LIKE

• The credit card machines are much faster and generally don’t require a pin – you swipe and you’re done asap.
• If you’re in the left turn lane, there’s a traffic light on the corner…see the picture!
  
  So basically, if I’m the second car, at the bottom, behind a truck…I can’t see anything in the red area. So I can’t see the traffic light: when it’s red/green, whatever. So they put a traffic light on the corner, within the line of sight. It’s so smart!!
• Cheaper everything – cheaper food, gas, clothes, dvds. Not only is the price lower than usual, there’s also a smaller sales tax (6-7%?) instead of our 13%
• Wifi – a lot more wifi everywhere. They have Internet/Wifi in the subway! That’s awesome!
• Deep Dish Pizza :)

DISLIKE

• When you pay by credit card, a lot of places don’t bring a machine to you – you have to go up to the front to use the credit card. Get with the times, Chicago!
• RE: Driving – People accelerate faster and jam the breaks harder, in general. They also don’t signal that often. And they’re more rude, in general (and more prone to road rage). One of the things that I noticed is that many of the drivers are on their cell phones a lot. Like…I glance around and EVERYONE is on their cellphone, driving on the highway. Not only that…they don’t have like, bluetooth or a headset or anything, they do the classic “phone between shoulder and face” thingy…it’s crazy!! SO DANGEROUS!!
• Dangerous neighourhoods/abandoned homes. There was a recent shooting in Chicago (Thursday Night) – Cornell Square Park – 3 killed, 23 wounded. It’s a 15 minute drive from where I was, Friday Morning (Midway Airport). Not saying “that could have been me” but the area is definitely dangerous.
• Cicadas. Lots of them…..making a lot of noise!

….there’s no Part 1.

I just went on my second trip (hence, Part 2) to Chicago – this time, solo! As you may/may not know, I’m not much of a traveller. I find the idea of going out of my comfort zone….uhh, uncomfortable. I also dislike the idea of going anywhere…uhh less safe. And the US scares the crap out of me. The fact that anyone, in theory, could have a gun – wtf is up with that?!

I must say, it’s pretty crazy travelling for work. I’ve got 3 developers on my team, 1 in Chicago and 2 in Milwaukee. That’s 3 people of my 15 person team. As such, I’m required to travel to the US roughly once a month.

With 4 nights stay at a hotel, car rental, round trip to Chicago and back, gas, plus food expenses ($45~/day allowance), the trip is like, $1500 total. I know it’s for work but I honestly feel pretty guilty, getting a ‘free’ trip and 4.5 days of food, expensed. And all I have to do is…well…work in a different office. I guess it’s cuz I’m still on a high of travelling – I’m sure it gets old – fast. But right now, I don’t mind at all.

I mean, I don’t have kids right now and I’m pretty much good and comfortable as long as I have an internet connection lol. So it’s not really such a huge personal burden on me. That’s probably why it’s okay…

I also really really like staying in a hotel :) The idea of…a nicely made king sized bed, unwrapping fresh, unused soap, seeing what shampoos are offered…the option of US channel TVs. It’s such a nice treat :D

I didn’t go out at night at all during the trip – I was home before it got dark each of the 4 nights (Mon-Thurs). Some of my co-workers totally scared me with ‘how things are in the US, after dark’. For example, I was saying I needed to drive to Chicago Friday morning and I might have to drive at like, 5am. They were like ‘do not get out of the car, for any reason – if a lady comes up to you saying her baby needs help or someone says their house is on fire, just drive away. They may as well be dead to you. I remember one time getting gas and I’m literally sliding a credit card through a pane a tiny crack of bullet proof glass’

When I was in Milwaukee downtown, it’s so eerily empty. Like, imagine the zombie apocalypse occurred, Milwaukee is like the deserted downtown. Seriously, I’m in the core of downtown, looking down in the street and I see like, 3 people walking around. Maybe 12 cars in my field of view. 12 cars! I would compare the amount of people of 9pm Milwaukee downtown with 5am Toronto suburb. If the zombie apocalypse were ever to occur, I’d go to Milwaukee. I imagine I’d be able to handle the zombie volume of that area.

I bought 2 T-Shirts from Hot Topic, a black shirt with a mini arc reactor on the chest. And a spider-man shirt.

I also bought 2 Blu Rays – Star Trek: Into Darkness and Good Will Hunting. Now that I go to the US, and can spend $800, I’m going to start buying all my Blu Rays there – there’s a mere 6-7% sales tax there (1/2 of Ontario) and the cases don’t have that French translation on the boxes, allowing for maximum design and…beauty!

My next trip to Chicago is Oct 21 – Oct 25. During that time, I plan to get a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab (2014) :D Maybe 2.

As I finish writing this on the airplane as it’s about to land, I shall sign off.

Upon landing, I’m going to go home and then go hunting for a Zelda: Wind Waker HD Wii U!

Sunday I have family stuff but I want my Saturday to be just for me – whether it be web development or photography or maybe even work!

EDIT: Sept 22, 3PM – Added pics

My Rented Car – Chevy Sonic
An automatic (haven’t driven an automatic in a year!)

My hotel room at the Hyatt – pretty nice!

Braised Short Ribs
Smoked cheddar mashed potatoes, coilard greens, wild mushroom jus

Maple Pork Chop
Butternut squash risotto, caramelized apples, port cherry jus