So Expensive!

I went to the grocery store this morning and three bags of groceries cost me nearly $100. I didn't even buy any meat!!! I bought stuff like bread, coffee cream, spaghetti sauce, Tide (well, Tide can be pricey). I can't believe how expensive everything is these days. I can only imagine what a family spends on groceries each month. I live alone and I'm complaining. Imagine if I had other mouths to feed. Oy! It would be one thing if I was spending money on steaks, lobster, and pricey cheese, but I'm not! Basic stuff just seems to be really expensive. At least they gave me a few cents off because I brought my own bags and I had one coupon I could use. (Every little bit helps, folks.) I'm glad I don't have to dress up for my day job because if I had to wear business attire to work each day, I'd have to go out and get new clothes (or keep rotating the same black pants and skirts each week with different tops). I remember when I used to have to dress up for work. I had nice dress pants, blouses, and dresses. I'm glad those days are over. Now I need the cash I would have spent on clothes to buy groceries.

Also, it's snowing today in Chicago. (It also snowed two weeks ago on the Sunday before Easter.) It's nearly May, and it's snowing. The trees are budding and some of the flowers are out and it's snowing. Will Spring ever arrive here and stick around for real instead of coming and going?

NU Jazz

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a concert given by the Northwestern University Jazz Students. Saturday's performance was called "Sherman Irby's Journey Through Swing" and featured saxophonist Sherman Irby and also violinist Eli Bishop. The concert was really great. The band performed jazz standards like "Poinciana" and "Black Bottom Stomp." This is the second time I've seen the NU Jazz Band perform. I also attended their Christmas concert last year. These kids are so talented and I enjoy seeing and hearing them perform. I highly recommend checking them out if you're in this area and want to hear some great music. They have a concert May 9 and I hope to attend that performance also.

ABD 2020

It's hard not to get wrapped up on coverage of the latest news about the Mueller report. The most interesting information I learned this week was that there were/are people around Donnie who ignore his crazy orders and try to do the right thing. Still, I have no sympathy for anyone who hitches his wagon to that horse. Why would anyone work for or even defend such a person? This guy would throw anyone under the bus to save his own ass so it's amazing to me that anyone would help this guy in any way. We see time and time again how he uses people and just disposes of them after he decides their usefulness has run its course. Loyalty only runs one way in the current administration. But that's the government we (not me personally) elected, so we have to deal with it. As I've said before, we get the government we deserve. That brings me to ABD 2020 which stands for Anyone But Donnie in 2020. If we want change in Washington, we have to vote and that starts with making sure that Anyone But Donnie is POTUS in 2020. At this point, I feel like a potted plant would be better as POTUS than Donnie. Hell, I'd take Mittens Romney at this point. I'm not crazy about anyone in the Democratic field right now. There are too many people and I don't see anyone breaking out of the pack at this time, but I'll support the nominee because Anyone But Donnie needs to step in and right the ship. I long for a presidency that isn't scandal-plagued and whose administration's shenanigans isn't presented as "breaking news" every day. No wonder nothing gets done in Washington.

I was in DC a couple of weeks ago for my day job and I always enjoy going there (no matter who's in the White House). One thing I like about Washington is that you see people working and you see people who still dress for work. Many of the offices there don't go for a very casual workplace and I like seeing men in suits and ties and women in dresses or dress pants rather than men and women in gym shoes and jeans like I see in the West Loop where I work in Chicago. I'm all for casual dress at the office, but some people take it too far. Holes in their jeans, athletic pants, dirty Chuck Taylors. But I digress. There are a lot of people working in Washington and there's a lot of money there. It's unfortunate that not much seems to get done on by our government lately. There's no spirit of cooperation between parties and elected officials seem to have forgotten why they were elected in the first place. Hopefully a new administration will help to bridge the partisan divide although I doubt that will happen with just one administration. The divisions are so deep and awful now that it'll take more than one presidential term to make a difference.

Unauthorized Person on the Tracks

I don't know if it's a full moon this week or what, but twice this week (and it's only Wednesday) I've had to deal with an "unauthorized person on the tracks" while riding the L. First on Monday morning and then again today during my ride home. During Monday's incident, we were (luckily) at a station close to my day job, so I just walked the rest of the way to work. But coming home today, we had almost reached a stop (that's one before I get off) and the train's power was cut. At first I thought just our train car lost power and then the whole train slowed down and came to a stop and the conductor told us the power had been cut due to "unauthorized person on the tracks." I don't know if these unauthorized individuals have a death wish or are just crazy, but they need to find another way to deal with whatever they're going through that doesn't involve jamming everyone up on the L. I'm all about public transit, but it's days like today when I miss driving my own car and controlling my own transportation.

Lyin' Ryan

My new book Lyin' Ryan will be out April 13.

When forty-year-old Chicago podiatrist Matthew Pepper is approached in a bar by college student Ryan Meade, he figures hooking up with the handsome twenty-one-year-old might be just what he needs to help him get over his recent breakup. But the hookup doesn’t go as planned and Matthew writes the evening off as a failed one-night-stand. Ryan, however, views things differently. To him, a failed hookup is nothing more than an opportunity to try again. Ryan pursues Matthew, not just because he wants to be with him, but because he wants something from him...and he’s determined to get it. Matthew eventually realizes that Ryan isn’t as transparent as he claims to be and he finds out why Lyin’ Ryan lives up to his moniker.

Locked Out

I locked myself out of my apartment today. It was bound to happen. I'm actually surprised it didn't happen sooner. I gathered my stuff to head to the Y and thought I had my house keys in my hand, but I had my car keys instead and when I closed the back door behind me, I'd locked the bottom lock from the inside and realized after the fact that I'd left my house keys on the table inside. Curses! My sister has an extra set of keys to my place, but she was out of town for the weekend (but on her way back this morning when the lockout happened). Now that I'm not renting anymore and own my place, I can't just call a management company to let me in. If I needed help, I'd have to call a locksmith. Thankfully it didn't come to that and the worst that happened to me was that I had to spend a few hours doing things outside of home. Because I had my car keys, wallet, and cell phone, I wasn't in a totally terrible position. I went to the Y as planned, worked out, went out for breakfast, then to the movies to see Pet Sematary (Cemetery) (that was better than the first one). After that, I went to kill more time at the local library and, by then, my sister had returned and I was able to get back into my place. Being locked out today told me that I really need to stop locking the door from the inside and just do it with the key so then I'll know if I don't have my keys, I can't lock the door! It seems simple enough, right??? It is a good idea to leave a set of keys with a friend of family member in the area just in case of emergencies like this. Oy!

Random Thoughts

I know where my father was born and I'm sure most people who know their fathers and grew up with them know where their fathers were born. How come POTUS Donny T. doesn't know where his father was born? Why does he keep telling people his father was born in Germany when the dude was born in New York? Just when I think things can't get any worse with him or he can't get any dumber, my expectations are surpassed.

I know who Nipsey Russell was. I have no idea who Nipsey Hussle was.

I can't believe Chicago is about to elect a black female mayor. Wow. Whoever wins, she's got her work cut out for her here.

I bought a burner phone (because I wanted a phone with a local number and I didn't want to pay a lot for it) and I find it harder to work with than my iPhone. I had to download a user's guide from the internet just to understand how to use the thing. It's a lot more complicated than I thought it would be!