It's a New Day

The last three days have been absolutely wonderful in many ways. The sun has shone. The temperatures have been in the 60's. The flowering trees are in bloom. The rain has stopped for a while. It is early May and springtime has elected to visit itself on the City of Chicago. It was a slow day at the Outpost in Back of the Yards, as I tested some students in my classes and prepared for testing AP students the rest of the week. What does this mean? It means that, as the AP Coordinator for the school, I will be consumed with testing students, coordinating the entire AP program for the school, seeing that the materials get sent off to Princeton, NJ at the end of the week, and generate the school's bill for the tests, scores, etc. It also means that I will have a substitute covering my regular classes all week while I pose as an administrator. A lovely break from the norm.

It's 63 degrees under sunny skies at the Mini. The slanting rays of the late afternoon sun give one a warm, fuzzy feeling and it's always pleasant to note that there is the first boat sighting of the season that is not a cruise boat or police boat. Welcome back pleasure boaters. Welcome back greenery. Welcome back warmth.

This past weekend, I had the usual chores to attend to, but somehow the weather being what it was, I neglected to do many of them. Found myself shopping for groceries this afternoon apres work. My good friend Al was in town this weekend. Al Fresco, that is. Babs and I found much time for Al. We sat outdoors for lunch on Saturday, and were so pleased by dining with Al that I got myself a wee bit sunburned on the top of my head. Getting a bit bald in one particular spot in the rear there.

On Sunday we took a stroll over to the Viagra Triangle to sip coffee, people watch, and generally soak up the atmosphere. For the uninitiated, The Viagra Triangle is an area with a small plaza at the intersection where State and Rush merge. Tavern on Rush is across the street, and Luxe Bar, and Hugo's Frog Bar, and an assortment of other upscale drinkeries and eateries are located there. It is so tagged the Viagra Triangle because of the triangular shape of the plaza between Rush and State, and for the large numbers of men in their late-middle years who hang out there with surgically enhanced babes on their arms. It's a place for money, those who wish they had money, and those who actively seek money.

On the weekends, in warm weather season, the Triangle is packed. The outdoor seating at the restaurants is packed. The street becomes a place to cruise for expensive cars, expensive motorcycles, antique cars, and the merely curious. If one sits in the plaza and watches for an hour or so, he can see Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, an assortment of Porsches, Mercedes-Benzs, the occasional Cobra (vintage), and maybe a Duesenberg. The guys with huge six figure salaries show up on the motorcycles they always wanted as a teenager, and now they can afford. Then some dude in a beat up Saturn comes cruising down the street and you just want to tell him, "Hey man the working class part of town is up that way." But hey, it's a free country.

There is a 15 minute Loading Zone Only, Use flashers, area along the East Side of the Viagra Triangle, but hikers from the Valet Parking at Tavern on Rush routinely park cars there, and if you have a very expensive or unusual car, no one ever says a word. The cops absolutely love the Viagra Triangle. They look the other way about parking violations. There almost always are one or two of them hanging about, drinking coffee, smoking cigars, and bullshitting with people they apparently know there. The bicycle cops ride up and join them, and rest for a while. Then come the tourists and the gawkers.

If you listen closely, you can pick up some snatches of very interesting conversation at the Triangle. Yesterday, some nouveau riche black guy in a $100,000 Mercedes pulled up and got out. As he made his way to the coffee kiosk, some woman came over excitedly using her cell phone to take pictures of the guy, his big black Mercedes with the ghetto rims, of the young guy doing magic tricks for the kids, of anything and everything. At one point she turned to Babs and I and blurted out, "You just don't see this shit in Wyoming!" Then it was off for more photos and awe and wonderment.

Then there was the guy in the Bentley who pulled up and came over and sat with some friends. He was 50ish and wore $200 blue jeans and $500 casual shoes. I wasn't sure what the story was that he was regaling his friends with, but what I heard was, "So he says, I'm the Alderman. I'll park wherever the fuck I want to...." Later I found out it had to do with an Alderman who represents the area around Wrigley Field and he had been the topic of one of those TV news Gotcha! segments.

It was a truly lovely weekend, and I hated to see it go, but there it was Monday morning again. The week has started off, though, with a certain charm to it. Work is not bad. The sun and the warmth have continued. It's only a little over a month until summer vacation begins. (Ah, the life of an educator.) Oh, and for the record, Babs and I elected to get rid of the 10 year old Dell PC I had been working on and this is the very first blog posted on the brand spanking new MacBook Air. It's a new day boys and girls. Enjoy.