Lessons learned
I had a relatively productive business trip up to Chicago earlier this week, even though I didn't really have the time to see the usual suspects while in town. One bonus of the trip was doing the whole Wrigley Field experience Tuesday, including stops here and here before and after the game. Surprisingly, I didn't hit as many of the bars around the park during my multiple trips there when I was at school.

I really missed Wrigley. It feels a lot cozier now after going to Turner Field all the time, and the seats we had, which were directly behind the camera well above home plate and just below the press box were probably similar to club level seats in Atlanta. The game was neat, despite the power surge in the first inning that delayed the game for about 15 minutes. I did discover a cool little balcony-type hangout in the upper deck behind home plate, but I've now learned that you'd better have good access to the game either via TVs or looking out onto the field when doing that type of schmoozing because our group missed four Cubs homers -- Sammy Sosa's 520-foot blast plus three in a row.

I also realized how screwed up my thinking of Chicago geography is while driving (or, in this case, navigating). I got turned around more than a few times, and some of these east-west roads that I thought would be easy enough to get from the O'Hare area to either Evanston or the North Side became arduous adventures. Just exactly how are the lights timed on Irving Park Road?

Finally, the strangest nugget of the whole trip: Our two days there happened to be the first two 90-degree days in Chicago this year, meaning it hit 90 there before it hit that mark here in Atlanta.