Category: everyday life

Bike Repair

I planned to take my bike for maintenance when Boris was in town even before I got a flat tire last Sunday, and then I had to take care of both. On Saturday, I called the bike shop to check that they were open and started walking in their direction. It would take about 20 minutes because I couldn’t walk fast when I was walking my bike along, and I dreaded the situation. But just when I exited the alley and turned to Jarvis Square, I saw a Curbside Bicycles pop-up – it was so timely, I couldn’t believe I was so lucky!

The repair person said she could change the inner tube, but she kept looking down at my bike and asked: is it all you want to do? I admitted that I needed a full checkup, and I had concerns about the chain as it started to fall off too often. She measured it and said – yes, you need a chain replacement and probably a cassette replacement as well. It was 10-30, and I said that I needed to go somewhere at 3, so she said she would be done by then.

She texted me at 2-30, and I went down to pick up the bike. She gave me a complete description of what she noticed and what she had done, and that the brakes would still be noisy, but there was no technical concern there. She described the thorn she pulled out of my back wheel and how it almost looked like a nail!

The time saving and the level of service were not even close to what I would get otherwise, so I consider this business competition to be won by Curbside Bicycles!

And Now There Are Three

My newest orchid

Five Days Before TheConference

My two colleagues (one remote from Texas and one from our London office) arrived in Chicago on Saturday night, and I spent the whole Sunday showing them Chicago my way. We started with the Architectural Cruise, and then I showed Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, The Art Institute, Chagall’s mosaic, and the first skyscrapers. We made it around the Loop on the Pink Line and went back to see the Chicago Public Library and the Fine Arts Building.

I left behind several old skyscrapers, Picasso, and the Riverwalk, but it’s only that much you can fit in one day. I mean, I could feet more, but I’m afraid the guests reached their Chicago capacity limit:)

Boris arrived last night, and he only told me a day earlier that he had been sick for that whole week. Now he has no voice at all, so I it looks like I will have to find another room host!

The WBEZ Chicago Showdown Champion

I voted for this Chicago Icon in all rounds!

Books

At some point, I bought tons of books on Audible, thinking that I could still return them if I didn’t like them or if I decided not to read them. However, they changed their return policies (and it was probably a good call!), so I ended up with a lot of never-opened books. Since they were already on my phone, I decided to give them a try, and many of them turned out to be not bad at all!

Code Name Blue Wren. I picked this book because it was in the Women’s Month recommended reading from CPL (from last year!). The description (a Cuban female spy) was intriguing, but when I started to listen, it felt boring, and I abandoned it. I resumed reading several months later, and finally, I was into this book. The most interesting was trying to understand the psychology of a person who turned against the country that gave them so much…

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. It’s a short story; I can’t tell why I liked it; I guess it’s just the timing was right.

The 19th Wife. I learned something about different aspects of polygamy that I hadn’t thought about before and about what is especially damaging to it. I am still unsure whether I should have spent that much time on it, though.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold. That was the book we read for our Book Club, and I really enjoyed it, although I can’t quite put my finger on why. During our discussion at the Book Club meeting, I suggested that it might be because I often reflect on whether I would have wanted something in my life to be different. However, I always come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t change anything in my past because everything I’ve done in the past has made me the person I am today.

Before Your Memory Fades. Book #3 (I believe) from the same series. During our book club discussion, somebody mentioned that “Before coffee gets cold” has a sequel, but “it is way worse.” I didn’t believe them and bought the book. It turned out that they were right!

Most Delicious Poison. Spices, medicine, poison – they all come from the same plants, there difference is in the quantity.

The Quiet Girl. One more book from last year’s Women’s History Month recommendations. Don’t know what to make out of it. It was definitely a captivating reading, but I do not think that I would miss something if I would never read it.

I still have several books from the last-year supply, and one new book from our reading club, and one more…

Theo: A Tribute To Sondheim

I finally found clips from yesterday’s performance!

Weekend

I got on my other bike, and went for not a really long one, but for a reasonably long ride. And then, I met with my friend MaryAnn at Theo Ubique Cabaret for dinner and the show. Everything was amazing as always, and we had a great time. I actually didn’t worry about “what awaits me” and felt rested and prepared for all of the challenges of the upcoming week.

