Veterans Day

  Thank you to all the people that have served our country in the past and are currently serving it now.  Thank you for your sacrifice and for fighting for our freedom!

  Chicago is honoring Veterans Day with a ceremony at Soldier Field today.  It begins at 11am and features guest speakers and music by the U.S. Navy Band Great Lakes.

You know you're in Chicago when...

...you wear pants and a fleece in the morning and shorts and a t-shirt in the afternoon.

Bank Alert

  This is an interesting new type of bank robber...how about the Swine Flu Bandit?  There have been reports that this bandit has been hitting up, or I should say holding up, banks in Chicago and a couple of suburbs.  He has entered the banks wearing a surgical mask and has told concerned bank employees that he has swine flu.  Recently, he's apparently switched from wearing his swine flu mask to wearing a scarf.  They're saying he is getting more and more dangerous with every robbery.  Do they mean dangerous or contagious?

The Christmas Season...

...has begun, according to many store windows.  It seems like almost overnight, store windows changed over to Christmas trees and lights and big signs that read "Christmas".  On the radio, they were saying that it's fine to start decorating for Christmas anytime after Halloween.  Apparently the stores were listening to the same radio station I was.

Free Samples in Chicago

  Over the years, I've collected a variety of free samples from all different types of companies.  Union Station is usually a hot spot for free samples but I've also be given some on Michigan Avenue and in the State Street area.  This morning I was surprised with some nice Nescafe coffee packet samples, but other products have included boxes of frozen fries, sports drinks, vitamin water, energy drinks, soda, milk chugs, Ben & Jerry's ice cream cones, chocolate, and small boxes of cereal.  There was also like a whole week where I got coupons from McDonalds for free iced coffees.  As the economy began to tank, I saw less and less freebies being given out.  In fact, there were less products for people but actually more products for pets!  For a while, there were days upon days where free boxes of dog and cat food were being given out, both at Union and Ogilvie Stations and on Michigan Avenue.  Hmmm, could there be a correlation between the state of the economy and the types of free samples being given out?  Do dogs and cats benefit more as the economy is in a recession? 
  A few weeks ago I was given a free sample of a business magazine.  Maybe they're trying to tell us that when the economy is bad to eat less, feed our pets more, and read business magazines so we can get ourselves financially back on track.
  .....or they just can't afford to be showering us Chicagoans with free goodies.

Interesting

  It has come to my attention that today is not only Election Day but it is also a Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  Interesting how they both fall on the same day this year.  For some people I guess electing politicians is like a Day of the Dead.  Others hopefully feel that today will be a new awakening for America.  Only time will tell and hopefully the Day of the Dead will not foreshadow America's future.

Election Day

  Election Day.  On the news they're saying that today's election is a historical moment in election history.  They're pointing out which types of voters are picking which party and how the economy is having a great impact on voters' decisions.
  On the Chicago news, they said there were suppose to be candidates meeting and greeting people at the train stations this morning.  I didn't see any by the Madison Street entrance for Union Station but across the street by Ogilvie Station, I did hear a woman's voice yelling "Have a great day!".
  Yesterday morning at my suburban train station, I was surprised with a donut from the Tea Party.  They had a nice information packet for me to look over while I was waiting for my late train (late because a person in Bartlett jumped in front of an earlier train).  The packet had different questions and showed a chart of how different candidates answered those questions.  I'm glad it wasn't a packet that solely bashed other candidates because those turn me off.  I already voted bright and early this morning.  I'll be monitoring candidate progress throughout the day but unfortunately will be in bed before we find out the results.

Metra Milwaukee District West Line Alert

  This morning, it's very unfortunate to hear that a pedestrian was hit and killed by a Metra train in Bartlett.  As of right now I have no further information as to what happened.  I do know that the most recent morning trains into Union Station were only running about 10-15 minutes late. 
  I cannot stress enough about being careful around trains and train tracks.