I sit at O’Hare.
Eating fries and drinking beer.
Waiting for five twenty-five.

After barely missing the 4:30 flight (not my flight, you understand, but, ehem, flying every week does have some perks – and one of them is moving to the front of the standby list), I made my way back to the O’Horror O’Hare Bar & Grill. Normally when I stop here, my order is taken by an elderly gentlemen – slightly stooped, not so slightly hard-of-hearing. I point at my selection on the menu as I carefully enunciate EVERY.WORD.

Chicken. Sandwich. Glass. of. Pinot. Grigio.

I say, stabbing my finger at the items on the right page.

He repeats back my order.

Sheeken. Sammich. Pino. Gricho. Fries?

I nod and thank him; turning my head back to either the screen in front of me or my blackberry – hoping that my flight is on time and not too crowded. I tip fairly well and treat my elderly guy with respect – all the while hoping that karma behaves herself and grants my wishes.

Sometimes she does. Sometimes she doesn’t.

Today, though, she made up for the times she didn’t. She gave me Marky Mark as a waiter.

This cute kid (okay, so he had to have been in his 20’s, but still – kid-ish), came over to get my order (Corona Light, grilled cheese sandwich and fries, thanks…) and all I could think was, “Please don’t call me ma’am. Please don’t call me ma’am.”

He didn’t.

—- I tipped extra well. —-

Edited to say: WTF with my comments turning off? I don’t turn my comments off. I live for comments. Without feedback, I will whither and die.

Oh mah holy hell, y’all. Thank gawd this week is almost over. Between endless meetings (I’ve been in my office a total of 90 minutes in the past three days) and sleep interrupted by dreams of spreadsheets, I’m beat.

I know I complain, but I really do enjoy my work. The people, for the most part, are fun to be around, they laugh at my jokes (the way to get into my good graces {wink}), and are working just as hard as I am. It makes for a great team and days that, while long and exhausting, fly by. It’s not until I’m packing up to head “home” that I realize I’ve been going for 15 or 16 hours.

I wish I could tell you more about what I do and where I am, but…y’know…then I’d have to kill you. And neither of us would like that much.

So…annyyyyywayyyyyy.

*****lalalalala*****

In the randomness of non-work stuff in my mind lately – I decided to complain about other shit. Like…

• Shrink wrap. I mean, really. Why is it necessary to shrink wrap stuff without providing some way of removing said plastic without a sharp object?
• Unshoveled sidewalks. I wear snow boots. I can walk through snow up to my shins. But after all of the train passengers have walked on the uncleared pavement, it’s less like walking through snow and more like walking on shifting boulders.
• Pens that go missing. I just get used to writing with a certain pen and then wham! it’s gone. Why is it that the one I pick up to replace it never, EVER, writes as nice as the one I lost?
• Cold feet. When my feet are cold, it’s all I think about.
• Having to switch glasses to read. Yes, I’ve tried bifocals. No, they don’t help. I need trifocals, but I don’t want the size lenses that I would need to have them. Yes, I am vain, thankyouverymuch.

Okay, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

*****lalalalala*****

Oh, wait. Why are there not more:

• Hugs.
• Tootsie Rolls.
• Meeting cancellation notices.
• Naps.
• Handwritten letters from far-away friends.

???

Just asking.

*****lalalalala*****

Mr. Hot and Shortman texted back and forth today:

Woo Hoo! Campus is closed!
Great! I’ll come pick you up and you can help me shovel.
Woo Hoo! They just re-opened campus!

*****lalalalala*****

Finding a package from Alice.com on my doorstep ranks right up there with total awesomeness at the end of a long day. It’s so much easier than lugging home laundry detergent.

—- I think I’ve proven that I need to get to bed now. —-

Updates in bullet form:

• I have gas. Cooking gas. In the apartment. I can now officially make my own meals. The problem is that I have meetings until 7 p.m. every night this week, and I’m far too tired to actually make anything.
• On the other hand, I should lose weight, right?
• I have internet access via a wireless air card. So I can post and read and watch videos. Again, though – no energy to do either.
• There’s a grocery store on the corner! BUT! Stopping in would have meant not getting “home” until 8:30 tonight. So I stole a roll of toilet paper from the office – it was the one must have that I couldn’t do without.
• Tomorrow my first meeting is at 7:30 a.m. and the last ends at 7 p.m. Which means I may as well plan on tomorrow night being just.like.tonight.

—- Someday, I’ll be able to write something worthwhile again. —-

• Waking up to the sound of the dog snoring in my ear.
• The sun is shining again today.
• My new laptop bag.
• Turkey breakfast sausage.
• A new knitting project from this book.

—- This coffee mug – a Christmas present from my stepdaughter. Aren’t the colors wonderful? It makes me smile with every use. —-

Wage a battle against embitterment and take part in Grace in Small Things. Thanks to Schmutzie, as always.

If you were by here last Tuesday, you know that I moved out of the hotel again and into a tiny little efficiency apartment in a north neighborhood of Chicago. In fact, I only live a couple of miles from her.

I promised pictures when I could get the ones I shot from my crappy little cell phone camera uploaded – so here you go.

One person who doesn’t entertain or spend more than 2 hours awake in it, that is.

The oranges actually do work, it’s the stove that doesn’t – although hopefully, by the time I get there on Monday, it will – the gas company is supposed to re-connect it (and I’ll pay). The pantry came with 1/2 bottle of tequila, though.

—- There’s a bathroom, too, but there’s no way to take a picture in a space that small. —-