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~ Diabetes, Cancer Survivor, Cycling, Photographer, Exercise, College Parent, Twins, Boy Scout Leader, Life

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Tag Archives: Chicago

365 Day Photo Challenge 347/365 “Confusion”

12 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

365 Day Photo Challenge, Chicago, Flash Mob, Photography

Several years ago I went with the high school band as a chaperone to Chicago.  At first, I hated the idea of going to such a large city.  As it turned out it was one of the best trips that I’ve ever been on.  Chicago has got to be one of the biggest cities that I’ve ever been too. I was able to spend a day in Paris some twenty five years ago and visited the Eiffel tower. That was exciting but to be in such a big city in my own country was awesome.  We got to go into the old Sears Tower, take a diner cruise, eat at a pizzeria and the band got to perform in front of the gates of an amusement park.

A funny thing happened while we were in Chicago.  We went to see the Blue Man group but got to the location about an hour early.  There was a sporting goods store within walking distance so the chaperones decided to take the fifty some odd kids to the store to walk around.  Bad move on our part.  We hadn’t been there ten minutes when the place was surrounded by Chicago’s finest.  I was in the back of the store when they came barging in guns in hand.  Someone had reported us as a flash mob and we were in there to do a smash and grab.  Luckily, the police that rushed in had calm heads and decided to listen to some of the adults.  After we explained why we were in there the manager of the store quickly apologized and gave us the run of the store.  A picture was taken with one of the officers with one of the kids in handcuffs just as a joke.  It was a fun trip.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 215/365 “The Weekend”

01 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

365 Day Photo Challenge, Chicago, Grilling, Kids, Reflections, Relaxing Weekend, Ribs, Shopping, Smoking Ribs, The Bean, Weekend

I had a very relaxing day here at the house today.  I got up and got the smoker ready and spent the majority of the day smoking a couple slabs of ribs.  All three of the kids were at work and the wife went on a shopping spree for the girls to purchase them back to school clothes.  In between the times I had to tend to the smoker I spent some time cleaning up some files on my laptop and removing unused programs to make room for more pictures.  I even got to watch some pre recorded Perry Mason shows to help pass the time.

Tomorrow will be spent much the same way except I have plans on doing some riding tomorrow being that I won’t have to be tending to a smoker.  The kids will be at work again and the wife will be doing some grocery shopping.  Nothing exciting but hopefully another relaxing day before the work week begins on Monday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 189/365 “Chaos”

07 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

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365 Day Photo Challenge, Appliance Repair, Chicago, Dryer, Insurance, Photography

Can I have a “Do Over” for today or can it just be over with.  It’s funny how you have everything planned out but the least little thing can change everything you have planned.

It started last night when I had made plans to go bike riding today when I got home from work.  I got everything ready last night before I went to bed so that once home I could change clothes and go.  Didn’t quite work that way.

Item 1.  At about 2pm I got a phone call from my wife telling me that the dryer had quit working.  Luckily I know a little about appliance repair so when I got home I immediately started trying to figure out what the problem was that was keeping my dryer from doing it’s main job.   Burnt wire on the thermostat plus the thermostat looks burnt.  I’ve got to call the supplyhouse in the morning to see if they have the parts if not I’ll have to order them online.

Item 2.  Once the dryer was looked at and all my tools were put away I looked at the clock and decided that I still had enough time to go for a ride but my wife had something she wanted to discuss with me.  It seems that my soon to be 22 year old son has been found to be driving reckless and driving too fast in and around the neighborhood.  He’s already had one speeding ticket and our insurance skyrocketed so we really can’t afford another rate hike.  My wife and I decided to tell our son that if he gets another ticket that he will be removed from our policy and he will have to pay for his own insurance.  At an estimated $1000/per six months, I don’t think he can afford that.  Maybe that will slow him down knowing that he may have to pay $150 a month to drive his car.

