19-21 May-2024 Chicago

Sunday was a perfect day for a bike ride!

I started my journey from my cat sit home and headed 4 blocks east to Lake Michigan. The City of Chicago did an amazing job of preserving the shoreline both north and south of downtown for public use and enjoyment. There is a corridor along the lakefront from where I live (just over 7 miles north of downtown) all the way into the city that is filled with separate walking and biking trails, baseball fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, beaches, marinas, picnic and charcoal grilling areas, open grassy spaces, parking and many other recreational opportunities. What a treasure!

To make things even better it was a sunny day with temperatures in the low 70s and a nice breeze coming off the water – could not have been better! I rode south all the way to famous Navy Pier and then turned around and went to the northernmost end of the trail before heading back to my place. Just under 18 miles total. What a great ride!

The following day (Monday) I headed to the south end of Chicago and went to the Museum of Science and Industry where I met up with my friends Lorraine & Roy. I was particularly interested in going here because they have a James Bond exhibit which was really interesting. Can you believe the first James Bond movie was released back in 1965? Wow! I didn’t realize the franchise was that old!

The exhibit consisted of lots of artifacts from all the different movies. To make it relevant they showed different movie action clips in front of each of the larger props (cars, boats, etc.). There was also the “science behind the gadget’ and the “physics behind the stunts” explanations which were very interesting. for each movie, they work with scientists and technology experts to see what is cutting edge so that the movies often show technology before it’s time.

I was tempted to buy the spy book in the gift shop – maybe that would be a good next career for me?!?!

In addition to the James Bond exhibit they had a special exhibit about the prevalence of micro plastics in our oceans and water supply. Attached some pictures of statistics/quotes I saw that were really astonishing.What a ness we have made!

There were also other exhibits on genetics storms and the largest model railroad display I have ever seen! Not nearly enough time to see it all!

On Tuesday I spent much of the day doing some “job search” stuff (I don’t think I’m cut out to be a spy). I’m working with a job coach that had me do a skills assessment and had me write an essay about why my LinkedIn picture has a green circle around it. If you have a LinkedIn account, go check it out and let me know what you think. I had to stay focused because Cherry the Cat was keeping a close eye on me!

Tuesday evening I reconnected with friends Matt and Tracy Biskner who live just a couple miles south of my temporary cat home. It was great to see them again!