Why I Oughta...

I've done a few of these [view from my office] posts since we were all sent home at the beginning of COVID that were from my front porch and (even) an airplane .  But, it has been since mid-March when I was last in an office for work.  In that airplane post , I mentioned that we're moving offices - out of the Aon Center - and into a 'west of the river' mid-rise.  Over the past few weeks, I've visited a few times and am busy getting situated in the new setting.  The view?  Quite a downgrade.  The commute? Quite an upgrade.  From a 20-25 minute walk across the Loop to a four minute walk from where I emerged from under Union Station.   Having been in the office a few days, I'll say:  I'm surprised by how much I've enjoyed being here.  I really still do NOT know what I'm using office days for in terms of work (we're a hybrid team now, so have a mix of WFH and office days), but I'm glad I've come downtown to give it a shot.   ...

A few weeks back, I attended my first in-person work meeting in 2021.  In fact, it has been the ONLY one that I've attended all this year.  And, one of the precautions that the team that I was visiting has been taking was the application of this yellow and black tape to the floor as a visual reminder of social distancing.  This was in a conference room and is meant to remind the user to stay in the square so they can safely stay at least six feet away from other attendees.   Posting this not because it is a unique experience for the world, but rather as a sort of COVID-era artifact that I encountered as we begin to return to work in offices.

It was just a little bit over a year ago that I last posted a photo of my office succulent - a Burro's tail - that I keep on the ledge by my window in the Aon Center.  That photo is here .  And here's the post from August of 2016 - just over two years ago - that shows it in its youth .  Tracking the changes over the years shows the growth of not just the main plant, but you'll also notice in this year's version, a series of other growths.  As for the primary pot, you can compare last year to this year and see that it is still going strong with a few long shoots and a full pot.  But, you'll also note two other experiments.  The first is the container on the far left that shows a bunch of new cuttings that I took from the main plant and put in a smaller pot.  They have taken off and begun to make their own 'tails' as it were.  Also, in the center of the photo, you'll see a clear plastic cup that I've tossed some succulent bits in that broke off...

One early morning recently, I was the first one into the office in New York and stopped to admire the view looking west over the Hudson to New Jersey.  The city was barely stirring and the heat had yet to really hit the day.  I'm calling this a [ View from my Office ] despite the 'just visiting' nature of said view.  Add this to the view looking south from the same floor almost a year ago  and you can start to get a composite.  Now, I need east and north and we'll be able to stitch together a sort-of 360.

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. 

26 days in and haven't looked back.  At least in terms of the vehicle upon which the caffeine is delivered.  And I've actually started to borderline *like* the whole thing.  This is the machine that I've been using at the office and there's a nice little ice machine right next to it, so I don't have to deal with scalding hot brews.  Kids temp for this guy.  How very cosmopolitan, right? 

Just like my recent trip to the Bay Area , I spent all of about 24 hours in New York recently.  The entirety of it between Newark Airport and offices and a hotel in SoHo.  That photo above, is the view I had for an afternoon, which was pretty nice.  Back when I was working at Google and would occasionally travel to NYC, I never got below 15th Street, so this is a whole new territory for me being Downtown and all.  How cosmopolitan, eh?!?!

Back in August of 2016 (14 months ago), I posted a photo of my office succulent .  You should go look at that photo here to get a sense for the growth.  Above, you see a photo of what it looks like today.  It has gone, literally, berzerk.  This started from some cuttings of a co-worker's succulent and now has clearly outgrown it's pot.  Not to mention the soil has likely outlived its useful life, right?  I'm going to bring in a few little pots and some succulent soil and see if I can again replicate the success I had with cuttings on this original version to grow a few more.  If you look closely, you'll see that there are quite a few little buds on the main stems that I can cleave off and use to start entirely new plants, I think. 

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 he...

Well, at least the University of Illinois one was turned to December.  The Pixar one was already in December by accident!   Check out last months post where the photo shows December already showing .  Whoops. I don't seem to have posted in December of 2015, so there's no ranking to compare against, so we'll just have to close out this year with a push.  If I don't get any wall calendars for Christmas, this monthly diary will come to a close.  And that's just fine with me. For those keeping track like I am (Which, we all know is nobody!): January took 8 days to put up the calendar . I don't think I was tracking January last year. So let's call it a wash. (+0 Days) February took 16 days to put up the calendar. In 2015, I turned it over on the 17th . (-1 Days better) March took 8 days this year. In 2015, I turned them on the 10th . Posted on the 11th. So...that makes it -2 days better. April took just 7 days. I didn't post last April. So..no ne...

