Everything But the Kitchen Sink - Is That Next?

I have always loved shopping at Walgreens.  Now that they've remodeled - I can almost wax poetic about the many ways I love them.

Here goes (without the poetry) and not in the order of importance:

• They got rid of those god-awful self service kiosks and have a full line of real people to ring up purchases.  Good for me and good for employment of others.
• Their security is good.  A big brawny guy followed me around as I took pictures - so I refrained from taking his.
• They now have a place to sit and privately ask a pharmacist questions that you may not want the whole world to hear. I also love their wide network.  I can travel most places in the U.S. and don't have to obsess about my prescriptions.
• I am more than impressed with the fresh food offerings and the way they're positioned - when impulse buying choices include fresh fruit, vegetables and sushi we all win.  I bought an avocado there and it was perfect.
• I have been looking all over for the kind of thin sliced bread that I use for appetizers - guess where I finally found it?
• The Photo Center is slick and efficient and somewhat private so that when a non-techie like me screws up not a lot of people will witness it.
• They have truly created a one stop shopping center for us at fair prices and most of us are in walking distance to a Walgreens.
• Unfortunately they have turned me into an addict.  If you have not tasted their ice cream - run out and get some now.  I did an ingredients check and compared it to a high priced famous label brand and found that there are actually more chemicals, fat and other bad stuff in the famous brand.  I am truly addicted - waffle cone and caramel overload are my favorites - but there are plenty of others to tempt you.  Run.. don't walk...to your local Walgreens and see if you don't agree with me.

Look out Best Buy and Target - here comes Walgreens.

Off the Beaten Path -Let's Keep it That Way

Joe's old high school buddy, and my Tucson pool buddy were in town this weekend.  We all ran each other ragged from Wrigley Field to Navy Pier and most spots in-between.  We didn't waste their time on an actual Cubs game - we high tailed it to Bernie's for the post game madness.  I'll save that adventure for another time. All I can say is: " Thank you, CTA for those marvelous 3 day passes. "  Public transportation rocks. $10. beer at Millennium Park does not.

Having Joe's buddy here reminded me of a road trip we took with him in Arizona this Spring. What a contrast to the trip we took him on this weekend.  On our way home from Bisbee, Arizona
http://lynncrawfordsays.blogspot.com/2011/06/ever-wonder-where-that-copper-comes.html

he took us to a bar in Benson, AZ. - population about 4,000- and so off the beaten path that you have to know about it to get there - I'm not sharing how to get there (even if I could remember) as I don't want to encourage would- be tourists.  It would wreck the ambiance at this joint.  It's called the Arena Bar - so named as it is adjacent to the arena where the Benson rodeo is held and its liquor license allows the consumption of alcohol anywhere on the 9.7 acre property which includes the bar and party room and bleachers around the arena - fully equipped for roping, riding and tying.

No $10. beers here.  $2.50 looked like the highest price.  I didn't ask for a Cosmo - and even if they might have known how to make one, I doubt it would have cost $14.  Lots of local characters and the house dog - even though the sign on the door clearly  states "No dogs allowed".  Everybody in what looked like a work hard/play hard crowd was friendly, even though it  was obvious that we (especially me with my camera) were outsiders.  One of the old timers named John asked me to take his picture -which I did.  He gave me his address so I could mail it to him-which I did. Haven't heard back, but it didn't come back in the mail - so I assumed he got it.

 The place probably looks the way it did back in the 60s - very old and a bit weary, a place where everybody knows everybody and is probably the best action in town.  I want to go back someday and see if Cowboy John is still hanging out and if the dog is still roaming from customer to customer for a pat on the head.  Somehow I think they will be.   I hope tourists won't.

Fashion Review from the Gold Coast Art Fair

All right, stop laughing.  The same lady who is still wearing button -down collars, madras shorts and Keds is going to give a review of fashion?  Well I am.  After walking around the Gold Coast Art Fair - and you need both days to cover it properly- I decided to rest.  I sat down, deliciously cooling Sangria in hand and pulled out my camera. 

