Thanksgiving II

What would you call Con Air, if it was shot in Illinois?
Corn Air.

What would you call American Idol, if it had a Tam-Brahm participating in it?
American Idli.

Ha ha. Very funny.

I had an interesting Friday. Usually, my floor is bustling with activity fairly late into the evening. This time around, there were exactly 4 people on my side of the floor. It was nice, because no one was actually hoping to get any stuff done. Mostly holiday banter and exchanging of plans for the weekend.

Its quite the experience to play softball soccer on the 37th floor. You kick the ball. It flies towards the lake, towards millenium park, just to the right of the AON center, bounces off the glass and comes right back. Sometimes, you don't really feel like playing soccer, but would rather just push your face up againt the glass. You are suspended up in the air. You see cars snaking their way through the streets 40 floors down, through myriad lanes, through the highway going out into the horizon. Light glinting off the lake in the distance. A lazy boat bobbing in the water. Clouds. White, fluffy and free. Thousands upon thousands of buildings, filled with people, eating, sleeping, living; caught up in the infinite detail of their lives. Each with family, friends, an education, anecdotes and scars; worried, happy, anxious and relaxed. You then step back and see the synthetic carpet beneath your feet. Its time to head to the cooler for a can of coke, back to the desk, back to work.

I head out early, at about 5. I need to buy a suit. There is a cocktail party next week. I have little experience buying suits, or attending cocktail parties. However, its the day after thanksgiving, and an ideal time to pick up discounts. I head down to Michigan Avenue, and in the maddening holiday crowd, I bump into my boss and his partner. I find it shocking how often I meet people from work outside of work. It is almost as if, people who work in the same company, have almost identical preferences in general as well. However, they don't have the same purchasing power! Life in many ways remains a rat race. As you grow older, the tracks change, but the race remains the same. Should I earn more, just so that I can afford a suit at Nordstorm? Or a Tag Heuer watch? Anyway, I head over to Macy's and buy almost the same suit, at a far more reasonable price.

Its 7:15PM. I have a train to catch at 8PM. I don't have enough time to head home and pack. Its the day after Thanksgiving. Almost every car in Chicago seems to be out on the streets. Wisely, I decide to head directly to Union Station. I pick up my tickets at the counter and board the train to Champaign.