Item 3  After my meeting with the wife I had just enough time for a half loop.  That’s 15 miles.  It’s better than nothing so I go and start changing clothes.  The phone rings. The wife answers, “What’s Wrong”.  Two words that you don’t want to hear when all three of your kids are supposed to be on their way home from work. Keep in mind that all three of my kids work at the same water park. One daughter is upset from something that happened at work and now she’s quitting.  The other daughter says she’s going to quit if this superviser that made the first daughter so mad she’s going to quit is not fired.  Still with me?  Now my son arrives at home just as my wife is trying to tell me what is going on.  My wife stops in mid sentence and starts asking my son what happened.  Without going into great detail it seems that they have a problem with a supervisor and my son, who is about 4 years older than that of this supervisor, got caught in the middle. My son is supposed to see if he can talk to the supervisor’s boss in the morning to see if he can sort this whole mess out.  If not, someone will face the wrath of my wife tomorrow I can assure you.

Item 4 I quit looking at the clock at this point.  My girls come home.  We go over the entire events of the afternoon again with little to no resolve.  Again, my son says that he will talk to the boss in the morning when he gets to his training session.  If there is a solution my girls will go to work at 10 am as scheduled.  If no resolve, they will all quit I’m guessing.

I decided to take this opportunity to discuss the lead foot my son has with him.  I tell him of the $150 a month insurance plan, he’s not impressed with having to pay that amount.  Will it work, I doubt it. We shall see!

No riding for me today.  Going on vacation next week but will I have any money left to go after the repair work on my dryer?  This is only Tuesday and we still have three more days remaining in this week. The weekend can’t come soon enough.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 134/365 “Todays Ride”

16 Saturday May 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

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Tags

365 Day Photo Challenge, Alabama, Chicago, Cycling, Dogs, Leash Law, Trash, workout

Today was a good day.  I got most everything done that I wanted to do today.  I got up and ate breakfast, changed clothes and hopped on my bicycle.  When I returned home I had a bite to eat and started getting things ready for tomorrow trip to Mt. Cheaha.

My bike ride today consisted of a leisurely ride through town.  I followed my weekend route in which I normally get around 23 miles.  The route I take has a lot of hills but not any steep grades.  I took a few new roads just to see some new sites and it increased my mileage a bit. My total mileage for the day was 25.8 and my average speed was 12.1 mph.  Like I said, I took my time and didn’t get in a big hurry.

There are several things that kind of bug me while I’m riding through my fair city but the one thing that really pisses me off is the amount of trash that is on the roads.  I bet I counted four trash bags while on my route today.  I think it’s really uncalled for when people throw out their trash from their cars instead of waiting until they get home and throw it out in a trash can. Doesn’t make sense.  The other thing that gets on my nerves is the amount of dogs that are not on a leash or in a fenced in yard.  Our city has a leash law which requires all dogs to either be on a leash or in a fence if outside.  The little ankle biters don’t really bother me that much, it’s the big labs and german shepherds that make me nervous.  I’ve been given permission by the city to use Mace when I feel threatened.  The thing about using mace it that it could get in my eyes if the wind is blowing the wrong direction.

Photo is of the Pier in Chicago

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 64/365 “Welcome to the Weekend!!”

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

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Tags

365 Day Photo Challenge, Alabama, Chicago, Doctor, Flu, Photo, Photography, Sick

I made it.  We all made it to the weekend!!  I’m I’m not any better by in the morning then I’ll be making yet another trip to the doctor. I heard today that one of my lunch partners was diagnosed with the Flu yesterday and I sit right next to her on most days.  I really hope it’s just another round of the crud and not the Flu.

I’ll be going to bed soon.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!!.

“Life Goes On!!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 37/365 “Reflections”

06 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Tim Hughes Living with CML in Photography

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

365 Photo Challenge, Alabama, Chicago, health, Photo, Photography, Retirement

DSC_4234

Well, we’ve made it to Friday.  I spent the day doing what I had to do to get the job done.  I’m 51 years old and I can retire with full post retirement benefits at age 55.  The way things are going right now with my health you had better believe that I won’t let the door hit me on my way out.  It hadn’t always been as stressful as it is now.  I’ve been at this company 29 years and I used to love doing what I do.  Now with new management with a different viewpoints make my job and everyone elses job a lot more stressful.  I’ll be lucky to survive the 3 plus years I have left.

On a much brighter note, the above picture was taken in Chicago at the Giant Bean.  I went on a band trip with my two daughters and we spent a few days there.  We had a great time.  I’ve never been to a city as large as Chicago before and unless something happens I guess I never will again.  The architecture there was simply amazing.

As I said before, today is Friday.  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  I know I am.

“Life Goes On!”

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