Back in 2011, I posted here on the blog about how the University of Illinois Athletic Department was rolling out a limited number (just 77 of them.  Get it?  Grange was #77??) mini replica statues of the famous (and massive) Red Grange statue that sits on the west side of Memorial Stadium . But they were $4800.  Wowsa.  Obviously, I passed. Fast forward to this fall and the Athletic Department announced that for Homecoming they were going to give away smaller replica statues to the first 5000 fans who entered Memorial Stadium for the game against the Minnesota Gophers.   We weren't heading to Homecoming, so I figured I would have to hop on Ebay to find one of these to sit on my desk.  Welp, the first few weeks after the giveaway, there were a few statues popping up on Ebay, but the auctions were driving the prices pretty high (at least for me!) and I just stayed on the sidelines.   But, I kept 'watching' auctions and I finally foun...

On the left in the Pixar calendar is Wall-E and on the right is 'passing the time' as a student waits for a bus on the UIUC campus.  Today is the 6th and in looking at last year, I flipped them on the 8th , so that's a -2 addition to the tally.   For those keeping track like I am (Which, we all know is nobody!): January took 8 days to put up the calendar . I don't think I was tracking January last year. So let's call it a wash. (+0 Days) February took 16 days to put up the calendar. In 2015, I turned it over on the 17th . (-1 Days better) March took 8 days this year. In 2015, I turned them on the 10th . Posted on the 11th. So...that makes it -2 days better. April took just 7 days. I didn't post last April. So..no new net days. May took 12 days. Net + 5 days over last year. Wowsa.  June took 6 days. Net +5 days over last year. Another Wowsa.  July took 8 days. Net -14 days over last year. Huge swing. Leaving a -7 day advantage over last year. August...

Compare those stands of trees to the west (to the right in this photo) of the Pritzker Pavillion in all their red glory to what they looked like just 3ish weeks ago in this post . It won't be long before they're barren and covered in ice.

My office door not only includes a 'Flat Ronnie' ( see the post from the archives about #FlatRonnie here ), but now a "Hit 'em With The Hein!".  I'm still awaiting the day when a secret Superfan at Edelman walks by and strikes up a conversation. I love how quickly this whole "Hit 'em with the Hein!" thing has taken off including Jason Sudeikis shouting one out on Son of Zorn this week .

The trees are starting to turn.  Look at the ones just southwest of the end of the Pritzker Pavillion lawn.  They're red!  Well, some of them are.  But, looking back in the archives, I found this post from Halloween of last year that shows that same stand of trees being all bright red .  So, the best is yet to come. There's also a bit of post-Chicago Marathon clean-up happening here with the tents and what-have-you in the parks and around Buckingham Fountain.  Fall splendor, not quite.  But a quick look at the transition point between summer and fall from the 64th floor of the Aon Center.

This month's wall calendars feature Toy Story 3 on the left in the Pixar calendar and the one and only Memorial Stadium on the right in the University of Illinois wall calendar.  October is - maybe - the best time on campus, so I love seeing the football team featured in the month. Last year, I turned the calendars over on the 8th of October , so that means I've gained another four days in the annual contest.  At the end of September, I was up -21 days .  So, this thing might just be over before December even starts. For those keeping track like I am (Which, we all know is nobody!): January took 8 days to put up the calendar . I don't think I was tracking January last year. So let's call it a wash. (+0 Days) February took 16 days to put up the calendar. In 2015, I turned it over on the 17th . (-1 Days better) March took 8 days this year. In 2015, I turned them on the 10th . Posted on the 11th. So...that makes it -2 days better. April took just 7 days. I did...

Although this post is going up on September 12th, I turned these calendars over on the 7th.  I took the photo above then.  And here's proof - if you go to this Google Photos link all the data is there with the photo.  Not that anyone but me really cares, right? On the left is Ratatouille from 2009 on the Pixar calendar and on the right is the Grainger Engineering Library on the UIUC calendar.  And a kinda fall-ish day.  Not quite fall.  Not quite summer, either.  I think the photo works for September. Last year, I turned the calendars on September 18th.  This year, I posted on the 12th, but turned them on the 7th.  Hmmm...let's be fair here and call it on the day I posted.  I don't want this lead to be too insurmountable.  So that's a net of -6 days.  Add it to the pile below. As for the movie Ratatouille, I really liked it, but have only watched it one or two times.  I think we own it?  We should break it o...

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.