Tag: Chicago

Posted on

Priest for Dinner

Our friends, Harry and Susie, were in town for some fun with Susie’s family that lives here, her sister who came in from West Virginia, Susie’s niece’s family, and one of Harry and Susie’s daughter and her family who also came down from Chicago.  Susie and Harry spent Sunday night with us.

We are sitting on the patio Monday morning, drinking coffee, listening to the birds, watching the chipmunks and squirrels,  enjoying the cool, breezy morning, and chatting.  Harry was relating how his father had been very active in the church and the Catholic parish where they lived in Chicago. Susie added that Harry’s family frequently had priests for dinner.

So I asked, “Are they better rare or well done?” I suppose I could have asked, “grilled, blackened or fried?”

Sometimes I just crack myself up, nobody else, but I find me to be very entertaining at times.

And so it goes.

Posted on

Señora – Breakfast in Bed

Señora and I were driving back from Chicago.  We were doing something we do not normally do.  We were listening to a rock station with a couple DJs who were under the overwhelming delusion that they were funny.

I do not remember what the exact context was, but they were talking about Mother’s Day, which is tomorrow – don’t you forget your mama y’all.  They were going on with something about breakfast in bed for the family matriarch.

Señora remarked, “I don’t know about breakfast in bed, but I would take lunch in bed!”

Reckon I have my Sunday lined out for me.

And so it goes.

Posted on

Amtrak Could and Should Do Better

I think I understand why Amtrak is having business problems.USA-superliner-train-seats

I would love to be able to take a train a lot of places I visit.  First and foremost, there are not passenger trains to many places.  If there is the travel time is much more than it would be by car and the real kicker is that the tickets are more expensive than driving.   At least that has been my experience every time I have checked for an upcoming trip.

We recently returned from a wedding that was held in downtown Chicago.  We took Amtrak from St. Louis to Union Station in Chicago there and back.  The tickets for the two of us ran around $245.  Gas for the trip would have ran from $100 to $150 depending on which vehicle we took and how much additional driving we did.   However overnight parking in downtown Chicago would have cost us at least $60 per day.   To the above figure add $120.  Because we were splitting cabs with other attendees to the wedding, cabs probably ran another $20 or $25 while we were there.   Double that if we had not split.

Our train was due to leave St. Louis Friday morning at 7:55 a.m.   The Texas Eagle was behind schedule.  Continue reading “Amtrak Could and Should Do Better”