Recovery From the Week Past

Last week was grueling. Monday, I went to Milwaukee to do a post inspection on a parking garage. Parking garages can be the most annoying things to inspect, what with levels going up and levels going down. Last Monday was cool but gorgeous. The view of Milwaukee from the top of the garage was superb.

The next three days were spent in Chicago. We have a huge job, the next phase of "Revive Wacker Drive". We're up to the last section to be torn down and replaced. This involved installation of equipment and inspections of sections of buildings from Monroe south. We did the 100 and 200 blocks last week.

Tuesday was gray. Even the Chicago River looks cold. The thermometer outside one of the banks said "45", but the wind made it seem like 25. Fortunately, we weren't outside very long, but we are in loading dock areas which aren't always the warmest places.

Inspecting buildings like these mean there is a lot of walking. The quickest route is often the stairs. Now, I'm supposed to be avoiding stairs if at all possible. It wasn't possible. Stairs go up to the loading dock. Stairs go down from the lobby to the first basement. I really detest parking garage ramps. Their angles downward are stressful on my knees right  now. And I loathe buildings that have a middle basement level, even if it was just one room, a pump room. There were usually stairwells that had to be inspected, too. It was just a lot of walking.

Wednesday, we had low hanging clouds, all day. I think Chicago's skyscrapers look so much more interesting when the clouds skirt around them or below their summits. This was the Sears, no, Willis Tower on Wednesday. It's always going to be the Sears Tower for those of us who are of a certain age. Yes, there is a sign out front that says "Willis" Tower but it will take years for the "Sears" moniker to fade from local vernacular.

Wacker Drive reconstruction is adjacent to the Tower now so on Thursday, we had to inspect its loading dock and a storage room. That really was it. The loading dock is huge, as you would imagine for a building this size, and trucks are coming and going constantly. It runs very efficiently. I would hate to be a driver who had to deliver down there, however. Low clearances and tight turns make the delivery system disconcerting, at best. No one ever thinks about how the office supplies get to them from the store. It involves one or two guys in a truck, trying to maneuver that truck to back into a loading dock and unload. Add a major street reconstruction and it's got to be a huge headache.

By Thursday, I was having some problems. My right knee is still achy from all the walking about and stair climbing I did. My hands hurt from holding the camera and tape recorder the same way for hours on end. I was allowed to leave the inspections early and the guys finished the few little things that needed to be done. I know that had I had the pain from November in my knees now, I wouldn't have been able to do a quarter of the walking I did. I need to monitor the right knee because I can see fluid accumulating there, as it did with the left. I found myself, a few times over the weekend, reaching for the cane, just to stand up. I need a few weeks of not being on my feet to recover.

As I walked back to the car on Thursday, here was the view north along the Chicago River.

It seemed like a really long walk back to the car, although it was 5 blocks total. A week later, as I sit in the warmth of my office, the past week seems a distant memory. It's such a double-edged sword. I need to be more active to lose weight to help the knees but too active and they start hurting and I run the risk of fluid build up. I probably overdid it last week, but I did enjoy being out and about, something I found hard to do this year past.

Beverage:  Earl Gray tea

Deb

Out and About

Yesterday, I had to go to Milwaukee to supervise an installation, to look over a job and to drop off a machine with a client. I don't get out of the office all that much anymore, so it's exciting to be on the road. Yesterday was beautiful, too.

 

The temperature hovered about 30, but there was no breeze so when you stood in the sunshine, you could feel the advent of spring. 

After Gene and I did the installation and looked at a job near downtown Milwaukee, it was after lunch so we decided to find some place to eat. He grew up in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee, so this is his stomping grounds. It's going to help us, a lot, with projects in Milwaukee. 

Gene suggested going to the tavern restaurant voted "Milwaukee's Best Burger", Sobelman's. Sure. It's at 16th and St. Paul in "the Valley" next to the interstate. The parking lot is a huge pain. 

 

It's on the side of the hill next to the restaurant. I'm not good at figuring out angles but 20 degrees, at least, looks right. In getting out, I simply rolled backwards down to the street. For a place quite popular, finding a place to park was an adventure.

You'd miss the place if you weren't looking for it. 

 

I'm standing at 2nd floor level.  You enter the place at the lower left. 

