I did a 24-hour in-and-out to see the family in Chicago this week.<\/p>\n
The outbound flight from New York Tuesday morning started with an amusing episode.\u00a0 A young guy wearing thick-cup studio headphones around his neck got up to go to the lavatory shortly after the aircraft left the gate.\u00a0 As he strolled down the aisle to the back of the plane, a flight attendant chased him as if every moment used to apprehend the subject was critical.\u00a0 The urgency with which the flight attendant acted briefly rattled customers who failed to notice the infraction that initiated the scramble.<\/p>\n
As if the situation wasn\u2018t already well in hand, another flight attendant took to the public address system and issued a stern directive in a borderline frantic tone of voice.\u00a0 \u201cLadies and Gentlemen:\u00a0 You cannot move about the cabin until we advise you that it\u2019s safe to do so.\u00a0 We are next in line for takeoff and we need everyone in their seats before we can proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked out the window and there were at least a dozen airplanes ahead of us in the takeoff line.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t decide which was a greater faux pas.\u00a0 Was it the loopy guy who left his seat during taxi – or the flight attendants who trumped up the seriousness of it all by claiming we were about to go airborne about 30 minutes before we actually did.<\/p>\n
The two-day NATO summit had wrapped up the day before I arrived in Chicago.\u00a0 The post-mortem was awfully celebratory.\u00a0 City leaders congratulated themselves and declared organizational perfection.\u00a0 The plaudits for the men in blue were off the charts.<\/p>\n
One of the organizations (CODEPINK) involved in staging demonstrations against NATO said the protest movement counted 15-thousand people in its ranks for the event.\u00a0 Even if that\u2019s an accurate estimate, it\u2019s a small number and one the city of Chicago certainly shouldn\u2019t boast about containing.<\/p>\n
The deep exhale of relief in Chicago following closed-door NATO sessions attended by heavily shielded world leaders reveals second city insecurity.\u00a0 Why not execute a big event as if you\u2019ve been there before?\u00a0 1968 is half a century ago.\u00a0 Chicago\u2019s greatness (flaws and all) speaks for itself.\u00a0 Those at the helm of the city that works don\u2019t need to cross their fingers and act surprised when international dignitaries get in and out without trouble.<\/p>\n
My two nieces attended their weekly swimming lesson at a pool in Niles, IL while I was in town.\u00a0 This was great fun to witness.\u00a0 After a battery of routines aimed at introducing the novice swimmer to the mechanics of propulsion, the instructor in the pool played a little game.\u00a0 She asked each student to name something they really like.\u00a0 If other kids shared admiration for the item cited by their fellow student, they had to jump in the water from the shallow side of the pool.\u00a0 One kid said pizza.\u00a0 Another said cheeseburgers.\u00a0 Yet another said French fries.\u00a0 When the question was posed to my youngest niece, she thought for a second and said \u201crainbows.\u201d\u00a0 She then slowly moved toward the edge of pool and jumped in with a helping hand from the instructor.<\/p>\n
My brother Tim mixed up his specialty when I reached his house and it was time to wind down.\u00a0 Inspired by his father-in-law, Tim stuffs two big green olives with chunks of bleu cheese and throws them into a short, wide-rimmed glass with two large ice cubes.\u00a0 He then pours a splash of juice from the green olive jar over a generous serving of quality vodka.\u00a0 It\u2019s delicious.\u00a0 It\u2019s tasty on a cold night or a warm night.\u00a0 The cheesy olives are really enjoyable after stewing in the vodka for a half-hour or so.<\/p>\n
Before I left, my brother and I had breakfast Wednesday morning at Mac\u2019s in Park Ridge.\u00a0 The corned beef hash had a fluffy consistency.\u00a0 The coffee at Mac\u2019s is solid, too.\u00a0 My brother dropped me off at O\u2019Hare on his way to work and I ended up riding on a bird that had me back in New York in plenty of time to see the Rangers lose game five.\u00a0 They\u2019re on the ropes now but expect a good fight from the Blueshirts before this series is over.<\/p>\n
If I can make it through the next two weeks of work, I have a week of stay-cation coming up that will coincide nicely with the running of the Belmont Stakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I did a 24-hour in-and-out to see the family in Chicago this week. The outbound flight from New York Tuesday morning started with an amusing episode.\u00a0 A young guy wearing thick-cup studio headphones around his neck got up to go … Continue reading