Last week, I had my first positive encounter with AI. I needed to reschedule the A/C maintenance, and I forgot to do this during the business hours. I called shortly after five, hoping that maybe they are still open, or I could leave a message, and the call was picked-up by an AI assistance, who introduced herself. And I might not even figure out that she was AI, if she won’t say so. Not like completely unrecognizable, but a striking difference from the automated answering system; it was an absolutely “human” conversation. She said that “she got it,” and my appointment changed to the day I requested. I was still not sure whether I could rely on her answer that everything was set, and I called the office a couple days later and they confirmed that my appointment was indeed changed.
I was most impressed when she asked me to spell my last name :)).
Ninety-five minutes of sitting still and holding my breath! This play, by and large, exceeded my expectations!
If you are wondering how much this play is related to the famous H.G. Wells book, the answer is – very little! Yes, it’s about the Marician invasion on Earth, but the action takes place in the US, and even more specifically in Illinois, at some fictional point in time. There are definite hints that the action takes place in the past, but at the same time, it’s a sharp satire on nowadays media, television, reporting, politicians, and what else. All the characters are unmistakably recognizable, so you can’t stop laughing (or crying)!
I am ashamed to say that I didn’t know anything about the book “It Takes Chutzpah” until I saw the advertisement for the library event. And I should be even more ashamed that I didn’t know who Senator Wyden was.
The only reason I made a note about this event was the mention of Governor Pritzker being a part of this conversation. I checked out what this book was about, asserting the topic and the fact that the Governor thought it’s worth reading prompted me to get a book and mark my calendar.
I put aside the book I was listening to at that time, and started to listen to the Senator Wyden ‘s book. When I learned which initiatives and legistlations he championed, I became really ashamed, and thought that my knowledge of the Senators is tilted towards the Midwest :).
I came to the library about 30 minutes before the event start, and there was a line (these events are not ticketed).
When they let us in, I hurried up to get the good seat. What I should have done was to get a copy of that book in the hallway by the auditorium, but it didn’t occur to me that they could bo sold out – which happened to be the case! I didn’t need the paper book for myself, but since I already read it, I thought that I wanted Igor to have it, especially when I could get a signed copy.
The event was livestreamed, and if you have 40 minutes to spare, I think it’s totally worth it.
As for the books, a person right before me in the line, got the last copy! For me and everyone behind in in the line, they offered an option to sign an insert which they will paste into the book when it will arrive, so I hope to have one which I signed for Igor in a week or so.
Also, you know how I always ruin the photos having my eyes closed?! This time, when they took a photo of me with the Senator, I was OK, but his eyes were closed!!! No luck!
In the spirit of my recent listen, Embrace Discomfort (5 hours in a semi-wild environment, once a month), I decided to spend one of the days of this long weekend at Fort Sheridan. And the book is just an excuse, although I really liked it! I love going to Fort Sheridan, and I only needed a small push – I knew I would enjoy it! I didn’t spend the whole five hours there, but I had a great time! Surprisingly, it was warmer there than in Rogers Park, or maybe it’s just that the wind was not so strong. And I didn’t even listen to an audiobook or anything – just the birds and the roaring of the waves!
I learned about this museum on WBEZ (the third museum in Chicago, which I discovered on the radio!). It has been on my list for a while, and I had different ideas about with whom I should go there, but I ended up going by myself this Saturday. I really enjoyed this visit, and now I am thinking who I should invite to go with me next time 😀.
It was my first outing with the repaired right eye, and I do not know what exactly changed, but it was way easier for me to read all the signs. Somehow, things stopped duplicating at that distance, and lines stopped running away.
As for the museum itself, I could easily spend twice more time there (which I would probably do next time!) Tons of pictures below.
It’s funny that something that should be a major event in my life is just one of many good things that happened during the last week.
Since the time my left eye became so much better than my right eye after the lens replacement, I knew I wanted to do something with the right eye :). Who would have known things could be so much better! The same surgeon who did my last surgery and who is a true miracle worker, told me he can do Lasik on my right eye, and that was enough for me to say yes! With any other surgeon, I would be skeptical.
It took a while to find the date when the surgery could be done (I had to stop wearing a contact lens five days before, and I was traveling non-stop). I chose May 23, so that the surgery would be “after everything”. Also, I ordered temporary glasses for these several days. It was a complete waste of money, but I was glad I did, because I had five events during these five days! It was still extremely uncomfortable, but I managed 🙂
The surgery itself was very quick and uneventful. (I felt mildly stressed because I had to wait for a long time before they started, but that was it.) I asked not to administer sedatives, because I didn’t want to ask anybody to escort me home. They still gave me a local anasthesia, and everything was fine. It’s weird when you see and feel somebody messing with your eye😀, but not a big deal. I saw better immediately, although it was supposed to happen later. I still feel like my eyes do not work completely together, so it’s like I see with each eye better than with two together, but we will figure it out 🙂
And if you think about it, it’s amazing how much medical science has advanced in recent years!
