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This is as close as I can get to my apartment in Chicago on Google Maps. (See Google Street View steers Clear of Obama’s Neighborhood.) Here is an aerial view from Bing Maps:
tags: annarbor, chicago, dc, providence
I have never lived so far west within a time zone.
Today’s sunrises
This is the first place I have moved to where I have really noticed the difference, probably because of the huge difference between Chicago and Ann Arbor. It still feels like the day is starting 45 minutes early.
tags: annarbor, chicago, home, providence
After 11 odd months of routine weeks, last week was a different week.
Monday: Moved 95% of my belongings to Katie’s basement (1 trip), and all of Julie’s stuff to her new apartment in Edgewater (3 trips) in an I-GO Honda Element. It took about 12 hours total.
Tuesday: Recovered from moving and figured out what classes to register for.
Wednesday: Registered for classes, and moved the rest of my stuff to Katie’s.
Thursday: Cleaned old apartment.
Friday: Had a final lunch with my Web Services coworkers in Hyde Park, picked up my paycheck, came back to Logan Square and got my leaky front wheel tube replaced, biked downtown for Critical Mass with Katie and Xixi.
Saturday: First day of last minute shopping before my trip.
Sunday: Went to the Chicago Botanical Garden with the whole Logan Square crew for the day.
tags: chicago
Last night I went on the L.A.T.E. Ride. It is kind of like what I imagine a Critical Mass ride to be like, except it involves 10,000 riders from 1:30 – 6 am and the police a lot of major intersections for us.
I’ve never ridden extensively at night in any city, and I’ve never even been outside in Chicago that late – I usually go to sleep early anyway, and the buses from downtown stop running around 1 am so I’m always been back at my apartment by then. So the combination of both of things was very exciting! Also, there wasn’t any wind at all until we got to the turnaround point and were on the lakefront trail, and the temperature was perfect.
Once again, my sit bones were killing me by the halfway point. I also had trouble getting my hands in comfortable position — I kept them straight top part of the handle bars almost the whole time ready to pull the interrupter brakes because I was afraid I was going to run into someone or not be able to stop fast enough for a traffic light. I don’t know. I should probably try adjusting the saddle position, and if it that doesn’t work try a different one. I’m also considering switching from drop bars to bullhorn handle bars because that way I would be able to have my hands on the sides of the bars and still be able to reach the brakes easily.
Anyway. Apart from the butt pain this was the best ride ever! Definitely beats Bike the Drive, which really isn’t that different from riding on the trail
A Tale of Two Campus Towns: Hyde Park and Ann Arbor
Not looking forward to this:
And as interesting as Ann Arbor’s downtown area is, it is relatively low-density, and there are no major drug stores or supermarkets within walking distance.
But in general it compares favorably to Hyde Park as a neighborhood, apart from the presence of Lake Michigan.
Today I jumped in the lake with my clothes on and went swimming, after dunking my feet and undergoing an intense internal struggle for half an hour. Triumph! Wet denim cutoffs feel pretty gross both in and outside of the water, but it was totally worth it.
tags: chicago, photography