The new job starts Monday, so I decided to do a test commute today to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises next week. I have several different planned routes, but all of them involve some exposure to the elements, whether it's a walk to the El or a wait for the bus. I tried walking to the train station first, which took about 15 minutes at a pretty brisk pace.
The only trouble was it was 10 degrees with a -5 wind chill. Yeah. Time to break out the long johns, scarf, and chap stick.
Once I get downtown, it's not so bad, even though I have about a 10-minute walk from the El to my office. The reason is the Pedway, which is basically a human underground hamster trail that connects many of the buildings downtown.
If today wasn't cold enough, the wind chills night will be between -20 and -30; tomorrow the high will be in the single digits. The weather folks say this is 20 degrees below normal for this time of year. Well, THAT'S a relief.
Seriously though, I'm definitely a city person. If this is the worst it gets, I can handle that. I think the Rev. has it worse because during this time of year she'll basically be housebound with Zane until it warms up (on the plus side, she says she can get a lot of things done).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I love Chicago. I miss Chicago. There is just something electrifying about Chicago air. Perhaps with ya'll there, we have an excuse that might actually get us there more often than we have been going!
Can you drive to the train station? Those wind chill factors are miserable!
Glad to hear you are getting settled in, and can't wait to see more pictures of the new place.
Kristine Stocker
Hey bro, one thing you may want to try for the cold walk to the el is wearing snowboarding pants. I did that for the winters that I didn't have a car and rode the motorcycle everywhere I went. I know our winters are not nearly as bad here but doing it every day and going 60mph in freezing weather is pretty close. It is a lot warmer then wearing long undies, not to mention they are easy to take off once you are on the train or once you get to work. I still wear them today when I chose to ride to work on cold mornings. You can get them at any sporting goods store. I got my Fieldsheer over-pants (pretty much the same thing as snowboarding pants) at M.A.W. online for about forty dollars.
Miss you guys, hope to see you soon!
Post a Comment