Continued from A Slight Diversion.
I arrived at Clark/Lake station without issue other than going through the maze that is that station. The Blue Line is a subway and the Green Line is on the 'L' so I made my way up without making a mistake and take one of the many exits. I think this was my first time on the 'L' but I might have been there years ago when I took in a Cub's game. Still, it was an easy transfer and I exited at the McCormick station and went down to the street. The convention center wasn't too visible but I headed to the Lake and knew that I'd walk into it.
McCormick Place is huge. I mean HUGE. I've been there several times for other tech conventions but the scale of the place still makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I found a woman holding a sign and I asked her where the Amazon event was...basically, keep walking and when you hit water, you've gone too far.
So, at the very end of the hall (with a small stop over Lake Shore Drive to look at the cars going underneath me) I came to the registration desk. Now, I will add here that I have a problem. It has caused some self-loathing in my life and it has become more prominent when I lost my hair. I've inherited my maternal grandfather's hair loss and my father's sweat glands. By the time I hit the registration desk, I was dripping sweat. It wasn't all that hot, but that doesn't matter to my body. I start becoming uncomfortable at 70 degrees and it was about 80. So here I am trying to register with sweat pouring off of me and becoming more and more self-conscious about it. The woman behind the desk told me to scan my registration on the tablet...and I couldn't figure out how. OK, we're tech people, but sometimes we need human interaction. I couldn't see where the camera lens was and how to place it the right distance. Considering I was so late, I now had all 15 "women behind the desk" now looking at me wondering why the sweaty nerd can't figure out how to place a piece of paper in front of a camera. Eventually I figured it out, got my tags and I headed to the table with water on it. I had missed breakfast and I was pretty sure lunch wasn't provided. So I just sat there and cooled off for the next half an hour.
That conference was mostly a bust, but I don't think I missed much.
OK. No breakfast, no lunch. My blood sugar was falling fast. I decided to go Chicago full bore and stop at the White Castle on my way back to the "L".
The White Castle was more of a nook. Nowhere to sit, just a place to order. When I arrived, only one other person was there. And then the homeless guy came in behind me. He got my attention and said something to me. Really, that's all I know. I simply couldn't understand him. I told him "No." knowing he was asking for money. First, I was in a small place and being asked for money by a homeless guy in what essentially is a closet just made it worse. Second, I've never been one for panhandlers. Third, I didn't really have much money. I don't carry much on me and even less when I travel into the city. I held him off until I ordered two sliders. They don't taste all that good and all I was trying to do was keep from fainting from sugar loss. They guy in line gave the homeless man the change he got and eventually, so did I.
The way back was sooooo much different than the way into town. I only had to wait a bit for the Blue Line to show up but at Rosemont I walked right onto the bus to take me back to Schaumburg. At the bus station, I took a few moments to take the pictures of the blossoming trees in the lot. They were very pretty, but the smell wasn't all that fantastic.
I'm not sure why the guy killed himself by walking into the train that morning. He was no longer suffering from his problems, but transferred some of that pain onto the train conductor. My conference didn't quite work out either. Oh well. The blossoms were pretty.
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