Prayers for Elsa today as she undergoes her 9th sugery for recurrent Liposarcoma.

The weekend was quite eventful
For the first time in maybe 5 years, I headed downtown to enjoy the Chicago Blues Festival on Friday. The Sun was shining, an oddity. It has rained 11 out of the past 18 days and has been unseasonably cold with temps in the 50's. Last year at this time, I was dealing with 92 degree weather and a broken Air Conditioner that led to a nice bill for a new A/C which I am happy to report is not needed thus far this year. My brother and I decided to avoid the Friday Rush Hour traffic and head down on the El. It's been awhile since I've written the famous Chicago Elevated Railway or EL as we fondly call it here in the Windy or not so fondly if you're a regular rider who has seen it all on the train. It was a part of my daily life when I lived in the old Bucktown neighborhood for a year. I caught the El at California and Milwaukee in a neighborhood that would scare most people and rode it downtown to Jackson street close to my job at the old Berghoff Restaurant. (I am in one of the historic photos on their website) In the morning, it was full of commuters. At night, it was full of homeless and a few drunks who I was one of a few times. As it had been awhile, I looked and acted like a tourist, unaware of the new El process. I used to buy a token from an actual person who barely looked at me and sounded like a robot when they asked me if I wanted a transfer. Now, I had to use a machine that gave no change, for a little pre-pay card that needed to be put in a slot. I, of course, looked like a fool because I couldn't get the card in the slot in a way that it would register. In the old days, a conductor, who sounded a little bit like Charlie Brown's teacher, announced the next station. Now, a computer voice let me know every 5 seconds that I was on the Blue line from O'Hare, the doors open on the left, the door will open, the door will close, the next station is .... and exit stage left because the train is on fire.
Traditionally, we have had very good times at the Fest. This year did not disappoint either. It managed to go off in between raindrops. The weather was comfortable. The skyline was striking. The music was great and the highlight was meeting up with an old friend that I haven't seen since I was 15. She found me on Facebook. I spend about 5 minutes on Facebook daily but it has brought me back in touch with people I have not seen in ages and has brought new friends into my life. For that, it was worth the free admission charge.

I took some pictures at the Fest but can't post them yet. I bought myself a nice little digital camera last year as a Christmas gift to myself at the same time I bought my daughter a digital camera as a Christmas present to her. Hers was a Kodak like mine but it was a different model. I bought a USB cable to upload pictures and a charger figuring that it would work for both. I recently took my camera out of the box. Yes, I'm aware it's been over a year but I am just as good a photographer as I am a gardener. Much to my dismay, the USB cable and the charger do not fit my camera. DOH!! And BOOOO to Kodak for this ridiculous development. And BOOO to me for not being savvy enough to notice. Nickels and dimes....