It's a typical bar with a restaurant attached. The interior is not all that great, but the men's bathroom, Gene said, had signed jerseys from the local sports teams. The women's bathroom was nicely tiled and decorated and was spacious for a bar. Nice service. We arrived just at the end of lunch hour so it was busy and we had to wait 25 minutes for our food. They try to cram in as many people as possible so getting to our table and then to the bathrooms was an, "Excuse me" fest. We weren't left with a menu but Gene said you come here for burgers.

The hamburgers? They were good. It's a generous burger on a butter-topped bun. It comes with a pickle and fries. The burger is served medium with a slice of swiss cheese on the bottom and cheddar cheese on the top. It is also adorned with a fried tomato and an onion pepper diced combination. Those I dumped off mine. The fries were good too. I added a dollop of ketchup to my burger. 

I prefer the burgers I can get at the local Alfie's Restaurant, just down the street from the office. But, I will remember this place if I need to stop for lunch while in Milwaukee. The problem will be finding it.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Sights along the way, #3

I had to go to Milwaukee on Friday to do a training session for a company that purchased brand new equipment. I caught up to this truck.

Instantly, I could hear the 1970's commercial that was generally on during Saturday morning cartoons.

"Mister Owl? How many licks DOES it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"I don't know. Let's see." (Snatches Tootsie Pop from boy and begins licking.)

"One. Two. Three," and the owl bites the pop to get to the Tootsie Roll.

"Three," he says and hands the half-eaten pop back to the boy.

The announcer says, "The world will never know."

I remember having contests to see how many licks but it takes a long time to lick off the hard candy shell. Invariably, those of us participating opted to stick the whole sucker in our mouth to make the thing dissolve faster.

So, don't look at me. I haven't the foggiest idea either.

Beverage: English Breakfast Tea

Deb

Relative size

I had to go to Milwaukee today to do a training session for a company that purchased brand new equipment. Charge up both the cell phone AND the camera and I'm good to go. The camera does not take AA batteries as my last digital camera did. There's a plug in the bottom that charges the unit from a standard outlet. I have both the phone and camera chargers in the kitchen. If I remember to charge them at the same time, I'll remember to grab them at the same time, she says, optimistically.

Anyway, I thought I would show off the size of my new phone once I got back to the office. It's really roughly the size of my cell phone so it fits in my coat pocket, my jeans pocket and the center section of my purse without being bulky. I found the wrist strap in the bottom of the box last night so I need to attach that. Then, I can carry it around without worrying that I'll drop it somewhere. The USB download cable for my Nikon worked perfectly with this camera so I just plug it in and turn it on and iPhoto does the rest. The last 2 days of posts have used pictures I took with the new phone. Although the kids prefer Nikon, I am really liking this camera. It was a great purchase for me.

Beverage: Dr Pepper

Deb

Labor Day in Milwaukee

Sometimes, my job is just fun. Even though I had to get up at 5 a.m. and be out the door and on the expressway north by 5:45 a.m., I got to see a very cool event.

These two smoke stacks used to be part of a large building at what was the Milwaukee Road's headquarters in the Menominee Valley between downtown Milwaukee and where Miller Park, home of the Brewers, is located. When the railroad ceased to exist as a corporate entity, chunks of land were developed as train tracks were removed and buildings demolished. I don't know what building these were attached to. I just know that they were slated for implosion.

There had been talk of saving them, but deterioration due to the elements combined with their size made the cost prohibitive.

Demolition was supposed to be in July, but various factors served to push it back to Saturday, September 4th. Everyone was beat but we were contracted to provide our support services so at least one of us needed to be in attendance. Three years ago, a smokestack from the old Ovaltine plant in Villa Park was demolished on a bright September afternoon and neither Rodney nor I could attend that one. So, I volunteered to be here as did Rodney. He was on the ground and I was on the bridge.

The only complication was a 30 mph wind out of the west. Those of us on the bridge were told to move either left or right of the location opposite the stacks lest we get covered in dust or something get caught by the wind. Below are a few of my photos.

In the end, it lay down exactly as they planned. Clean up of the street took roughly 30 minutes. I came home and took a nap.

It was a great way to start the holiday weekend.

Beverage: Grape Juice

Deb

A Year Ago

Chicagoland had been rained on day and night for some 4 days. We received something like 17 inches over a 4 day period. It began on September 12th and didn't quit until the evening of September 15th. If it wasn't pouring, it was overcast and drizzle.