One more “first time” this week – I went to a concert at the Guarneri Hall. It’s a shame I didn’t know about its existence until I heard the story on WBEZ. Since then, I have tried to find a concert that I would love to attend, that I could attend, and one that is not sold out! Finally, all stars aligned, and I was there on Thursday!
It is a former recording studio in the heart of the city, with only forty people’s capacity, that delivers an unmatched experience for any music lover. I can’t even describe the difference in the quality of the sound it makes. I sat with my mouth open for the duration of the concert!
It turned out that they have a reception after each concert; I didn’t stay because I didn’t feel right staying for just fifteen minutes and leaving, but I will definitely plan to stay next time.
Thursday was the day when they announced the next season and opened the sales, and I already got two tickets, and now I’m torn between wanting to purchase each and every concert and not wanting to risk wasting money if I won’t be able to attend. I will do one more swap :).
The past several days, starting with my return from PGConf.dev, were densely filled with various community activities.
On Sunday, I went to the Chicago Code and Coffee meetup (I planned to do this for a couple of months, but ran into a conflict each time).
It was as loud and loosely organized as it could possibly be with over three hundred nerds in one not-so-large space. The Capital Cafe decided to sponsor the meetup with free drinks, and everyone took advantage of this opportunity. I thought I would not survive in this noise level, but the organizer allowed me to speak immediately after the volunteers, so I was able to advertise my events and myself :). As a result, I have several people joined our new user group, and several RSVPs to Tuesday event.
On Tuesday, I hosted a second meetup of Prairie PUG. Inspired by what I saw at DevOpsDay Chicago, I announced the Developers’ Summit and invited application developers who use Postgres to discuss their pain points and possible solutions. I planned this event for a while, but had to postpone it several times. Finally, i was able to make it a reality.
It went really well (I neglected to take pictures of the group discussions, and only took some during the final presentations, but it was a definite success). The conversations continued after we were done with the “official” part and went back to the cafe for remaining pizza.
Then on Wednesday, I went to yet another meetup! it was the 10th anniversary of AWS meetup. I was planning to start attending this meetup, but for one reason or the other, it never worked. It almost didn’t work this time as well, because there was one more event on the same evening, but I decided I can come for just an hour, and it will be better than nothing!
I came, and talked to the organizers, and also found out that several of the Postgres meetup members attended the AWS meetup as well. I talked with several people, and told them about Prairie Postgres, and distributed my flyers. I saw that two more people joined my meetup next day, so it was not completely useless!
Another event I wanted to attend on the same day was a local CAPS beat meeting. I consider these meetings of police with local residents very important; it was unfortunate that I had so many conflicts this year and could barely attend any of them. This time, I was a little bit late, but was still able to sit through most of the meeting. Out Beat representatives talked about the crime statistics, asked about the incidents we observed on our blocks, explained which apps to use to report crimes, potentially dangerous situations and problems which do not require police involvement. I picked up several flyers for future reference.
I think it was my mistake that I ignored all “other” meetups in the past, and I am glad I started to change it. Overall, I feel like slowly starting to get back to my “normal self.”
I was shopping for plants outside the Charmer’s (yes, they are a flower shop in addition to being a cafe). A group of bikers exited the cafe and walked towards their bikes. I overheard them continuing their conversation:”… and look, maybe you will live here one day! It’s a nice place!” I couldn’t keep from smiling, and one of them saw my smile and asked: “Do you agree?” I said, “Yes, that’s the right place to live!” They turned to me: How long did you live here? Did you live in other Chicago neighborhoods before that? Ans I told them that that’s one of the best decisions I made, and I didn’t regret a single day!
When I bought this apartment, I had to fix many things just to move in. I had a limited budget and limited time, so I decided that the floors could wait. Retrospectively, if I had known back then how fast I could get the floors fixed, I might have reconsidered, but it probably won’t fit my budget anyway.
Then I was busy with other things, and didn’t have mental energy to start this project, until finally I realized I can’t look at the floors with so many bald spots anymore. I call the person who did all my painting jobs for the past three years, and he connected me to a partnering business. They did an absolutely miraculous job!
We agreed that they will work during the week I will be in Montreal. They had to move the furniture twice, and let the floor dry in between. I wanted to keep the same color, but stain the floors instead of painting, and they did exactly that! The color is just like it was, but now I can see the wood structure. The whole apartment looks so new, just “out of the box.”
Also, they actually finished a day earlier, because they wanted to make sure everything is done before I arrive. The put a couple of furniture pieces in the wrong places, but when I mentioned that, tw people came the next morning and put everything back. And I can’t stop admiring my floors 🙂
Hettie's Reflections 