Correspondence of Stephen Page while he is in Chicago January 9, 2006 Subject: The Day After Thanksgiving-an update from Stephen, part 1 Hey everybody! It is time for the long awaited update from Chicago! Let's start with Thanksgiving. So I flew home, had a nice time with the family, enjoyed the weather, and decided I had better go back to Chicago for a week to take my one final... So I get to the airport, check in, say goodbye to Anna Katherine *sniff* trott over to my gate, and get on the plane. Only to get off, 'cause there's bad weather. In Chicago, of course. So I wait an hour, and during the wait my phone battery dies. No biggie, I'll just use the pay phones in the airport to change my reservation for aiport shuttle pick-up. I run out of quarters calling people, of course. No problem, I think. Once in Chicago, it'll be fifteen minutes until the shuttle lets me off at my doorstep, and I can call people then. So, after the hour wait in the airport, we are finally let back on the plane. And we are very happy, until the captain informs us that we are seventy-fifth in line for take-off. I kid you not. So we wait there for about the time it takes fresh bread to mold, and finally take off. Mind you, I got to the airport at about 2pm. We arrive in Chcago at 10:30pm. And of course, the aiport shuttle service stopped running by the time I got my bags and ran over to their counter. No problem, I think, I'll just take the "L", Chicago's wonderful public transport system. So I get on the train, and things are going fine, and then the train stops. In a bad part of town. Of course. I find out it only runs about half-way to my house at that time of night (12:30am). So, they tell me to get on a bus. Keep in mind, my phone has been dead for hours. I wait for the bus, oh, about an hour (1:30am), and when I see it, it doesn't stop. It just keeps on going. Thankfully, there were two other college guys in the same predicament, and we went running after that bus, and caught it at a red light. The driver let us on. I think, well, finally I'm on, I can get home and call my family. Then the bus stops. In the middle of the street. Turns out the driver wasn't really supposed to let us on the bus at a red light, and he felt like he needed to lecture us on it. For ten minutes. And let's just say "bus driver" isn't the happiest of jobs... So the bus lets us off in downtown Evanston, still about half a mile from my house. I get out, in the cold, and walk down the brick steets, with my violin, backpack, and suitcase trailing behind me. I never thought a suitcase could make so much noise rolling down the street, but when you are the only one downtown, you make a lot of noise breathing. Even the cops had gone home by this time (2am)! Finally, after longest half-mile in the history of half distances, I reached my house, and slugged up the stairs, and plugged my phone in, and listened to my eighteen voice messages, called my folks, and went to bed. Of course, I had a nine o'clock lesson that morning... I realize that I could have relayed that inormation to you in about three sentences, but what would be the fun in that? I only wish I could say that I battled terrorists on the plane, evil gang members on the plane, and eerie creatures in deserted Evanston (they have Portals there too, you know). That would have been the Apt 106 thing to do, but unfortunately the terrorists, gang members, and eerie creatures did not play along. ~Stephen~
Hey everybody! It is time for the long awaited update from Chicago!
Let's start with Thanksgiving. So I flew home, had a nice time with the family, enjoyed the weather, and decided I had better go back to Chicago for a week to take my one final... So I get to the airport, check in, say goodbye to Anna Katherine *sniff* trott over to my gate, and get on the plane. Only to get off, 'cause there's bad weather. In Chicago, of course. So I wait an hour, and during the wait my phone battery dies. No biggie, I'll just use the pay phones in the airport to change my reservation for aiport shuttle pick-up. I run out of quarters calling people, of course. No problem, I think. Once in Chicago, it'll be fifteen minutes until the shuttle lets me off at my doorstep, and I can call people then. So, after the hour wait in the airport, we are finally let back on the plane. And we are very happy, until the captain informs us that we are seventy-fifth in line for take-off. I kid you not. So we wait there for about the time it takes fresh bread to mold, and finally take off. Mind you, I got to the airport at about 2pm. We arrive in Chcago at 10:30pm. And of course, the aiport shuttle service stopped running by the time I got my bags and ran over to their counter. No problem, I think, I'll just take the "L", Chicago's wonderful public transport system. So I get on the train, and things are going fine, and then the train stops. In a bad part of town. Of course. I find out it only runs about half-way to my house at that time of night (12:30am). So, they tell me to get on a bus. Keep in mind, my phone has been dead for hours. I wait for the bus, oh, about an hour (1:30am), and when I see it, it doesn't stop. It just keeps on going. Thankfully, there were two other college guys in the same predicament, and we went running after that bus, and caught it at a red light. The driver let us on. I think, well, finally I'm on, I can get home and call my family. Then the bus stops. In the middle of the street. Turns out the driver wasn't really supposed to let us on the bus at a red light, and he felt like he needed to lecture us on it. For ten minutes. And let's just say "bus driver" isn't the happiest of jobs...
So the bus lets us off in downtown Evanston, still about half a mile from my house. I get out, in the cold, and walk down the brick steets, with my violin, backpack, and suitcase trailing behind me. I never thought a suitcase could make so much noise rolling down the street, but when you are the only one downtown, you make a lot of noise breathing. Even the cops had gone home by this time (2am)! Finally, after longest half-mile in the history of half distances, I reached my house, and slugged up the stairs, and plugged my phone in, and listened to my eighteen voice messages, called my folks, and went to bed. Of course, I had a nine o'clock lesson that morning...
I realize that I could have relayed that inormation to you in about three sentences, but what would be the fun in that? I only wish I could say that I battled terrorists on the plane, evil gang members on the plane, and eerie creatures in deserted Evanston (they have Portals there too, you know). That would have been the Apt 106 thing to do, but unfortunately the terrorists, gang members, and eerie creatures did not play along.
~Stephen~