At least, I hope so!

Fort Sheridan: Early Spring

I am so glad that I planned a trip to Fort Sheridan for this Saturday! I put it on my calendar several weeks ago, thinking that I needed to have it on my calendar; otherwise, I won’t go at all because there will always be something more important. I was thinking for a while that I needed to take my mom there because I knew she would love it, and that although she can’t tell it, she misses nature outings. It turned out that she almost forgot our Deer Grove Forest Preserve frequent walks, but she enjoyed that one just the way I hoped for – she said that it can’t be captured on camera and can’t be described – you need to experience it.

I will take a picture of this tree each season!

The Series Of Unfortunate Events

It was an ideal morning for a long bike ride. I left the house before dawn with all intentions of having the first long bike ride of the season. I had gloves on and a bag with wipes so that I could fix the chain if it fell off. I was biking and thinking about how well I was prepared, how I had an injury last May that ruined a big chunk of my summer, and how it would not happen again.

And then…. I ran over a small branch on the bike path and got a flat tire! It was so dumb that I could easily avoid it! It was 28 minutes into my ride, which means I was pretty far into it! The closest CTA stop was Thorndale, and I started my walk there. It was not much fun when I needed to walk the bike, and it took me pretty much the same time to reach the station. When I climbed up holding my bike (no elevator), I looked at the train tracker and saw that the next train was in 27 minutes!!! I cursed – but what could I do?! I stood at the platform for the train in my direction and suddenly saw a train approaching from the opposite direction! I thought – well, that looks like there is a problem somewhere on the tracks, I guess I need to wait. Five minutes later, I saw a train in my direction, going on the far track without stopping! I was: what’s going on?! I still waited, the tracker showed 23 min, then, one more train in the wrong direction stopped, and one of the passengers told me: you need to go in that direction and then go back!

It was only then that I opened the CTA web page and read the Red Line alerts: they were doing track repair, and the trains in the North direction didn’t stop “from Thorndale through Jarvis.” I cursed again but now had to wait for the next train South. (And Sunday trains are, to put it mildly, not so frequent). Finally, the train arrived, and having checked the CTA website (Thorndale through Jarvis), I stepped out on the platform and brought my bike down again to switch to the opposite direction, and only when I was down, and I didn’t see others stairs up, I remembered, that Bryn Marw works only in one direction until the new station will be built. So, I had to bring my bike up again and wait for yet another train South. The next stop, Berwyn, is closed until God knows what time for renovation, so I could only exit on Argyle. Then there was one piece of good luck because the train North was standing on the other side, and at least I didn’t have to go down and up again. Only when I was on board and heard the announcement did I realize that “thorough Jarvis” meant that it would not stop at Jarvis! So… I had to go to Howard, and escalator up and stairs down, and wait again, and finally got home, plus one more stairs down.

I returned home two and a half hours after I left in the morning, having biked for less than half an hour!

This post attempts to make lemonade from lemons, so please, no condolences!

Elijah At CSO

On Thursday, I went to listen to Mendelssohn’s Elijah in the CSO: I needed to replace two matinee concerts for which I was going to take my mom and which I couldn’t make because of my schedule changes. I hadn’t heard Elijah before and was slightly unsure how the two-and-a-half hours of oratorio would go with my mom (and with me, for that matter).

And it turned out to be two-and-a-half hours of such joy that it was almost difficult to keep being joyful 🙂

Mom loved it and said that she never thought Mendelssohn would write something like that :). As usual, she did find things to complain about, but that was minor.

The CSO has an Instagram post about this concert; you can scroll to see the pictures of the singers, but unfortunately, you can’t hear them. I didn’t find any recordings with this particular cast; if I will find it, I will add a link here.

I wondered why it was performed in English, and then I learned that its premier was in English and that there were both English and German versions from the start.

After a questionable Aida last week, it was such a delight! The impeccable voices, the moving music, and all the performers united by the great masterpiece – it couldn’t be better!