Farrah and I are in Chicago for the week. She had to come for work, so I was able to tag along for just the price of an extra plane ticket, which wasn’t too much. And since I’m light on radio work and heavy on blogging this week, I knew I’d be able to work just as effectively from Chicago as from our apartment in Brooklyn.
We woke up at 4:20 this morning, landed at 8:30, and dropped off our bags at hte hotel, where can’t check in until 3:00. We can get WiFi for $4/day from the hotel, but I’m thinking most days I’ll probably head out to the local coffee shops to get work done. WiFi is free at several nearby locations, including the Panera I’m sitting at right now.
We’re in a university area, with access to Roosevelt University, DePaul’s downtown campus, and the Art Institute is nearby. This probably explains why I’m the oldest person in the room. It doesn’t explain why the guy sitting next to me has been talking on a VoIP headset for the last hour. At least he’s not being too loud. Or maybe my hearing isn’t what it used to be.
I haven’t lived in Chicago for 8 years, and I never lived downtown, so I used Walk Score to scope out things to do/places to eat near our hotel. We get a pretty good walkability rating, and we’re just a bit south of the Magnificent Mile. Sure, it’s tourist central, but it turns out that One Ring Zero is doing a free show at Borders Books in about a half hour, so I’m getting ready to pack up and go check it out. I think Borders has WiFi, but again its not free, so I’ll probably just check out the show and then walk over to Argo Tea, which is only .09 miles away.
I love Chicago. I also love my laptop. I whine about it occasionally, but for $650, this trusty little Toshiba A135-S4527 has become my primary computer at home, and it performs just as well on the road. It has pretty lousy battery life, maxing out around 2.5 hours. But show me a coffee shop with free WiFi and a plug and I can work all day. From anywhere.
We’re originally from a northern suburb in Chicago, too.