Category: everyday life

Newly Discovered Pictures Of The Great Chicago Fire

We know that cameras and photographs already existed at the time of the Great Chicago Fire. And we all saw the photographs which were taken during those days. However, one hundred and fifty years ago, there was a disconnect between technologies: the cameras were able to capture way more details that could be printed.

The glass negatives were huge, and the prints were small. And the most disappointing part is that most of the negative didn’t survive. Not all of them, however! And can you imagine what could happen when the exceptional quality of the glass negatives was combined with the digital printing technologies?! Now, you can see the results at this exhibit. The wall-size prints, including a panorama combined of five different shots taken from the roof of the survived warehouse.

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Being In Control Of My Life

Last Saturday, I planned to go to Milwaukee to spend a day with my girls, finally exploring Milwaukee Downtown. But Anna texted me on Friday morning that all three of them had a cold. She said: and I blame Putin for that! As funny as it sounds, being under stress can indeed lessen your natural immunity. And actually, I also got a non-COVID cold by Saturday morning. We both checked the new feed constantly and could not switch to anything productive; I could not tell where my days were going – it looked like I was busy all the time but still didn’t accomplish anything.

Two major “highlights” of the first two days included knocking off the kitchen counter a percolator just after the brewing process was over. I thought the lid was tight, but not enough: almost all the coffee was spilled all over the countertops and the floor.

The next day, I accidentally put both of my contacts in the same eye!!! And it took me at least fifteen minutes to figure out what was going wrong!

After that second accident, I decided that enough was enough. And as one of my friends set, we should not let Putin rob us of our entire lives.

Doing nothing but refreshing the news feed all day long does not benefit anybody and does not help anybody. Since then, I have been trying to do as many normal activities as possible, including going to concerts and exhibits. And keep looking for ways to be helpful.

Moscow Is Not Chicago Sister City Anymore

From Chicago Tribune:

After nearly three dozen aldermen called for Chicago’s Sister Cities relationship with Moscow to be suspended while the Russian war on Ukraine is ongoing, Mayor Lori Lightfoot directed World Business Chicago to do just that.

“While this is not a decision I enter into lightly, we must send an unambiguous message: we strongly condemn all actions by the Putin regime. This suspension will be upheld until the end of hostilities against Ukraine and the Putin regime is held accountable for its crimes,” Lightfoot said. “We must continue to support freedom-loving people everywhere and ordinary Russians in their desire to be free.”

The move is largely symbolic but highlights the ongoing condemnation toward Russia throughout the world after Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, 33 Chicago City Council members signed onto a proposed order suspending Moscow’s Sister City status.

Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv is among Chicago’s 27 remaining Sister Cities, whose roster also includes Bogotá, Colombia; Accra, Ghana; Osaka, Japan; and Warsaw, Poland. Chicago formalized its Sisters Cities program under former Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1990, the proposed order states.

The document calls for the immediate return of gifts, materials or services provided by a revoked participant and states that it won’t be considered for readmittance “until normal diplomatic relations are reinstated.”

Protest Against Invasion Of Ukraine

Today’s rally attendance was great, but I am still resentful that 1) it was in the Ukrainian Village, which is not easy to reach, and 2) there were still way more Ukrainians than everybody else combined. I am still disappointed in Chicagoans remaining indifferent to what’s happening.
To be fair, I was very happy with all the officials being there. The crowd gasped when it was announced that Governor Pritzker was in attendance. Mayor Lory, our favorite Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Danny Davis, who represents the Ukrainian Village in the US Congress, all attended the rally.

Igor was able to stay for the whole duration of the event, and I hope he took better pictures than I did. I just saw that Tribune posted an article about the rally, so I will steal a couple of pictures from there.

And below are some of my pictures:

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Renovated Palatine Public Library

On Thursday, I was in Palatine (one-before-last dental appointment; after some hesitations, I decides to make a crow on the implant at my old dentist, and to switch after that). I used this opportunity to meet with one of my Palatine friends before the appointment. We went for a walk around my old familiar places, and then, she showed me the renovated Palatine Public Library. The renovation was discussed while I still lived there, but I haven’t seen the final result.

