Well, yesterday could have gone better. Work was uninspiring, though I did get a nibble on an interesting job well for which I would be very well suited. It’s in Marengo so the commute would be interesting, but it’s not out of the question. On the way home, I passed a Lake County sheriff’s deputy as I was getting on Route 41; he followed me for about a mile then hit his lights. He was very nice, and explained that the drivers license associated with my registration expired two years ago. I showed him my NC drivers license (yeah, yeah, I’ll be getting an Illinois one Real Soon Now) and explained that when I surrendered my IL license back in 2000 (!), I guess NC didn’t transmit any paperwork stating that fact. He was satisfied with this explanation, and sent me on my way. Whew.
After a brief stop at the Highland Park post office to stock up on stamps for mailing MFF registration postcards, it was down to Paulina Market to pick up some tasty snacks for the coming weekend. As I was sitting in the stop-and-go traffic on Lincoln Avenue, someone came barreling up behind me – all I heard was a squeal of tires then I felt the impact as he hit me. We pulled off to a side street and exchanged information. The damage doesn’t look too bad – rear bumper marked up and slightly pushed down – but having been through this not too long ago, I know that a lot more expensive damage can lie under the bumper. On my way home I stopped by my insurance agency and gave them all the information and set up a body shop to take a look at it next week. All in all, a minor hassle, though my neck is slightly sore. Nothing debilitating, just a mild stiffness. Hmm, I should have taken some Aleve this morning for that. Ah well.
I admit I was pretty down for the rest of the evening, but Dan put up with me. He made several batches of chocolate chip cookies, and then we packed up everything for Congenial. In a lot of ways, a local relaxacon is more of a pain to pack for than Anthrocon: There’s all the room amenities to pack (coffee maker and accoutrements), booze, glassware, games, and all sorts of stuff. We got it sorted out, though. As I mentioned before, we’ll be up in Racine tonight through Sunday, since Dan has to work in Milwaukee tomorrow and my commute to work is roughly the same from Racine or Chicago. I’m going to try to get the same room we had last year (first floor, on the east end of the south hallway), since it’s convenient to the con suite yet not in the line of traffic.
Hmm, I’m gonna go hunt down some Ibuprofen now…
Ack! That’s no good! I hope everything’s okay. You might want to try rolling your neck from shoulder to shoulder, very, very slowly. The muscles can continue to tense for some time, so if it stays in one position you might find yourself in alot more pain than yesterday.
This weekend sounds exactly like what you need.
*HUGZ* Glad you’re O.K. Sorry you’re stiff… hehe… Stiff.
Marengo? Marengo!?!
Now wait. I live in Marengo, or at least within the school district but not in the town itself. Other than banks, there’s not a lot of anything there. I must be seriously confused about what you do, because I can’t imagine who you’d work for in Marengo. No need to reveal anything, actually, but I admit you’ve piqued my curiosity.
I commuted in the opposite direction from 1998 to 2001, so if you want to discuss commuting options and times, by all means ask.
Oh, there’s no need for secrecy…yet 🙂 The position is with Engineered Polymer Solutions/Coating Colorants of America (EPS/CCA) whose headquarters (!) is at 1400 State Street in Marengo. In the off chance that this came to pass, we would probably live either somewhere between Elgin and Schaumburg or maybe up near Cary. I haven’t even heard back from the recruiter yet, though, so this is still just a bunch of “what ifs”.
Ah. EPS did occur to me as being loosely related to what I know of your work, but I thought you were more closely tied to the pharmaceutical stuff. OK.
Don’t rule out Woodstock, it has much to recommend it if you want a more city/suburban type environment. Myself, I prefer to be in the open, and even here is starting to not be open enough. 😉
Actually, my background is more in process engineering of specialty coatings and oligomers, but when the contract for my current job came available at a decent rate of pay…well, any port in a storm 🙂
Woodstock wouldn’t be bad, except that the hubby has to commute to his 8-5 job in Mount Prospect. Thus the locations somewhat between the two.
Mount Prospect is an easy and comfortable Metra ride from Woodstock. I did it daily for a while in early 2002. If his job is within reasonable walking distance of the Metra station in Mount Prospect, I recommend that option highly. 😉
It isn’t, unfortunately… And Woodstock is a nice town (grew up in McHenry and Wonder Lake), but the county can sometimes be too red for my liking.
But who knows, I have a coworker who commutes from Rockford daily
I agree about the Republican bias. But that will only be repaired if we colonize the place with more liberal voters. Jack Franks has won twice now in Woodstock. Manzullo himself is on thinner and thinner ice.
Make sure to check out I-90 during commute time before you settle on a place to live, if it may be part of your drive. I hear that reverse commutes and exurb-to-suburb commutes are getting pretty popular and there is congestion way out there.
It’s not as quiet or as empty as it was when I was a lad. I’ll miss it.
Heh…I remember when you did use to live near Cary… 🙂
Merf! Egads! I’m glad your ok, husky *hugs*
My neck was a little sore after I bashed my head a month ago.
Its feeling much better now, so hopefully, yours will too soon.
As for your license situation, Loriana got pulled over by a Houston
cop when she was down there after MFM a few years ago. She had Ohio
tags by then, but still had the Texas registration sticker in the
front window. I guess the cop saw this and was suspicious.
Damn, sorry about the accident. You’re right about the costs…when I got rear-ended after Datahawk’s birthday, the final bill was $1600. It’s in subrogation now, and I might get my deductible back if my insurer recovers.
Hope you’re feeling better soon. I had gotten most of the kinks out in a day or two. Lots of gentle stretching. And two words: Hot. Tub.
And yeah, I’ve got tomorrow off, and hope to get to Racine about 3. Tomorrow morning is for way too much packing for a three day vacation.
I’m fond of Marengo, after weathering a storm in a nice little hot dog stand on the edge of town. When I was like, 10. With my folks. And it’s close to the train museum.
Heh. The train museum is just down the road from my place. We can hear the whistles in the summertime.