Weblog

Tuesday, 07 April 2009

  • Harry Caray's Tavern

    Last night, my siblings and I went to Harry Caray's Tavern for dinner.  There was a Cubs game last night and I had told my sister, a Cubs fan, I would buy her dinner for her birthday at Harry Caray's.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the location downtown was a steak house and a bit on the pricey side.  Luckily, I looked up the menu online so we were able to make other arrangements, namely, the Tavern right next to Wrigley Field.  The food was good and the prices were decent.  However, my brother, who loves the White Sox and hates the Cubs, was dismayed when, at 6:00pm, all of the television sets shut off and switched back on to the Cubs game. 



Sunday, 22 February 2009

  • Black ice

    After some cold, but decent, weather, things took a turn for the worst this past Wednesday.  It became very cold, but not cold enough for the precipitation to turn into snow.  Instead, it was a lovely mixture of rain and snow.  The drive up to tutoring wasn't necessarily bad, but when temperatures dropped to freezing after the sun set, the drive back to Chicago became positively horrific, at least until I reached the highway.

    At an intersection, I noticed the light change to red and since I knew that the roads would be slick, I began braking gently.  However, my car must have hit a patch of black ice because I started weaving in and out of the lanes and eventually slid through the intersection, eventually stopping on the other side after having spun 180 degrees.

    Fortunately, the drivers of the cars waiting for the light to turn green must have noticed me sliding around since none of them moved until after I managed to get my car pointed back in the correct direction.  Though I logically noted that I had a close call (I almost hit another car but I was able to get out of the spin and sent my car spinning the other way), it wasn't until I actually got on the highway when I started shaking. 

Saturday, 17 January 2009

  • Butterfingers

    Geez Louise!  I've been dropping food items all day today.  First, I dropped an egg then I dropped a container of hummus.  With the latter, I thought disaster had been averted, but when I looked closely at the plastic, there was a crack with some hummus oozing out.  On the floor was a corresponding crescent.

Thursday, 08 January 2009

  • Hyperbole

    While my students were working on their exam review, I went to the back to check on a couple of male students who were beginning to get a little rowdy.  As soon as I reached them, one of the students asked me if I could help him put his bracelet on his wrist.  I joked and said he should have just asked the other guy, to which he replied, "He tried, but he couldn't."  By this time, I had fixed the bracelet and was walking away after telling them to calm down and focus on the work.  The other student looked down and exclaimed, "How'd you do that?  You did it so fast!  I tried, but it was like defusing a bomb!"

Monday, 01 December 2008

  • Goodbye

    This morning, I got the call I was expecting this past week.  My grandmother, my dad's mom, passed away before dawn.  To be frank, I don't feel particularly sad at her passing.  First of all, she was sick and when I visited her in her nursing home yesterday, she was almost completely unaware of her surroundings.  The past few weeks, she was confused and couldn't recognize family.  Secondly, I never grew up with her.  She lived in Texas with my dad's family and only moved here when I was in college, I think, when she needed to be placed in a home.  When my dad called, I was shocked at how affected he was.  Granted, she was his mother, but I never really saw that much emotion from him before.  To hear him crying on the phone as he told me the news was surprising and moving.  When I conveyed this to my sister, I couldn't help crying as I confessed that I felt more sad for my dad than I did for myself.
    The last time I talked to my dad, when he called again to make sure I got to work safely (it had snowed and there were several minor accidents) I asked him how he was.  He tried to be upbeat, but there were sobs in his voice as he said over and over again, "Why shouldn't I be fine?  My mother is in Heaven now."