One of the things that struck me when I was living in Minneapolis was what a well-run city it was. Minneapolis is a city that works. After a snowstorm, the ploughs come out and within hours the major roads are swept clean, and within a day or two, all the smaller roads are cleaned up too. It is one of these places where citizens are responsible and the leaders are accountable. Not a lot of corruption and good, responsible leaders.
Chicago, well, not as much. When we arrived, a big mob trial was going on. A real, mob trial, with snitches and hitmen, colorful lawyers, the works. I almost peed my pants. The mob, or the "outfit" as it is often referred to here, seems to be still going strong in Chicago. The other day I read an editorial in the Chicago Tribune accusing the mayor of Chicago of sending city contracts in the direction of his mobbed up friends. I cannot imagine this happening in Minnesota. You don't tip the pizza delivery boy enough and your political career is pretty much over in 'sota.
The other day I read an article about a special police unit being disbanded because of wide spread corruption, kidnapping, murder attempts, drug dealings etc within the unit. It was not even a matter of finding a few rotten apples, the whole basket of apples pretty much was rotten. In Minneapolis, a cop getting a DUI was big news.
Since I have been here, Chicago also has been facing a major budget crisis. The mayor announced major tax increases this week and for a while now, there has been talk about a doomsday approaching for public transportation. Bus lines will be cut and we will face major fare hikes, up to 2$ extra per ride. So a bus ride or metro ride could cost 4$. Crazy. Soon it will be cheaper to share a cab to go to work.
But hey, it's Chicago. A hopping place, and people seem to be wiling to deal with it. Since we have been here, we have had almost more people visiting than during our whole time in Minneapolis. Tonight Charles and his lady are in town. Charles is a friend from back in the day in Minneapolis, he left a couple of years ago to become an English professor in Eastern Illinois (three hour drive from here) and is in town tonight with the misses to go see a show, the Go Team!. If I would have been on top of my game, this would so have been a show I sowould go see, but I have been a bit despondent when it comes to getting out lately. Scared puppy syndrome? Perhaps.
With all the running, it has been a bit hard too. I have let my running interfere a bit too much with my social drinking, I am afraid. For a while I considered running on a hangover the equivalent of training with a bag of stones on your back. I reckoned that once I would drop the booze I would fly during my runs. Just kidding, but the last three or four weeks or so before the marathon I stayed away from the beer more or less and only had some wine every now and then, and it helped to shed those last extra pounds. Beer really adds calories and pounds. Ok - wasn't going to do any more marathon talk. i did go running today though, still a lingering soreness in the legs, but in a week or so I should be good to go full throttle again, then a three week training and a two week taper for Seattle. That's the plan at least. A bit crazy perhaps, but I want to give it a shot. A nice, cool fall marathon out west, what could be better?