So have you tried this Priceline thing? It's quite glorious. On the way back from Omaha, Maria remarked that she's still not been to Chicago. "We're going next weekend." Better now than never, I suppose.
With that, I went online last night to find a hotel room. I tried the Priceline. Half off the room's quoted rate on their own Web site! Of course after that I wondered if I could have gone even lower. No matter. A lesson for later.
I haven't made any real plans for the Chicago, though. Friday night we wanted to get up to Devon Ave and check out all the Indo-Pak offerings. Saturday'll be for just walking around downtown and seeing some sights. I'm sure we can quickly pick up a walking tour while at the hotel or something on Friday night.
Saturday evening it's off to Ikea for some small housewares purchasing. There's no Ikea anywhere near Omaha. Have you been to the Ikea in Chicago? It's bigger than most hockey arenas with a parking lot bigger than most football stadiums. I'm not kidding. Check it out on the satellite.
Also, I sold out and got a new phone. An iPhone. I know, I know. But I got it to talk to the work mail account, so I can legitimately use it for work and pass off some of the costs. It's actually really nice. And it's got a really crappy camera, too! The fun part will be taking photos while in Chicago and then instantly uploading them to the Flickr page. Oh boy, bet you can't wait for that nonsense.
Thursday, October 18
Sunday, October 14
Something of a trip report
Ok, so the trip to Omaha started off pretty crappy. Namely, I didn't have my driver's license when I got to the Southwest ticket counter in Indy. But it's all good! You don't actually need a government ID to fly. They just check you extra-good at the gate.
But that wasn't all. Asim didn't bring his passport or birth certificate, and they need some proof of age when parents say their kids are under 2. So a call to the pediatrician's office and a fax later, we were all set.
Of course when I got to the extra-frisky section of the security, I emptied my pockets and lo and behold, driver's license. Notice I was wearing shorts. I remembered that I had taken my ID out about a week ago when I went to the club ... probably just forgot to put it back. What's that? You went to the club wearing shorts? Yeah, it was pretty funny. That's the kind of stuff you do when you just don't care. (Read: married with kid.)
Anyway, of course after we get through security, er rather, after I got through, the wife and baby were nowhere to be found. Go down one full concourse. No. Go down the other. No. Go back to the first. Yes, they're there. But where's the diaper bag? Oh, back at security. Doh.
Southwest now has family boarding, too. Which means that after the A group boards, people traveling with children under 5 get to board. Yay! Particularly because we were in group C (for the whole trip. Although Adam has told me how to get my group A on.)
Seats were good, comfy, large enough. The three of us had three seats, and Asim slept on the way to Midway and then was very amiable on the way to Omaha.
When we got to Omaha, there were two dodgy-looking ladies waiting at the Hertz counter, with the Hertz Helper on the phone. Great. After a few more minutes, a supervisor showed up, didn't do much and then stood around. Any Gold members? No, not here. Asim was walking around, and I rather loudly said to him, "Asim, come here so we can stand around for half an hour." Not sure if the supervisor heard me or not, but seconds after that comment he told me I could step up. After I handed him my driver's license, he helpfully asked me what my name was.
The drive to the hotel was rather short. If you look at the map, you can see how close Eppley Field is to downtown. Very nice. Hilton Garden Inn, fourth floor. Not a huge room, but good enough. Asim finally stretched his legs some more, and after a while we headed downstairs for dinner.
Tuesday morning, time to check out some newer homes. Very nice, very small, very suburban.
Tuesday afternoon, off to work. Nothing too crazy there other than a career suicide via conference call. Bizarre. Basically a contractor to our company (older guy) getting annoyed at the 2.5 hour call going nowhere. (It was going somewhere, albeit slowly). We were all stunned; he later got a call to take a hike.
Anyway.
Tuesday evening, more houses. Saw a bunch that were spectacularly ugly. I feel bad for the people selling them since they can't possibly ever get a buyer. If they do, I'd feel bad for the buyer since they'd have atrocious taste.
Wednesday morning, work. Wednesday afternoon, call from loan officer. Uh, yeah, loan's gonna be kind of tricky to do. No matter. Plan B. Rental.
Wednesday evening, go check out some rentals. Pretty bad. Very bad, actually. Converted lofts, old appliances, vinyl floors, smelly hallways.
Thursday we check out the place across the street from the hotel. It's a condo building. There's an owner who's renting his place -- he was thinking about listing it but then decided on a rental.
Yes, yes, yes. You saw the floorplan, but it's half the story. Stainless all around, nice carpet in the bedrooms, hardwood floors in the living, ceramic tile in the bathroom with classy fixtures. The place is only two years old. Sixth floor, elevator building, quiet, and oh yeah, as I said before, walk to work.
