my love/hate relationship with chicago #2

It's another post on my love/hate relationship with Chicago.  Let's start with the love first. 

1. Downtown Sound in Millennium Park. On Monday night, I met my friend from high school in Millennium Park for a concert by Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Lisa Hannigan (who used to sing with Damien Rice). What is most amazing about these concerts is that they're free and that you can bring picnics (including alcohol!) into the outdoor amphitheater. We got there as the concert was starting and the lawn was already covered with people.  So, we laid out a blanket on the sidewalk that runs around the perimeter of the amphitheater and had a great time catching up over a bottle of wine and the leftovers from our fridges. My friend also brought these adorable "pupcakes" from a bakery in Evanston. 

2. The sayings on this sign which is always outside of a bar in our neighborhood. This has been one of my favorites so far: "Hey, vegetarians! If you're trying to save the animals, why are you eating all their food?" Some of my other favorites have been: "Soup of the day: whiskey," "Remember when # actually meant number?" And, "Who was the marketing genius behind the name killer whales? What was wrong with Sea Pandas?"

3. Finally finding a dentist I can trust! She is actually a friend from high school who has been practicing in Chicago for a couple years now, but I finally made the switch to her office. I don't enjoy dentist visits in general, but this past one was much less painful than previous ones.  Even the two fillings I needed ... ugh.  You only have to brush the ones you want to keep, right?  Apparently I haven't been wanting to keep the ones in the way back ...

4. Chicago Public Library had the book I have to read for this summer course I'm taking.  Thanks, chipublib, for saving me $35!  What is also remarkable about this is that I walked into my branch and found the particular book on the shelf it was supposed to be on.  Can't tell you how many times the computer says the book's available, but it's nowhere to be found on the shelf. (Also can't tell you how many times I've been notified that something I've requested has arrived at my branch, only to get there and find out they can't locate the item ...)   

And on that note, let's move on to the real hate part.  Both of these incidents took place while driving (surprise, surprise).

1. Trucks who block my alley. Like many buildings in Chicago, our parking is on the lower level of our building. We have to drive through the back alley to get into our parking garage. It infuriates me when trucks (delivery trucks, moving trucks, etc.) block the alley so that cars cannot get through. There is actually enough room for cars to pass if the truck parks close enough to the building. But the truck I encountered today was parked squarely down the center of the alley. I've called local businesses before about their road-hogging delivery trucks, but this one was outside of a residential building. So it was a call to the police department to get this taken care of. Good to know: if a car is blocking the alley you can call 911 to report it, and they will send a cruiser over. I first called 311, waited for three minutes to speak to someone, only to have them tell me that I should have called 911 instead. I don't know how quickly the police showed up because I ended up backing up and exiting at the other end of the block, but it's good to know that this is the way to report it and hopefully get it taken care of quickly. 

2. Getting stopped at a bridge.  Railroad crossings pale in comparison.  This was a 20+ minute delay in my day.  I was hoping to run an errand before work, but that obviously did not happen after I sat in traffic waiting for the bridge to be raised, the boat to pass through, the bridge to be lowered, etc.  The only way out of this situation is to make a U-turn over the median like the red car in the picture.  But depending on where you're headed, you still might have to cross over the river, and you might run into the same bridge wait-time on a different route.

Chicago!  Yeah.