Chicago

(Short) Long Weekend

/ Shane / 1 Comment

So there was a mini reunion for Sara’s family over the weekend and we had quite a full house!  There were about 14 of us, although only 6 staying at our place.  We did Chicago up right, hitting up the Shedd, Museum of Science and Industry, Brookfield Zoo, and Navy Pier.  Hopefully everybody had a good time.  I thought the best part about the weekend was all the good food!

So leading up to that weekend I had been cracking the whip pretty hard to try and get everything done on the condo before everybody got here.  I think Sara was getting pretty annoyed with me!  I don’t know if she would agree, but I thought it was all worthwhile.  I was really proud of the condo and I really enjoy showing it off.  It was a lot of work leading up to it, but now that is all done so we can just sit back and relax! (Not really though because I still have to hang a ceiling fan and a hanging light in the dining room.)

This coming weekend is baby shower #2 in Wisconsin.  We should have registered for a dog powered scooter!

Remember that story I had the other day about battle dancing?  Well this just goes to show you how dangerous it can be!

I think that’s it for now, my show is over.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that video above was courtesy of Dabu!

A few days late

/ Shane / Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a few days, but apparently it made national news.

So, since I am the official Chicago coyote monitor, here is a story about one who decided to stroll into a Quiznos in the Loop.  You can watch the video on that site, but it was like the craziest thing!  People were eating in there and it just runs in the front door and then ultimately settles into the juice cooler! 

So as you can see, coyotes have completely taken over the city

Coyote Crossing

/ Shane / Leave a comment

So we were looking at condos on Saturday and I looked over and saw a coyote walking on the el tracks!  I was like “Holy crap, there’s a coyote on the el tracks!”  Sara didn’t believe me that it was a coyote and not just a stray dog until I pointed out the roller skates and giant Acme rocket strapped to the little feller’s back.  No, in all seriousness, after a quick jaunt to Wikipedia to see a picture, she agreed that’s what we saw.  We also found an interesting article about the wild coyote population in Chicago.

I gotta say, you just don’t expect to see something like that in Chicago, but it’s still not as weird as the time I saw a wild boar in Philadelphia.

Last weekend

/ Shane / Leave a comment

We had a good turnout for the BBQ last weekend.  It was *sooo* great to see all of my old friends from college again.  We actually had a good mix of girls and guys too, which I was a little worried about since it was mostly my friends.  We had tons of food, we’ve been eating leftovers for a few days since!  We played a couple of games including Taboo and Apples to Apples.  There was a lot of football played in the park across the street, but I had grillmaster duties to attend to.  Chris R. made a cake for my half birthday (j/k it was for Rody’s birthday) but it melted in the sun because he got to our place 3 hours early and we were at the grocery store!  Even Schafer brought some cookies.  Apparently the turnoff from 63rd to Kenwood has a pretty hidden sign, but everybody managed to make it except Schafer who drove down 63rd for an additional 20 minutes or so.

Quote of the night, while we were playing Apples to Apples Rody says to Rupley with disappointment in his voice: “And you just blew boy scouts!”  If you know the game you can imagine why he said it, but still it cracked me up.

This weekend is the only weekend we don’t have anything going on for awhile, but I think I might take advantage of my new Netflix account!  Sara got it for me for our anniversary.  I’ve been wanting to get it for a long time.

Chicago here I come!

/ Shane / Leave a comment

Well, I finally heard from that company that flew me out for an interview.  It took 4 1/2 weeks from when I flew out there for them to get back to me with an offer.  That was a nerve wracking 4 1/2 weeks, let me tell you!  They’re sending me a packet with detailed information, but at least I know right now that the salary they offered me was 5% more than what I make now even though I just got a raise like a month ago.  Plus it looks like they would completely cover relocation!

One decision to make is whether I go back to them and ask for more money.  Everybody says you shouldn’t accept the first offer, but I never had the balls to do that.  I don’t even know how I’d go about it to be honest.  I’m looking for advice.

The other area I’m looking for advice in is neighborhoods in Chicago.  We’d like to be able to buy a house, but Chicago is as expensive as Philly, meaning we’ll probably have to settle for a condo.  Our realtor is really good about shooting down properties that we send to him (without saying anything other than “that’s not a great neighborhood”), but not too good at sending us properties to look at.  Meaning, he’s not being very helpful.

Nonetheless, things are definitely moving along.  No jobs for Sara yet, but she’s keeping her eyes peeled.