What I saw, was impressive, and I am really happy for Palatine!

And In Case You Haven’t Seen It..

There are English captions

The Lake Last Monday

 Last Monday, it was suddenly so warm that I decided to go biking. The necessity to bike on the roads has one great advantage – the roads are the first to be cleared from the snow, and you do not need to wait an extra couple of weeks until the snow melts. 

It was warm and foggy, and everything around looked a little bit surreal in the mist.

But when I finally reached the starting point of the Lake Front Trail, I saw a picture which was not “a little bit” but very surreal!

If you stood here on a clear day, you would see Lake Michigan – up to the horizon. But on Monday, all you could see was a wall of fog and ice and snow along the shoreline. 

Mom

I made some progress with Mom’s medical appointments in the past two months. First, we met with the social worker, who talked with her about the Power of Attorney and Advanced Directives. She sent us a copy of the document to review with mom and sign it.

Since the doctor suggested it, mom could not object to discussing this uncomfortable topic. Previously she was always like, “I do not want to talk about it; I didn’t give it a thought.” Now, she had no choice but review :). Then, we met with a geriatric specialist. I wanted to arrange that for a long time because I am never sure whether I am too alarmed when mom forgets things or the opposite – I do not notice when it’s time to be alarmed.

We talked for a very long time. On the one hand, there was some reassurance that things were not that bad. On the other hand, they do not have a baseline. For them, the fact that mom does not forget to turn the gas off, can cook, and shop for her groceries is enough to conclude that she is in decent shape. I know, however, that these are very basic skills for her that will be there the longest. We will see how things will progress.

Another progress was with her hearing aid – she was seen by a high-skilled professional, ee=vverything free, everything without long waits. Now we are waiting for t=her new hearing devices to be ready. The place where they are made is Russian-speaking, but she still has so much trouble understanding what she is asked that I had to call them back afterward to clarify several things. (I could not go with herl Igor did, and he was sure she understood the questions, which was a wrong assumption).

I do not want to take her for a vision test until she has her new hearing aid, which will most likely happen later in spring.

This Long Day

Today, I tried not to be hysterical but to focus and do something. I only succeeded partially, but I at least crossed a couple of items off my list in the past two hours.

We had a Wellness Friday today, an extra day off, which we have once a month. I still had to do some work because I started to help on one project, and the customer wanted the case closed today. So I helped last night, even though I took a half-day off to go to Palatine, and also for several hours today.

Work needs to be done; both work as what I am paid for and all my professional work outside the place of employment. I am a leader, and people look out for me. Repeating to myself, “there is nothing I can help with” does not provide any extra opportunities for help and produces no positive outcome. I can be aware of the biggest injustice in today’s world, but keep doing things instead of sitting paralyzed.

Multiple commentators on the radio said that sanctions wouldn’t help. I am very well aware of that. In fact, I always explained to others why sanctions never work like planned, and never in history would sanctions make dictators, oppressors, and intruders change their ways. Never.
However, today I thought that although sanctions won’t help, we owe them to the people of Ukraine. That’s the way of showing our support.

If the reports are accurate, and the UK was indeed able to freeze Putin’s accounts specifically, that sounds great. Although again, it would be a red cape shown to the bull.
To recap this day, I will do my best to do work, be productive, help those whom I can help, and keep looking for ways to change the world.

I Hope Chicago Will Respond

I hope even though it hardly matters. And “so that I could feel better” is a lame excuse for wanting something. Total helplessness. Two comments I left on other social media.

I am contemplating renouncing my Russian citizenship (I am a dual citizen). The only thing which stops me is that the total cost of the formal process is about $1K, and I do not want to give it to the Russian government

In addition to $1K, there are several pieces of documentation that are close to impossible to obtain, so this cry is unfortunately only wishful thinking.

And another on the Instagram:

It was sad to observe yesterday that only the Ukrainian community rallied against the aggression, but I hope that it will change today, and a whole city will rise to condemn the invasion 

There were two horrible comments which I removed and blocked the author. I do not want to write anything on Russian social media.