Hayward

Technically an "el" system is a form of elevated, grade separated rapid transit whereas the elevated portion of tracks we see here are the approaches for basic freight and maybe passenger rail. The whole system is classified as "bridge" whereas the word "el" describes an entirely different system....as New Yorkers and chicagoans don't refer to the elevated tracks all over our cities as bridges.

It was more of a lane switch. They were running at a shallow angle parallel to the right shoulder. I moved to the left lane and hit the breaks. Angling away slightly, but with a sudden speed reduction was enough to avoid colliding with them, but also a reasonable enough maneuver that I wouldn't lose control.

Incredible. Though I bet the kids loved it. You could build a pretty big snow fort.

Glad to hear you are fine (sorry about the car though). I've been fortunate to avoid collisions with deer. Had 2 very close calls though. Slammed on the breaks and by luck went a direction that they did not.

There's been quite a few small earthquakes here in the midwest lately. The worst I've experienced yet was in LA...and I was in a 120 year old house at the time lol. I'm just glad I live in a steel highrise. Worst thing that could probably happen is a lot of plaster falling.

Grab a hot chocolate or hot coffee and have a seat. Though the weather was cold, the festivities, people and lights sure warm up the city around this time. Most of these were taken the beginning of December. I may add a few more later. Enjoy! Michigan Avenue: Northbridge District Michigan Avenue: Fourth Presbyterian Church East Oak Street, looking towards Lake Michigan Michigan Avenue: Watertower District Michigan Avenue: Crate and Barrel Millennium Park / Michigan Avenue Streetwall Columbia Model 900 Center Ghirardelli Ghirardelli Harris Lights Festival As viewed from 360 North Michigan Harris Lights Festival As viewed from 360 North Michigan Harris Lights Festival As viewed from 360 North Michigan Chicago River as viewed from Marina Towers Chicago River as viewed from Marina Towers River North as viewed from Marina Towers Aqua Tower as viewed from Marina Towers Near North as viewed from Marina Towers Grand Avenue Station as viewed from Marina Towers Michigan Avenue traffic and pedestrians along Michigan Avenue Harris Lights Festival As viewed from 360 North Michigan Macy's on State Macy's on State Macy's on State Macy's on State Macy's on State Macy's on State Block 37 shopping mall Northbridge District View of Michigan Avenue from the 6th floor lobby of AMC Theatres State Street State Street East Oak Street

My girlfriend is throwing a party at her apartment here in Chicago. I'm really glad about this. For the past three years I've been paying the awful $100 fees to some club or bar where they give you their cheapest beer and watered down rum and cokes.

That was awful. I can imagine it playing over some crappy speaker system at Family Dollar or kmart

:mrgreen: I present a thread soon to be filled with many developments following 2008-2010 Recession. I'll try to keep it updated as best as I can. For now, two construction shots I took today The new art deco 40-story Ritz Carlton Residences includes a reconstruction of the historic Farwell Building. A city landmark demolished a few years ago. I believe the reconstruction will be re-awarded historic landmark status Lincoln Park 2520, a multi-twer complex of classical architecture will have the tallest tower reaching 40 stories.

What did you get me? I've been good all year! Continued permission to shop on my street. And speaking of impressing women, all I have to say is I live above M.A.C and David Yurman stores and they go crazy. My apartment is close by at their convenience.

Talk about granny decor. Alright. Christmas shopping done. Northface for my dad. Macy's and Crate and Barrel for mom, Anthropologie and Express for my sister and girlfriend

^ I think you are talking about the one near the Packard complex. I think it just runs along one side. Depressing. Detroit: "So bad, even the dead are leaving." Quite a few articles on people relocating deceased family members to the suburbs.

The historic Farwell building is being rebuilt and nearly topped out. Cladding should go up soon. The neighboring luxury condo tower still has many more floors to go. Built in 1927, the Farwell became a city landmark in 2004. It was demolished in 2008, and began reconstruction in 2009. I don't know if it will still hold a historical designation like the McGraw Hill building down the street that was also demolished and rebuilt on site. The difference between old and new was impossible to tell.

3800 Professional Plaza Tower on Woodward and it's lower 2 story neighbor will be demolished and replaced with a six story building. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=detroit,+mi&sll=41.875952,-87.643433&sspn=0.101615,0.193634&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Detroit,+Wayne,+Michigan&ll=42.349209,-83.059104&spn=0.003152,0.006051&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=42.349209,-83.059104&panoid=nohwoa-WG3_oWcvE4N9nwQ&cbp=12,66.65,,0,-16.62

Hmm, should be showing up, although I've heard rumors flickr has not been working properly and images showing up for some people and not others. There should be 4 images above.

There's a snowstorm in Chicago No visibility to the lake on the right.

Sherman those are excellent photos. Epic sunrise. Well the weather was awful today. Here's a couple photos inside my apartment building. Sickly yellow hallways Looking down the standpipe tower. I'm curious how much weight those grates can hold. And how do they change the lights? Service elevator. What it loses in square footage it gains in height with a 10' ceilings. During my move in, they had machine inside that you attached your furniture to, and would tip it up vertically.

Reminds me how here in Chicago, I rarely see obese people. Seriously, I just never do. So when I go to some random McD's in the middle of nowhere on a trip, it's extreme culture shock to me.

In bed at 1:00 - 2:00 a.m. Up at 7:30. Getting to bed early for me is midnight. I live close to work and bike there and arrive at 8:30 and eat breakfast at my office. Leave at 5:15 to get home at 5:30 which means according to my sleep schedule I get nearly 8 hours of active time once I'm home from work. My personal record for longest time without ANY sleep at all was 70 continuous hours back in college. The longest I've been able to do recently is no more than 40 hours. When do I know I haven't gotten enough sleep? Though I'm very fortunate to have 20/20 vision I also have nystagmus, so as my eyes and mind fatique, my brain can no longer successfully damper a fluctuating image. Neurological interpretations from firing cones start failing. Rooms, openings, objects etc begin to outline with red and green lines, very similar to what you see when you take 3d glasses off at a movie. It's absolutely bizarre. Usually a quick nap gets rid of it. It happens VERY rarely, but only when I've come close to pulling a double all nighter.

I had that damn song stuck in my head yesterday all day. Thanks MTS.....My work computer kept crashing, it was 90 degrees in the office for some reason, and the same damn repetitive song in my head.

The subway gift cards are trackable, I THINK. So theoretically they could catch the person if they are used. I think you'd need the original receipt though to get the card identifying number. In the case of a gift card, nothing would ever happen at the store or restaurant. They just ask the name and address of the person using it (which you hope is valid) and just hand it off to the police. Yeah it's an awful and angry feeling of getting something stolen. I had my bike stolen at night when someone tampered with a city street sign and pried out the bolts to get the bike out. After that, I avoid locking my bike outside. And to put this in context, I don't live in the hood either. I live on OAK STREET.....MyTwoSense can explain..... The person was caught partially on Prada's security cam, but the person had their back turned almost the entire time....

Oh wow, went to check it again and it had filled right back up to a 128% full, WTF? i must have had a backlog. I was under the impression the inbox full couldn't go above 100%

Oh damn, it was 140% full.

I'm so glad Chicago is ending this http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/chair-free-chicago-group-_n_792722.html

So it's sounds like facebook will soon go through a major revision and becoming more "visual"