Chicago Travel 2

7:13 am

I think I mentioned that I'm keeping EST while I'm out here so I'm awake at 5:30 their time and out the door in less than a half hour so the city is slow right now. I'm sitting in the lobby drinking a cup of coffee. In a few minutes I may take a walk to the lake because I have nearly 3 hours to kill before anyone gets into the office. Hoping today will be a productive day.

The hotel is nice but old. I'm indifferent as the stuff I care about is good. The A/C works, the TV is new, the water pressure is great, and the bed is crazy comfortable. I slept extremely well last night. The one thing I do hope to get out of this trip is 4 solid nights of sleep. So far so good.

8:15 am

Sitting in the hotel restaurant now after a little walk to the lake. Lake...um, I don't know? Michigan? Superior? Shit I used to be good at geography. It's water is all I know. I also found a bike rental place and the path along the lake is like 9 miles. So I'm thinking now but I need to see what time they open. They claim 6:30 but by 7:00 their time it was still closed. Apparently they're open late Wednesday so another option there. Dan also has a bike which he offered a few weeks ago so I'm rethinking my non-bike week because I'd like to shlep along the lake and check it out.

I feel like a loser all by myself eating breakfast. I guess this is the life of the business traveller. Another cup of coffee, water, egg white omlette, fresh fruit, and wheat toast. I'm finding that this world is based on cheap carbs. Here's another food observation. Almost everything has cheese in it. When the meal comes it's enough for 3 people. The parmesan roasted potatoes are crazy good.

11:44 am

Spent most of the last 2 hours with Bozhao who is a bit of the star of the team out here. She's overworked and really excited that I'm going to be picking up some of her work. I'm excited too because it means I'll be able to start really integrating myself into the team more and more. Without question I'm on an island out in Brooklyn most of the time. Things are just different there. Everywhere is different but these are both my work environments so I notice it.

So the morning still has some legs left and I'm already getting mentally taxed. Need a little down time before the next sit down with another coworker.

6:17 pm

Taxing day is over. Let's go drink some beer. Lunch was chicken on salad. More learning with Bozhao. Very productive but mentally taxing. Did I suggest we drink some beer?

12:31 am

Been out drinking. My boss expensed the night. Horay business expense! Send in the clowns.