I was  expecting the usual hot weather attire - too much skin and flab and strappy sandals.  What a surprise.  The whole rest of the world may already know this.  Skirts are back.  I'd estimate that 2 out of 3 women who came down my private runway wore one.

 I positioned myself across from the frozen yogurt stand so I could get shots without showing faces.  I'm so jealous of the women young and old and every color of the rainbow who looked cool and comfortable in their skirts and dresses.  It brought back the memories of dresses I owned when I could still wear spaghetti straps and cool skirts flowing out from a tiny waist.   They were a good defense in the New Jersey humidity and later in the Arizona dry heat.

This is one of my favorites from the "show".

The Art Fair itself was wonderful, in spite of the heat.  The Grant Park venue keeps it contained and there is no need to close streets to traffic.  I hope they will continue to have it there - even though it is technically not in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

In addition to the skirts and dresses, I saw lots of feminine lacy stuff that looked equally cool in both senses of the word.  A word to the men- what's with all the pockets?

The Maestro, The Musicians, The Geezer

We are members of the Grant Park Music Festival.  Bad weather has kept us away from the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park since the season began.  The show goes on - rain or shine - but we lack the spirit of adventure that used to propel us through the rain and wind and hope it clears up.

Tuesday was a gorgeous day - so we packed a lunch and headed for the pavilion, where an open rehearsal was taking place for 2 1/2 hours.  It is a relaxing and fun way to spend a lunch hour and we kind of feel like insiders, since we get to see Carlos Kalmar, the principal conductor, in a t-shirt and sweatpants instead of his usual formal attire.

What a treat to see these classical musicians in their shorts and flip flops - as they react to Carlos' direction and lively correction - it  really humanizes them and him.  You can see the affection he has for "his" musicians.  Although the orchestra spots are highly coveted and the few openings every year attract hundreds of  top performers from all over the country, no one is chosen for a position until a final decision by Maestro Kalmar. It appears that the affection is mutual. During their union mandated breaks - a union official  actually comes on stage and calls a halt - the camaraderie is evident and the exchanges are clearly two- way.

The music was a tour of  Latin America with works from Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. Some very tense and dramatic passages which required concentration on the part of the orchestra and focused attention from the audience.  Two young nannies with their charges came and sat near us.  I was prepared for childish prattle as a disturbance to the music.  In stead these little darlings listened and tapped along and one of them silently imitated the hand movements of the conductor.

Just as the Villa Lobos' work about the enchanted Brazilian Bird drew to a powerful silence to be followed by an even more powerful ending, we heard from behind us- "YEAH, HELLO.  CAN YOU HEAR ME?  CAN YOU HEAR THE MUSIC? I'M AT THE SYMPHONY.  NO I DON'T NEED ANY OF THAT TODAY - BLAH-BLAH-BLAH-BLAH AND I'LL CALL YOU TOMORROW.

 I hope the old geezer who interrupted the music isn't at the Art Institute tomorrow when he calls his friend back.  What is is that they say?  ...and a little child shall lead them.

I highly recommend the open rehearsals and the actual performances,  which are posted on the web site 

 www.grantparkmusicfestival.com

With any luck the audience will be filled with music lovers, not geezers with cell phones.

Your Honor, Mr. Mayor: How Many City Workers Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb?

In an earlier post-
 http://lynncrawfordsays.blogspot.com/2011/03/rahm-can-fix-it-city-council-meetings.html-

 I promised to use the respectful term for our mayor after his election.  Thus the title of today's post after having observed the changing of the light bulbs on Lake Shore Drive yesterday.

Not sure how many workers there were - but there were 5 vehicles of varying sizes.  I'll assume they each had a driver.  Then there was the guy who put out the cones in front and back of the caravan and the guy who actually went up in the cherry picker.  I want to bet on 10 guys.  Saturday wages, mid day traffic disruption.  I know it's important to keep the streetlights lit.  Just wondering why the one that has been lit for about 3 years, 24 hours a day, that I reported 3 times was never fixed.  Just wondering.