Other than that, we really tried to have a good time since it's all on the relocation tab. We ate out constantly. Upstream Brewery downtown, Old Chicago, PF Chang's (we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out ... nothing.) Chipotle (ha! Gotta stick a burrito in there somewhere). Asim put up with everything really well, particularly the walking around downtown and earlier house-hunting bit.
And although the house search didn't come through, I think if we're still in Omaha in a year we'd definitely buy. It was kind of hard to tell anything about the various builders or communities. It all seemed like a blur.
Oh, and to clarify one thing. We can't just walk out on our house here. We have to close. Apparently I signed a contract. Dangit. It's not that big of a deal only because the relocation will cover the mortgage until it sells. Of course, if you're playing along at home, you're probably wondering ... well, if you didn't get approved out there for a mortgage, how are you going to close on a place here?
Well, we'll just have to find out in December, won't we?
But that wasn't all. Asim didn't bring his passport or birth certificate, and they need some proof of age when parents say their kids are under 2. So a call to the pediatrician's office and a fax later, we were all set.
Of course when I got to the extra-frisky section of the security, I emptied my pockets and lo and behold, driver's license. Notice I was wearing shorts. I remembered that I had taken my ID out about a week ago when I went to the club ... probably just forgot to put it back. What's that? You went to the club wearing shorts? Yeah, it was pretty funny. That's the kind of stuff you do when you just don't care. (Read: married with kid.)
Anyway, of course after we get through security, er rather, after I got through, the wife and baby were nowhere to be found. Go down one full concourse. No. Go down the other. No. Go back to the first. Yes, they're there. But where's the diaper bag? Oh, back at security. Doh.
Southwest now has family boarding, too. Which means that after the A group boards, people traveling with children under 5 get to board. Yay! Particularly because we were in group C (for the whole trip. Although Adam has told me how to get my group A on.)
Seats were good, comfy, large enough. The three of us had three seats, and Asim slept on the way to Midway and then was very amiable on the way to Omaha.
When we got to Omaha, there were two dodgy-looking ladies waiting at the Hertz counter, with the Hertz Helper on the phone. Great. After a few more minutes, a supervisor showed up, didn't do much and then stood around. Any Gold members? No, not here. Asim was walking around, and I rather loudly said to him, "Asim, come here so we can stand around for half an hour." Not sure if the supervisor heard me or not, but seconds after that comment he told me I could step up. After I handed him my driver's license, he helpfully asked me what my name was.
The drive to the hotel was rather short. If you look at the map, you can see how close Eppley Field is to downtown. Very nice. Hilton Garden Inn, fourth floor. Not a huge room, but good enough. Asim finally stretched his legs some more, and after a while we headed downstairs for dinner.
Tuesday morning, time to check out some newer homes. Very nice, very small, very suburban.
Tuesday afternoon, off to work. Nothing too crazy there other than a career suicide via conference call. Bizarre. Basically a contractor to our company (older guy) getting annoyed at the 2.5 hour call going nowhere. (It was going somewhere, albeit slowly). We were all stunned; he later got a call to take a hike.
Anyway.
Tuesday evening, more houses. Saw a bunch that were spectacularly ugly. I feel bad for the people selling them since they can't possibly ever get a buyer. If they do, I'd feel bad for the buyer since they'd have atrocious taste.
Wednesday morning, work. Wednesday afternoon, call from loan officer. Uh, yeah, loan's gonna be kind of tricky to do. No matter. Plan B. Rental.
Wednesday evening, go check out some rentals. Pretty bad. Very bad, actually. Converted lofts, old appliances, vinyl floors, smelly hallways.
Thursday we check out the place across the street from the hotel. It's a condo building. There's an owner who's renting his place -- he was thinking about listing it but then decided on a rental.
Yes, yes, yes. You saw the floorplan, but it's half the story. Stainless all around, nice carpet in the bedrooms, hardwood floors in the living, ceramic tile in the bathroom with classy fixtures. The place is only two years old. Sixth floor, elevator building, quiet, and oh yeah, as I said before, walk to work.
Other than that, we really tried to have a good time since it's all on the relocation tab. We ate out constantly. Upstream Brewery downtown, Old Chicago, PF Chang's (we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out ... nothing.) Chipotle (ha! Gotta stick a burrito in there somewhere). Asim put up with everything really well, particularly the walking around downtown and earlier house-hunting bit.
And although the house search didn't come through, I think if we're still in Omaha in a year we'd definitely buy. It was kind of hard to tell anything about the various builders or communities. It all seemed like a blur.
Oh, and to clarify one thing. We can't just walk out on our house here. We have to close. Apparently I signed a contract. Dangit. It's not that big of a deal only because the relocation will cover the mortgage until it sells. Of course, if you're playing along at home, you're probably wondering ... well, if you didn't get approved out there for a mortgage, how are you going to close on a place here?
Well, we'll just have to find out in December, won't we?
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