Why I Oughta...

Recently, we joined our kid's cousin at his birthday part at the Lego Discovery Center up in Schaumburg where they have a couple of rides a show and other assorted Lego-related things.  The first room you enter is a LEGO layout of Chicago and includes some signature members of our skyline including the building I work in:  the Aon Building.  There are a few touchscreens around the layout that give you the details on the various buildings.  Here's the screen for the Aon Center: 91K bricks.  Holy moly. 

There I was...sitting at my desk one early morning when I started to see some suds falling from the skies.  I knew what was coming next.  And I was excited.  The window washing rig was about to roll by my spot.  And, for some strange reason, I like seeing this.  It both fascinates and terrifies me.  I've posted about this experience every few years here on the blog.  Here's my 2016 interaction at the Aon Center .  This one was when I was in an office facing due south. Here's my 2012 interaction at 20 W. Kinzie when I was at Google .  This one was facing due south, too.  The photo in this post is facing west and what is most interesting (to me at least) is that the rig that they're on is built specifically for the Aon Center.  It hugs the contours of the building and allows the guys to get close to the windows. 

Well, look what we have here:  a dusting of snow covering Chicago's lakefront when I arrived at the Aon Center this morning.  This is the view - looking south - from the 64th floor.  I have been planning on planting perennials and digging beds in the backyard.  But instead, we have snow and ice.  Add this to the pile of weather complaints that everyone seems to have these days. 

There's a new view from my spot in the Aon Center on Randolph Street.   For the past few years, I had a south-facing view .  Now?  I'm looking due west.  The view isn't the only thing that changed, but I think I've pretty much adjusted to the new spot.  While this new view has some interest, there's nothing quite like looking south from Aon to see the lake and the museum campus.  I miss it every morning.

The last time I posted a 'view from my office' was a few months ago when we had a March snowfall in the city , but this week, Chicago's ' front yard ' is greening up nicely and the boats are starting to come into the harbor.  It is a delightful time to be around the city - things are blooming, but the heat isn't here yet, so the walk from Ogilvie to Aon isn't sweat-inducing.  Yet.

Chicago's 'front yard' is a winter wonderland this morning as a bit of snow dropped on the parks.  The last time I posted a snow picture of my view from Edelman was last year in February . We've been fortunate with very little snow this winter and normally I'm all for bad, snowy winters.  But this year, since we've been building the house during the bulk of the winter, we've been hoping and (so far.... *knock on wood*) have had a super mild winter. Now that our house is all button'd up with a roof and windows , snow like this doesn't affect us one bit.  And that's kinda nice.

Recently, I was standing in my office going through my email, listening to Stern, minding my own business when this dude dropped down on his scaffolding and proceeded to wash the windows 64 floors up at the Aon Building. Not sure why I get such a kick out of this pretty intimate face-to-face interaction, but I do!   I posted a similar photo from my time at Google when I saw the window washer back in 2012 here on the blog . This guy gave me a head nod and I then proceeded to give his equipment a once-over.  He was harnessed in but he didn't have the suction cups that connected his rig to the building like the guy back in 2012. I have a HUGE fear of heights, so I don't know how these guys do this job.   Not only are they cold and wet, but they're dangling on a piece of aluminum by a few cords 64 floors up.  I guess there's some satisfaction in cleaning windows - what with seeing the job getting done in front of your eyes - but the height.  My GOD...the height.

Edelman's office in Chicago are in the Aon Center, which started it's life as the Standard Oil Building or " Big Stan " as the locals say and as their brand evolved to Amoco, so did the name of the building. Today, it is now named the Aon Center , but if you go to the United States Post Office on the lower level, you'll be taken right back to the 80's and 90's when Amoco was 'a thing'.  They print it on the top of their receipts like the one I got when I bought some stamps there last month.

Low, sporadic clouds like these make for an interesting view from my office.  Some of my favorite days are ones like this that give me the whole 'up in the clouds' feels.