I think we need an army of taxpayers with cameras out there keeping tabs on how our dollars are being spent.  Rahm - I mean His Honor- can't be everywhere after all.

Ever Wonder Where That Copper Comes From?

Bisbee. Arizona, founded in 1880, is a town in the Mule Mountains, about 80 miles south of Tucson, that has reinvented itself.  Once rich in not only copper, but gold and silver, Bisbee was a thriving mining community for Phelps Dodge up until the 1950s when the boom bombed because of the end of WWII  and its demand for copper.  The town, however, did not die like so many others.  Thanks to continued underground work and open pit mining, it continued to survive, if not thrive, until the Copper Queen Mine was closed in 1975.  The exodus of mine workers caused real estate prices to drop to the point that artists, who loved the quaint architecture and the beautiful natural surroundings, were able to relocate there. 

With the help of Phelps Dodge the town fathers created the Queen Mine Tour, which has given over a million visitors a first hand experience at descending into a copper mine.  The narrow, hilly streets are lined with art galleries and the inevitable tourist trap gift shops, but not to excess.  We found this mule sculpture made of all sorts of wire and discarded parts of cars and machinery on Main Street (what else?)  The artist was there to greet us, but since his t-shirts were $49.95 we didn't ask the price of the sculptures.

The Copper Queen Hotel is central to the town and maintains that old west/mining town atmosphere.  We took a pass on the dark old wooden bar as it had been commandeered by some traveling bikers.  Instead we walked over to the Old Bisbee Brewing Company for a sampler of their seven brews - all very good.  Great menu - just beer and beer cooked bratwurst and for the "fancy schmancy" folks a red or a white wine.  Plenty of free popcorn too.  I loved looking up all the alleys as we walked around the winding streets.  I expected an old prospector to come out with his pick ax (or whatever) in his gnarly, copper colored hand.

The highlight of the day for me was our visit to the Lavendar Pit.  No, it is not lavender in color, but named for an VP and General Manager at Phelps Dodge who conceived the idea of using this method of making low grade copper profitable.  Its  900 foot deep ugliness is almost beautiful and the roadside cliffs across the highway paint a picture of the multiple riches out there in dem, dere hills. Quite a worthwhile trip.

No Stiff Drink Needed

 Comcast, AT&T, Best Buy, etc..  Whenever I have to call any of these - I hyperventilate, picture failure, prepare to talk a foreigner out of using a script and ask my husband to have a stiff drink ready for me when I get off the phone in 2-+ hours.

What is happening?  I call Comcast.  Our new TV only shows purple and green.  I expect another not helpful encounter with a far east call center employee. I get a real person (in person) who is not only fluent in English, but lives in our community.  He fixes the problem, refuses a tip and gives us his personal cell phone number.  It was a simple problem, but he doesn't look down on us as stupid seniors.  

We buy a new computer and all the data transfers successfully except Joe's e-mail.  He has SBCglobal.net which has been incorporated into ATT and Yahoo.   After a million on-line tries. including a call to our own personal Geek Squad, our son, we call the 877 number on the website.  Voila - we get David Jones (aka Dakil Patel, I'm  sure).  He was so helpful, not on script, listened to me and ACTUALLY SOLVED THE PROBLEM. I wish I knew his real identity so I could tell ATT to hire more people like him.

The Geek Squad really let us down and we suspect "bait and switch" and a little bit of incompetence.  What the hell.  We still have our son, and if we were in Chicago, not Tucson it may have been different. I'm sure he's glad to not be our main helpdesk.

Two out of three is not bad.

I'm buying a lottery ticket with the ID number given to me by AT&T.  And...............I'm having that stiff drink to celebrate improved customer service at Comcast and AT&T.  Love it.