Tuesday, June 4, 2013

I Have Arrived

About the title... yes, I've been in Chicago for 4 days now, but it's taken me a while to actually get used to the idea that this is now my home.  It probably still hasn't fully sunken in since I don't have various expansive circles of friends or anything, but I've made advances to make myself more and more a citizen of this midwest metropolis.

I've changed my address on a lot of my online accounts... though not all.  I need to get on that.  Though I'm hoping if any of these business responsible for my phone or finances needed to get a hold of me, they'd find a more immediate way than through the postal service.  So I'm mostly missing out on ads and stuff (I would hope, since some of those have addresses two or even three residences ago.)

Today in the mail, I got a tiny piece of treasure that carries quite a hefty pricetag.


Within that envelope is a credit card-sized RFID-containing piece of plastic that will allow me on an unlimited amount of busses or el trains throughout the city of Chicago, the Chicago Card... at only $100 a month.  I wouldn't pay that much in Seattle, but 

a.) Seattle doesn't have trains... well, we're getting there, but far too late and none that concern me.
b.) In Chicago, there are no bus transfers, so I was paying upwards to $12 to $15 a day going around and about the city.

I still have a $20 3-day pass to get me on transportation that I bought yesterday, and may have gotten its worth for... however I don't think it matters if I start using my Chicago Card now or in 2 more days because they'll be charging me for another month on the 27th.  Oh well.  Moving and learning about your new surroundings is known to be rather expensive.

Another big change came a day or so ago when I decided to take the plunge and let the world know I was telling Chicago, "I have arrived!"


That's right.  It's now Facebook Official.  My friends and strangers alike can access my Facebook, see that even though I am a "Seattle Boy," I now am in Chicago.

2 comments:

  1. There's one train in Seattle... :-P

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    1. There are actually 4 commuter rails. The monorail which doesn't help anyone get anywhere and is protected as an official landmark so they can't tear it down even though they should, the lightrail which is lightyears (see what I did there) behind its time, and the SLUT, which is a trolly in a completely obscure part of town that doesn't really benefit all that many people. And now they're building the Capitol Hill to First Hill version of the SLUT, which again I don't know who this is going to benefit because it won't go downtown. It'll basically shuffle the bums from Harborview Medical Center and the methadone clinic to Capitol Hill, which is busier so they'll have an easier time bumming money from people.

      Speaking of which, I have not been panhandled by a single person here in Chicago. How do they do it?! Damn Seattle and your year-round temperate climate.

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