things. They told me that National Guards actually do less harm than ICE, because they are professionally trained military people, while ICE personnel are extremely unprofessional, receive very little training, and just show off. And I second that.

The Chicago Threads are filled with messages of support for Chicago, and “stay strong!” and “there are more of us than them.” All of this gives me a lot of hope, and reassurence that we will win this fight.

Why?

Why is it true that all brilliant ideas come to your mind when you take a shower? It’s something preverbial, but it is absolutely true! Yes, I might get that you need “to sleep on it,” but why not when you are brushing your teeth or when you are walking? It always happens in the shower!

CTA Vintage Car Ride

Yesterday, I received a surprise email from CTA, announcing the vintage L-train ride around the Loop (to celebrate the 78th anniversary of the CTA)

Today, when I spoke to the volunteers on the train, they told me that they purposely announced it at the last minute to avoid the crowds. There was still quite a crowd, as they kept saying, “pre-pandemic ridership level.”

And it was so much fun! The train was almost 100 years old, and it had been in service for fifty years!

Everything in the car was exactly like it looked in the 20s-30s, plus some later advertisements, and the conductor announced the stops using the hand-held radio.

All The Things I Worry About

I was very happy on Sunday, when I returned to Chicago: it was so warm! I went for a long bike ride, and then to the market, and then to the beach, and then we all gathered to celebrate Igor’s birthday.

And then, the reality hit. There were several unexpected things at work (I can’t go into details here, but I expected something to be done while I was away, and it was not, so I could not keep my promise to the customer to finish something else, and it was all extremely stressful).

Next, all things in Chicago that are going wrong: I learned about the exhibit of power in the Loop over the weekend, and about multiple horrible things that happened, and about the new threat from Trump to go to war with Chicago (and I am still paralyzed with uncertainty).

And then, another set of troubles with Prairie Postgres registration. As it turned out, the Charitable Bureau sent us a letter on September 11, and this letter got lost. I am glad I figured out that was the case, but now we need to pay the late registration fee and submit a whole bunch of new paperwork along with all the “old” ones.

I am very close to saying it’s too much for me to handle, which makes me feel even worse because other people around me have more serious problems to solve.

On the brighter side, my almost three-week-long case with Eventzilla tech support was finally resolved. Things are not working perfectly, but at least I figured out the workaround, and I am now able to send registration links to people, so I am grateful for that.

I hope to get at least some of these issues resolved, if not tomorrow, then by the end of the week.

Sunday Sunrise

And Now H1B

I don’t know what to say. There are so many people affected by this new executive order, especially all those who have just graduated. I talked to several people this morning, trying to tell them to stay calm and wait. Because I hope that this decision will be either reverted or a million exceptions will be added. Otherwise, it could be an economic collapse.

The Only True Emergency

For the past year or two, I have always written my schedule for mom on the whiteboard in her kitchen, listing when I will visit her, when I call her, and when I just email her because I would return home too late to call. Since she does not understand that “life happens,” and sometimes things can be delayed, I always add some extra time, and most times, I schedule emails instead of sending them when I am actually on my way home.

On Thursday, I was at Joffrey Ballet, and was immensely enjoying every moment of the performance when I saw a call from my mom coming up on my watch. Everything was on silent, of course, so I just clicked the hang-up button, but a minute later the call repeated. I pressed the red button again, and five minutes later, I saw a text message coming from my mom’s caregiver. You might imagine how I felt; however, I waited for the second intermission, and then got out into the foyer and looked at the text message. Since the message was simply I need to talk to you,” I dialed back, and it turned out that it was nothing related to my mom (and she didn’t know I was at the show). I answered her questions, and scheduled the email to my mom for the time I will be out of the theater: “Hi, all good, I am on my way home. I saw that you called. Perhaps you forgot I am watching a ballet tonight, but I hope you figured it out by now. Talk to you tomorrow!”

When I was already on the Red line. (and my scheduled email went out), I saw my mom calling me! She never calls me after nine, and it was 10:40, so to say I was surprised would be an understatement. I picked up the call and heard her shouting: I already took my dentures out, and my hearing aid out, but I saw your message and I wanted to let you know that my internet is down!”

Yes, that’s the only thing she considers an emergency, and that’s the only time she calls me …well, any time!

I emailed her a reminder about how to turn her modem off and back on. On Friday morning, she called me at work to report that this didn’t help, and she wouldn’t listen to my explanation that I really can’t talk at work. In the evening, since things were still not working, I asked Igor to stop by her, and it turned out that she accidentally put her computer into flight mode! I would never guess!

Nature In The City

I went for a bird-watching session for the first time in my life! The only reason I could do it was that I was leaving for Finland today and therefore didn’t have my usual gigantic list of Saturday activities. And also, it was just a five-minute walk from my house.

I actually learned something! I was able to spot a bird at least four times! Obviously, it would take me forever to memorize the local birds, and I will never be able to identify dozens of species at first glance as our guide Scott can, but still – I got it! I actually got a feeling of how to follow a bird and to direct your binoculars right there!

The birds I was able to spot (all pictures are from the internet, of course!)

Pine Warbler
Yellow warbler
Starling
Flicker
Brown thrasher

I am sure I won’t be able to identify them by myself, except possibly the yellow warbler and the starling – it was able to spot them several times, but as I said, it was a new experience, and I enjoyed it!

Carmen At Joffrey

I do not think there was any week when I wouldn’t say “the week was crazy,” but the past two weeks were something! Not the worst days at work, but combined with an avalanche of conference-related issues I had to address, it was a perfect storm. At the same time, so many positive things happened that I can’t complain.

I was thinking about this paradox when I was walking towards the Lyric Opera building today: the ICE raids and everything that ICE is doing and Trump is saying are constant reasons to worry. Users at work are “creative” beyond imagination. Big and small things awaiting my intervention are piling up. I feel tired like I am ready to drop down and fall asleep on the spot.

And still – how full my life is! How thankful I am for a myriad of things!

Today, I did something I do not do very often: I worked from home for the only reason: to be able to take a break at the beach (because I am traveling next week, and any beach day can be the last for that season). And BTW, I am not packed for my trip. And what a gift! The air was 75F, the water was 72F, the sun was kissing, not burning, and there was no wind. And the same as on Sunday, I almost forgot to go back to work on time 🙂

But the best thing was in the evening – the Joffrey Ballet opening night! Carmen! A very long show, but good to the last drop! To the last note! It was great from the beginning, and was getting better and better every minute!

They took Bizet music, and told the whole unabridged story with all details, using the language of choreography, with humor, and tender, and passion, as only Joffrey ballet can do. My favorite ballet company ever :).

I hope they will post some videos later, but no promotional trailer would be able to show all the small details that made it so perfect, all facial expressions which I could clearly see from my row E 🙂

It’s Beach Time!

The warm weather finally returned, but two stretches of cold days definitely brought the water temperature down, although it was still warmer than in June. Still, I was surprised when my Kenyan friend M. expressed enthusiasm for going to the beach; I thought she would find the Michigan water unacceptably cold. Still, she put the beach high in her list of priorities, and I didn’t mind at all! In fact, even if she won’t be visiting, I would take Friday afternoon off, because it was perfect beach weather!

I cant even describe how much we both enjoyed this outing!

And my old swimsuit found a new home. 😀