Today was Cubs day, and exploring for a locale for a book idea. I drove in to Chicago in rush hour to myh first cousin's house in the gentrified area west of downtown (the Loop). I met my two second cousins for the first time--I've spoken to the older of the two but the younger is just 8 months. I have a feeling she won't remember this encounter.

Then on to Wrigley Field, via the El. The Blue Line to the Red Line, to the Brown Line, back to the Brown Line, and then the Red Line. The reason was the aforementioned search for a location to set a book. I found it, too. I discussed it later at dinner with my Aunt, my first cousin, and her husband and they confirmed that the locale met my needs.

It was cold today at Wrigley. The beer salesmen had a bad day but the hot chocolate concession did quite well. Over 40,000 jammed Wrigley on a day when it may have reached 50 F in the sun--gametime temperature was 46 with the wind blowing straight in off Lake Michigan. We had great seats--Section 122, Row 3...which is the first row of the section. Section 122 is almost directly behind home plate, with just one section (the lower boxes) in front (about 15 rows). I took some great pictures, at least I hope they are. I'll post them next week when I return home.

The game was good, too. It didn't start off looking good with the Chris Young homering for the Snakes in the first inning. Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth (not much happened between, with Ted Lilly of the Cubs and Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks pitching quite well). In the bottom of the fifth Mark DeRosa doubled with two outs. The snakes intentionally walked Reed Johnson to get to pitcher Lilly. That walk didn't work as Lilly singled to score DeRosa. Alfonso "I swing at anything" Soriano followed that up with a double to score Johnson. Derek Lee added an insurance run in the 8th with his 9th homer (if you look very carefully at the replay you will see me as the camera pans back over home plate following Lee around the base paths...but it's a fleeting glimpse), and that was that.

I made it back to my cousin's house, and then we drove to Hugo's Fish and Frog Bar (I think that's the name...it's next to Gibson's steakhouse) on Rush Street for dinner. My New York Sirloin was great, and I got to see my aunt (my only aunt) for the first time in several years.

Well, tomorrow it's off to Carol Stream.

Today was cold, gray, and windy in Chicago, though the sun made a late-day appearance. Today was supposed to be my touristy day (taking the architecture cruise on the Chicago River, etc.); however, a former co-worker asked if we could meet for lunch today rather than Monday, and I decided to swap days. So I headed to Oak Brook Terrace for a long lunch with her (we worked together for a telecommunications company years ago). Afterwards I drove by a Nordstrom Rack and decided why not see if they have any shoes that are my size. And they did--three pairs.

Later tonight I'm having drinks with yet another former co-worker downstairs in the hotel lounge. I had one of my more sinful pleasures for dinner tonight, a deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati. I remember going to Lou Malnati's in Lincolnwood many, many times.

Drinks in about three hours; until then I'm donking it up on Stars.

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Here's an interesting video of a flight to Chaiten, Chile. A possible cause of global cooling is visible throughout.

Travel today didn't go well today. The culprit was the weather here in Chicago. A line of thunderstorms hit Chicago at about 6:30pm...the time my flight was scheduled to land. Instead, we landed in DSM. That's Des Moines, Iowa--we needed to refuel the 757. We finally landed around 9:00pm, and I got to my hotel around 10:15pm.

There's no pictures of rain, because by the time we landed it was just dark. And cold...51 F.

Tomorrow is tourist day, so it should be interesting and fun.