The Potus, Natural Gas and Indoor Plumbing...

This Tuesday, November 24, I was sipping a cup of coffee at the kitchen table of "our condo in the city" when I heard the FM radio newscaster mention that President Obama would be making a trip to Chicago to speak in Jefferson Park. *Gulp*

"Hey, Hon, were you aware that Obama is coming to Jefferson Park this afternoon?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I just heard Whip say that the President will be speaking at the Copernicus Center, this very afternoon, right here in Jefferson Park."

I knew this photo, a block from "our condo" wasn't good, but I was worried that my phone would be confiscated if I kept taking photos. ;)

The Copernicus Center is about 2 city blocks from "our condo." Jefferson Park is a large (if you count square miles) city neighborhood. And the little part of that area, where we sometimes stay is undergoing a bit of infrastructure rebuilding. I'm not exactly sure, but I think the city is widening the sewer capacity here. All I know is they've been working on it for months, tearing up the roadways, replacing underground pipes, repaving, etc. Eastbound traffic on Lawrence Avenue, an exit on the Kennedy Expressway, is and has been closed the entire time. Vehicles that are unaware of this and make the mistake of exiting, wind up driving in circles on the neighborhood side streets trying to find a way out of the narrow one-way streets that sometimes abruptly stop because of the Metra and Canadian Pacific train tracks that bisect certain areas.

The city has, with owners consent, sent videographers to record the interior and exterior of the homes and businesses in the area, because when the work is finally complete, they, (whoever the city has contracted to re-do the sewers) will be dynamiting the area. If you have consented, you will have proof, via video, that your property was damaged as a result of the explosion.

Anyway, it's currently a mess and into this mess here comes the President! If you haven't experienced a Presidential visit to your quiet little neighborhood- well, holy smokes it's quite an event. Hours before he arrives security in the area beefs up, news helicopters sweep in to show an aerial view of where the President will be speaking, secret service vehicles station themselves about (like right in front of our "condo"), barricades block the building where he'll be speaking, local police officers take stations at various corners nearby and throngs of people begin to line the sidewalk outside the building (in this case on a frigid 19 degree fahrenheit evening) hoping to get a glimpse of the Potus. A visit from the Potus is like a visit from royalty. That's what the First Family is like, they're like our own royalty here in the USA. Whether you like them or not they are a big deal.

Now I happen to like President Obama. I think he's doing the best he can with every single Republican politician doing their best to thwart and undermine his every move. But, no matter, I am grateful, I am ever thankful to be an American. We don't always treat each other well, like in Ferguson, Missouri right now, but I still love the U.S. Wasn't I lucky to be born in my favorite country? ;)

***

The next day, on Wednesday, we were at our country home which is in a private community in the middle of nowhere. When the community was being built they were fortunate enough to get ComEd, a major electricity supplier, to agree to outfit the place with underground service. It's so nice, no wires hanging strung from poles all over the place. But, while we had first rate electricity, but were saddled with propane gas, which is stored in tanks outside of each residence. The community's A&E (I think it stands for "architecture and esthetics" or maybe it's "… and environment") committee dictates that we must cover the unsightly tanks with lattice or else we must have them buried in the ground.

A couple of years ago a resident genius of our community (his name is Mike) came up with the idea of checking the viability of having natural gas supplied to our community. It took many a meeting and negotiation, the approval of the Illinois Commerce Commission, approval from the local gas purveyor- Jo-Carroll Energy- who decided they weren't interested in us, finding a company- Nicor Gas- who was interested, more meetings, more negotiations, and finally our association's Board putting a vote to the community before it looked like it was actually going to happen. Just about one year ago today, Nicor broke ground. This Wednesday I turn on my stove to prepare for Thanksgiving to see a lovely blue flame of natural gas. And when I turn the burner or oven off I don't hear the "propane pop." And as far as the cooktop, I love cooking with natural gas. Electric cooktops and propane cooktops just don't equal the control one has with natural gas. I find electric ovens do fine, but propane ovens are not as accurate, overall natural gas is the way to go.

My husband is happy because he no longer has to endure "propane delivery" anxiety, which comes in the winter when the country roads can be snow laden to the point that travel is compromised, we don't get mail, we don't get deliveries. If your tank is empty, the furnace, stove and hot water heater are down. With natural gas we now have a constant supply.

My husband and I are both absolutely delighted to be rid of our unsightly propane tank. We found someone who picked it up, took it away and was willing to pay us $500 for it, to which I sang like Iggy Azalea: 

…understand my life is easy when I ain't around you, 

…and the best thing now is probably for you to exit... 

There's a million you's, baby boy, so don't be dumb
I got 99 problems, but you won't be one- like what? 

I got one less problem without ya,
I got one less, one less problem

I am thankful today for my Nicor-supplied natural gas.

Anxiety induced winter propane fuel check.

***

I know I've mentioned before that while I don't watch much daytime or primetime television, in the middle of the night, when sleep escapes me, I will turn on the TV and seek asylum. One show I watch is "Buying Alaska"- the last frontier...

There’s no place on earth like Alaska, and there’s nothing like trying to live there… From the bare necessities, to actual bears, to breathtaking frontier vistas that make it all worthwhile, living in Alaska is a challenge unlike any other.

