Well, it looks like my time in Chicago has come to an end, at least for now.

Yesterday was quite busy, surprisingly. In spite of the intermittent downpours, I drove out to take a look at recumbent bikes (yes, it’s all xydexx‘s fault). Regular bicycles just tear my knees up, but I could use the recumbents at the gym without too many problems, so that seems the better way to go. I did a little online research and determined that the closest vendor to carry them is Kozy Cyclery, over on Halstead north of Addison. I drove over there (forgetting there was a Cubs home game – whee!) and took a walk through. The only recumbent they had on the floor was a very nice Cannondale model. It looks very comfortable, but I’m not quite sure I’m ready to drop $1,800 on bicycle. There’s another place down on North just west of the Kennedy, but I opted to skip that lest I have to fight traffic on the way home.

When I got back to Linnaeus‘ place, I was startled to see his car parked in front (this at about 3 PM). I was fearing the worst for why he was home early (given recent past experiences), but fortunately (well, sort of) he just came home early to avoid the onset of a migraine. After a nice nap he was much better, so we walked over to Lincoln Square. We hit some of the cool stores there and ogled the restaurants, then hit a nice wine shop I had noticed earlier. We looked around and I was really taken with their nice selection of small-run liquors – calvados, poire william, Scottish grain/potato vodkas, and a truly fascinating gin. While I was admiring the gin, the owner pulled out a bottle of it and poured a small glass of it for us to taste. Now, I’m not that much of a gin fan, but this stuff was fine! Linnaeus liked it so much he bought a bottle of it. Yum!

After we got back, we jumped into the car and headed over to the palatial apartment of daveqat, jimcyl, boixboi, and perro. We were joined by deccawolf, a recent Chicago transplant and very nice fellow, and headed out for some barbecue up in Evanston. The dinner conversation was lively and entertaining, and I had a really good time. I definitely hope to see more of those folks when we’re back up in Chicago!

Today I’m hanging around in a mildly sweaty apartment, waiting for the HVAC repair guy to come fix the underperforming A/C here. I’m hoping it will be a quick (and cheap!) fix; he was here earlier and had to go back to his shop for a ladder, so he’ll be back in about an hour. After that, I’ll be making a run to the store for dinner provisions, then (hopefully, her back being up to it), datahawk will join us for a tasty dinner of Linnaeus’ beef stroganoff tonight. Then it’s a relatively early bedtime since I need to get up godwaful early tomorrow to drive to North Carolina.

So, social gadding aside, where do we stand?
Takaza‘s position that he interviewed for in Mount Prospect – no word yet, voice mail left with potential boss but no reply received. Not a good sign, and we’re looking ahead to other possible positions with Siemens.
My interviews:
Abbott – Still waiting to hear back – hopefully by the end of next week.
Corn Products – Still waiting to hear if they want me to come in for a face-to-face interview.
Noveon – Interview with them on Monday in Gastonia.

So what happens after Monday? I’m not really sure. A lot of it depends on what I hear from Abbott and Corn Products. I could be back as early as Wednesday, or I may stay in NC for a little longer, working on packing our stuff up there in preparation for moving. Many, many, many thanks to Linnaeus for being such a gracious host for these three weeks that I’ve been in Chicago, and for his offer of future lodgings. Absolutely no slight intended to Feren‘s fine hospitality, but this is closer to a lot of the places I’m interviewing, and that helps a lot.

And now it’s off to see if there’s some lunch to be found…