Home Sweet Home

I made it home. After flying into Baltimore from Chicago, I got ride home from my sister and got home around midnight. My dogs were real happy to see me and it was so good to sleep in my own bed. I had to go back to work the next night and I fell right back into the same old routine again. It was like I never left. And that sucks. I need to find another job.

Anyways, Chicago was great and I would love to go back when the weather's warmer.

And I miss my son.

Unfortunately, This Wasn't Taken In Chicago

The temperature got as "high" as 1 degree today. That's not a typo. One gotdam degree. With the winds blowing, the National Weather Service website said it felt like the -20's. I didn't leave my hotel room today because of the bitter cold except for walking to lunch at Hooter's next door and that was enough. I have a lot of respect for those poor girls in their skimpy outfits. A lot of appreciation too.

Anyways, it was just a lazy day holed up in the hotel room watching a couple of hockey games online. Tomorrow I head back home, which means, once again I have to negotiate the maze that is O'Hare Airport.

The Windy City

I went to downtown Chicago to have a look around. The first thing I did while there was have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Wonderful place, and the food was good, but damn expensive.

After lunch I drove around the city looking at the buildings. I have a slight interest in architecture and Chicago has some beautiful buildings and bridges. The Chicago Public Library had to have been my favorite. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died and I didn't get any pictures of it. I went up to the Skydeck in the Sears Towers and though it was an overcast sky, the views were awesome. The picture in this post I took from the Skydeck.

Chicago is a beautiful city and the people I met were all friendly. I would love to come back and visit again in the spring or summer. My only complaint was that I had to pay for parking 2 different times for a total of about three hours and it was 30 gotdam dollars!

A Great Day

I woke up around 4am Friday so I could drive the 40 or so miles up to Great Lakes Naval Training Center to see my son graduate boot camp. The roads around Great Lakes were pretty crappy due to a previous snow storm and it was still dark, so I got lost again. But I made it to the base with plenty of time to spare.

There was a marching band made up of recruits and a few speakers, but when the graduating class of over 300 marched it, it was pretty dramatic. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half with all the new sailors standing at either rest or attention the whole time.

When it was over the audience was able to go down onto the drill deck with the sailors and that's where I found my son. He looked so great in his dress uniform and he gave me the biggest and strongest hug I ever had. After some pictures and more hugs, we went over to the Navy Exchange there on base where they have a couple of fast food places. Since it was his first pizza in two months, the new sailor wolfed it down fast. We all (His mother, sister, half-brother, and mother's boyfriend) just sat there in the restaurant talking and catching up. Before it was time to leave (He had to report back to his compartment since he was shipping out that night), we picked up some souviniers and stuff and said our goodbyes. His mother and them were driving back home to Pennsylvania that afternoon, so they took their time goodbying. Since Corwin was flying out of O'Hare to his next duty station and he would have about 3 hours to kill there, I met him at the airport later that day.

Just as I was finding a parking spot, he called me to tell me he was there. I met up with him and we were just walking around seeing things and bullshitting. We both were hungry so we went about finding a restaurant. When you're not looking for them, there's fast food joints all over O'Hare, but we couldn't find them. After walking around some more we ended up at the Hilton Hotel restaurant. Fancy place but after graduation I went back to the hotel and changed into jeans and a t shirt and that's probably why we were seated in the back.. Corwin was still in his dress uniform so he looked OK.

After dinner it was time for him to board his plane and I was allowed to go with him to the gate. We talked for awhile and when they announced his plane was boarding, we hugged and I told him how proud I am of him and that I love him very much. And then he was gone.

Travelin' Man

Getting to Baltimore to catch my flight to Chicago was a breeze. For one thing, I wasn't driving (Thanks Tam). After getting to the airport it was just a simple thing to get my boarding pass and go through security. I found my gate with no problems and just waited around till it was time to board the plane.

I was flying Economy class on an Airbus and we were packed in there pretty good. It was comfortable enough, but I wouldn't want travel cross country in it. Two hours to Chicago was enough.

The plane ride itself was pretty cool. We didn't get shot down or run into a mountain and I listened to some music the whole way out. We landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport about 20 minutes early and with all the signs, it was pretty easy to locate baggage claim and get my stuff.

The hard part was finding a rental car counter. I have never been to Chicago before so I didn't know how things were done. I kept following signs leading me towards rental cars, but they just pointed me out the door. I finally asked someone and he told me I had to wait by the curb until a shuttle bus from the rental company I was using showed up. When it did, it took me away from the airport but right to the rental company. I was booked for an economy car but they were not available, so I was upgrade to a mid-size for no extra charge.

When I got my car and left the parking lot, I was finally in control of my transportation. And that's when I got lost. I had the address of my hotel and had located it on a map, but a lot of good that did. I don't know if all streets in Chicago are like this, but the street I needed was broked up in two or three sections and when I was on the west section of the road, I was apparently on the wrong west section. Anyway, it took about an hour to find the place but I did. And it wouldn't be the last time I got lost here.

I'm Outta Here

Tomorrow (2/7) I'm flying to Chicago for the weekend to see my son graduate from Navy Recruit Training. (A very proud moment, I might add)

I don't get out much as this will be the first time in almost 32 years that I'll be on a plane. It can't be all that much different, can it?

Anyways, this will be my first trip to Chicago and I'll be posting pictures and comments about it here on the site. Hopefully someone will read it. I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. But hey, who reads this shit anyway?