PackExpo

This past weekend was filled with good dancing and a wonderful football game vs. Miami. At the beginning of the season, when it was announced that homecoming would be vs. UM, we were all a little worried. Then Miami started losing and we were winning, and we got a bit cocky heading towards the weekend of homecoming. We were in for a big loss against Clemson, but I think that opened our eyes, and after the Miami touchdown in the first 30 seconds, Tech was in the game and came through for a great win. This means that almost definitely, we’ll be going to the ACC championship game in Jacksonville in a few weeks!

Once Monday rolled around, I was headed to Chicago to PackExpo. It is a packaging show where all the vendors of all the different packaging equipment set up sample machines and you can see them run while at the same time meet a lot of the vendors face to face, and see the newest machines on the market. My flight was scheduled to leave a little after 9 on Monday morning. The plan was to wake up at 5:30, finish packing and get out of the house by 6:30, pick betsy up at her new place, and then head to the airport. Great plan. Except I forgot to turn my alarm on. I don’t think I’ve forgotten to turn an alarm on in years. Well, I WAKE UP at 6:45. I flipped out. It turned out alright, and I didn’t miss my plane, but man, was I stressed for the rest of the day. The show was exhausting, but quite interesting to see everything. Both Monday and Tuesday evening began with drinks in the lobby with coworkers, and were followed by dinner. Monday night after dinner at Lux Bar, I opted to skip on the trip to the House of Blues with my coworkers, and instead met up with my sister and brother in law (evin and noah) to go to swing dancing at Fizz. There were a few great dancers (and of course a few creepy ones), and I had a ton of fun dancing. I got home just as the crowd returned (a bit more inebriated than me) from house of Blues. Tuesday night we went to a steakhouse called Keefer's, and I had a fabulous piece of fish, and we all shared some delicious desserts.

Wednesday was a little slower. We went to the show in the morning, and then in the afternoon, Betsy and I took a couple hours to have lunch with evin and noah and baby kesiah. It's amazing how the city works with money actually. Betsy and I went to the curb to catch a bus to the CTA station to then catch the train to meet up with the fam. well, we wait 15 minutes, and when the bus finally comes, I hand the driver a $20 and ask for 2 tickets. She says she doesn't have change!! so, instead of letting us ride to the station, she kicks us off the bus. So we take a cab to lunch instead. After lunch, we go to the station to head to the airport, and the machine takes whatever money you put into it, and puts it on a card. well, I didn't want a $20 bus pass for one ride, so I went to the desk. No Change. what the hell?? I go up out of the station for a minute, and see a Chase Manhattan bank on the corner. I go in and ask if they can break my $20. "are you a customer with Chase?" "no" "we don't make change for non-customers". Damn! I turned back around, remembering that I have a mortgage through them. They grudgingly agreed to make change for me. but seriously! the taxi drivers also don't like to take credit card. they'd rather take less money with cash, than have you pay credit. maybe they pocket it, I don't know.

Anyway, once I got back to Atlanta, I was home for 30 minutes when Moshe walked in, looked like he'd just seen a ghost, and told me this story. Poor kid. I hope everything works out for the best!!