Well, apparently they don't know that you can find such challenges out here in the country or right in the heart of the city, without hardly trying...

The thing I take away from repeatedly watching this program is that the number one benefit of being born when I was is: INDOOR PLUMBING.

Yes, there is no doubt, I am thankful for indoor plumbing.

Here is a photo of our new "night-light" toilet seat from Kohler (Kohler is in my home state of Wisconsin). The seat features charcoal filtration, LED lighting, a soft-close lid and automatic air freshener. Much better than an outhouse in bear country, right?

***

Of course, my priorities always lie with good family time, the gift for which I am most grateful this Thanksgiving and any other day of the year, for that matter.

But, if I were to think beyond my husband, my children, my children-in-law, and my grandchildren... I guess today I’m thankful for a country that lets me have a say in my government, my access to natural gas after a couple of years without, and always, always for a lifetime with indoor plumbing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Clinton Closing

We are sitting in the kitchen of our city "condo"- well, it's not really ours and it's not  technically a condo. It's really just a two-bedroom apartment in a two-flat building. But, I like to think of it as "my condo in the city," as it gives me a feeling of urbane sophistication to be able to imagine myself in such a scenario. For instance, I might say to my faithful husband, "Oh, look at this cute lamp. Wouldn't it look nice in "our condo." To which he sarcastically replies, "Which condo?" immediately bursting my little quixotic thought. You see, we have this self-storage unit near our rural home where we keep all of the "can't-part-with-but-don't-use" stuff we were unwilling to relinquish when we downsized and moved to a smaller country home. The storage unit is about 10 foot by 12 feet, with an amazing 30+ foot ceiling, so if we had to store a tall sailboat or something, we'd be all set. Before we got our "city condo/apartment" this autumn, we called the storage unit, "our condo."

Anyway, for the next year or so, or until the two-flat goes on the market and eventually sells, we have our own place in the city. It's cute, with all the comforts one would expect from a nifty city condo. And someone is kind enough to allow us to use it gratis for the time being.

Wait, where was I? I'm so easily distracted these days. ;) Oh yes, we, faithful husband and I, were sitting in the kitchen of our city condo, sipping glasses of wine, munching on appetizers (celery sticks, grape tomatoes and breadsticks with a salad dressing-type dipping sauce, while dinner bubbled in the oven (lobster pot pie). Faithful husband had put our local Quad City area news on live streaming, so we could see what was going on politically near country home, as it was "election day." I didn't think anything could be more upsetting than hearing the fact that Joni Ernst was winning, but I was wrong...

…we heard the broadcaster say, "When we come back from break, news on a Target store in our area that will be closing.

We both stopped, me mid-bite, faithful husband mid-sip, neither of us able to swallow. Our eyes locked.

"Do you think?"

"I don't know. I hope not- "

I did a google search, unwilling to wait for the commercial break. I quickly spotted: "The store manager confirms the Target store in Clinton will be closing."

I nodded to my husband.

We sat silently for the briefest of moments, our expressions grim. Faithful husband said, "Well, we both kind of knew... "

We replayed some of the things we'd said over the past three years. Like, the many times faithful husband commented that the store contained more employees than customers. Oh, how we loved, laughingly, comparing it to the Chicago Target on Clybourn and Western, where we used to meet our son and daughter-in-law to drop off the grandchildren when they'd had an overnight visit with us, as it was a half-way point between our city home and their suburban home. We'd be lucky to find a single parking place in the huge Chicago-Target lot, with autos usually driving in tireless circles, until a spot became free. In our Clinton Target, where the parking lot has about the same size area and auto-capacity, there are usually fewer than 20 cars parked in the lot.

We waxed on the favorite "buys" we'd gotten of late, smiles returning to our faces as we recalled: the brand new 5,000 btu air conditioner for $35, the $19 air-circulating fan that now sits in our "city condo," and the $12 cuisinart chef's knife, honing steel and bamboo cutting board, that sells elsewhere for more than quadruple the price, or the half-dozen other great buys we purchased for use in the "city condo."

On more than one occasion, the clerk checking us out would comment on our good buy, "I can't believe the price on the air conditioner. It's half of what it was priced at last week and I thought that was a good price!" or, "I didn't see that one. I'd have bought it myself. What department did you find it in?"

After a while we began to worry that others had found our "secret": The best Target store in the whole world! As if by word-of-mouth, more customers appeared weekly and the aisles no longer seemed as wide and clean and clear and bright. We had more people with whom to share (and fight for) aisle after aisle of "clearance" shelves. Enough clearance items to put any nearby store to shame...

...Except there are no nearby stores, unless you count Walmart, and I don't. Walmart will have a "clearance" aisle where items feature a mere 3% discount, pennies less than the original price. In our beloved Clinton Target items are marked by a 30%, 50% or a 70% tag.

We habitually made a weekly foray into Clinton, 37+ miles from home, just to comb the aisles in search of Target treasures. First of all, it's a beautiful drive, with rural country roads featuring bucolic views ending with a bridge over the majestic Mississippi River where we'd spy the occasional bald eagle at eye level as it soared, oblivious of us, on its search for fish. Secondly, we somehow knew deep down that it couldn't possible last...

Oh, how could we have been so blind?! How did we miss the writing on the wall?!

Faithful husband forwards to me a local news channel posting:

… but we both know that it is too little, too late.