I had a guest at that time. I'd met a guy and he flew to Chicago for the week. The weather on the 12th prohibited his arrival at 2 p.m. It was 8:30 p.m. before he arrived.

I thought we had a marvelous week. We went out to eat a lot, in spite of us going grocery shopping Saturday, dodging a torrential rain. We went to Milwaukee to watch the Cubs play the Astros because the Houston area was going through a hurricane. We went shopping for souvenirs. We went into the city so he could say he'd been to Chicago. We went to Wrigley Field.

Over my objections, he bought tickets from a broker so he could see the Cubs play the Brewers at Wrigley Field. I never found out how much he spent.

He spent a lot on me. There were the meals we ate out. He bought some computer equipment so he could set up his lap top. He bought groceries and a couple of souvenirs. He paid for gas. I tried to pay for a few meals but he refused to allow it. I was giving him a wonderful week and the cost was minor compared to his vacation.

We parted at 5:00 a.m. at O'Hare on Friday, September 19th. His delay getting here had earned him a free ticket, as he had given up his seat for a woman to get home to her daughter. He swore Thursday night that free ticket was to come back to see me, in April probably because October to March was the busy time for his work.

I wanted to believe him. When I kissed him goodbye at the airport, he held me close and said, "It will be soon. I promise." It was all I could do to drive home through the tears. Betsy and Rascal liked him and were a bit confused that he wasn't in the house now.

The days passed. He stayed in touch for a week and then total silence. He had been the guardian of his sister's two boys. The oldest had gone to live with his father in Las Vegas that August and that weekend was a weekend of sloppy conversation over the computer and my just being at my keyboard while he vented. Still, he had the youngest who had made it clear he didn't want to go to Vegas.

Something happened that first week of October. I don't know what, but communication stopped. Emails and phone calls went unanswered. I sent an email toward the middle of October saying that I would box up the things he'd left behind and there were a few, and ship them back. Plus, I had calculated the cost of what he'd spent on me and would begin paying that off. I wasn't going to be seen as a gold-digger, or worse.

I got a reply and he begged me to hang on, that he would be better and I just needed to be patient for a couple weeks, or through the first of November. He would explain as much as he could then, but right now, it was too raw and he didn't want to be seen as a complainer.

The first of November came and went. Nothing. Again I sent an email saying he was to expect a box and again, there was a, "No please don't send me anything" email in return. His mother's birthday was, I think, November 12th. He mentioned he needed to shop "for someone special whose birthday is at the end of the month". "I need to make up for being such a slimeball," he said.

My birthday came and went. My daughter and my girlfriends remembered. Ten days later, he contacted me to say he was considering a promotion. I know it's petty, but I mentioned how Thanksgiving was lonely because I spent my birthday alone. He fell all over himself apologizing for missing it when he specifically had referenced it right after his mother's birthday. Then he said he had to go and would not tell me when we'd next talk.

That was it. I boxed up half of his stuff and shipped it back. A week later, I boxed up the rest and shipped it back. He contacted me Christmas Eve. He was drunk and his nephew was in Vegas visiting his father. He said he missed our conversations. He missed how understanding I was, how wise. But he wouldn't give me a date for when we'd next talk. There were always excuses.

I issued yet another ultimatum in January. On the 26th, he sent an email saying that he knew I would do whatever was best for me. That was it.

I fell. I fell hard. Girlfriends will vouch that I spent many, many nights crying myself to sleep. I never believed anyone could like me for me and he claimed he did. He was the only man I had ever considered moving from Wheaton for.

I have dreaded this week and the memories that would dance with it. Having the new cats has helped a lot because my energy is directed toward them. There has been more drama within my WOW guild and I haven't done a good job of dealing with that. Sometimes, my people skills leave a bit to be desired. I try but it doesn't always come out as nice as I would like. So, I have been able to keep the memories at bay.

But tonight, knowing that this marks the end of the week that he was here, the memories are like ripe apples waiting to be picked. I've been listening to Nat King Cole all evening. One of my favorite albums is called "Night Lights" and there is a song on that album called "Sometimes I Wonder". I have played it quite a bit tonight. These lyrics catch me:

Sometimes I wonder when I'm deep in memory.

If you ever give a little thought to me.

And while I'm under this old magic spell of you,

Sometimes I wonder if you ever wonder, too.

Beverage: Cold Assam

Deb