Chicago...One Hell of a View

First of all I am ecstatic to be attracting such a diverse group of followers. I mean if you look over to the side of this blog, you will see not only is the blog attracting some very bright human minds, but we've also started to attract some animals. And I think thats just the Cat's Meow, pun intended. We are not one to discriminate here at On Sabbatical, whether you're a human, animal or none of the above.

This past weekend concluded the last trip of the Month 1 clearing the head stage of this sabbatical. I took a trip out to Chicago to see some old friends from College. I have been to Chicago 5 times in the past 3 years, so that must say something about the City. I find people are super friendly, they love to drink, and there is just an overall zest for life in Chicago. A certain vivacity, if you will (ok, I stole that line from that short haired black woman on from Boston Sunday Globe commercials).

Friday night I met up with some friends I have not seen in years. This was obviously a great time in general, but more importantly it gave me an opportunity to explain my recent career choices, my sabbatical, and of course this blog. You see, it is vital to be confident with the decisions I have made and to stand behind them. Hopefully people will sense this and all of this karmic activity will lead to a really kick*ss job. Or career I should say. That is also why, today was the day that I finally updated my LinkedIn profile to explain that I am currently "On Sabbatical", with a brief summary of why. I even posted this website on my profile, so get ready for an influx of new readers! I was hesitant about this at first, but we're all about keeping things professional here. As I said, I must be confident about my decisions, and about this blog. I think it displays some amount of creative talent, but then again I could be completely of the mark.

One of the coolest things that came out of that night was a buddy of mine who I hadn't seen in at least 3 years gave me one of his business cards. Big deal, you may think... However, not when you're buddy is a SPECIAL AGENT in the FBI!!! You better believe next time I get into a jam I am flashing that card so fast people will run in fear. That's right I congregate with FBI Special Agents. Deal with it.

Another highlight was the phenomenal dinner we had Saturday night at Gibson's, one of Chicago's premier steakhouses. We arrived late and opted to dine in the bar area. I must say, what a great atmosphere...we dined right next to Piano player, had a great view of the bar, the front door of the restaurant, plus we had a lovely Lithuanian waitress who made the night very enjoyable. Now, one thing I did not know, is that particular area of Chicago is know as The Viagra Triangle. Seriously, that's what it's called, apparently due to the fact that old timers go there in search of younger women. Perhaps younger,divorced women known as Cougars. But I digress. Bottom line, a real nice evening, and you know what, a real nice evening is one of the cornerstones of this period of my life.

More good times were had throughout the weekend, filled with great bars, great people and plenty of laughter. And apparently as I was caught up in all the ballyhoo I didn't realize there was a Nor'easter hitting the East Coast on Monday, my day of departure. Thinking I was invincible I didn't check my phone, didn't check online, nothing. Just showed up at the airport at 6am Monday morning to find out my flight was cancelled. "We tried to call you, sir" the airline lady said. I did not get angry, as some probably would, because I knew this was completely my fault. I forgot my phone charger back at home, so the cell phone had very, very limited use over the weekend. So limited in fact I did not bother to check the voicemail from Southwest Airlines explaining the flight had been cancelled. So I accepted full responsibility for my actions. I ended up leaving Chicago around 9pm central time and landed just after midnight in NH eastern time. A long day of travel, however being somewhat of a prerequisite of the trip I would not change anything.

To recap, at this stage in the game I am attempting to find life lessons as often as possible. Some lessons learned from this weekend: Lithuanian women are beautiful, don't be afraid to send your $40 steak back if it's undercooked, striking up a conversation with random bar patrons can be rewarding, but most importantly be accountable for your actions. Because I was having a little too much fun I neglected to properly address my travel plans, thus ended up missing a flight. Who knows..maybe the mind is getting a little soft during this sabbatical. Ha, I will never admit that, I have become this cutting edge blogger now...but sometime it just pays to "keep your head on a swivel," if you smell what I'm stepping in...