A Post Dedicated to Chicago

Driving in Chicago
I recently took a trip to Chicago. Every time I'm there it seems that any interstate I'm on is under construction. Anyhow, I snapped a crappy pic with the cell phone. I could have snapped a bunch more but I would have most likely crashed into someone cutting me off without a signal. That said, isn't there some mandate for using turn signals in Chicago or are residents exempt? I digress.

Burned by Google Maps Again
I love me some Garrett's Popcorn. While in Chicago I decided that despite the torrential downpour I would venture out and get some of my beloved popcorn. I hit up Google Maps on my phone and found the closest location. I walked around in the rain with a cranky family for 15 minutes trying to find this frickin' place. The phones are forwarded to a call center with people I could not understand so scrap that. Some quick help from a local shop revealed that the shops on this side of town are closed. Nice. I guess I should have cross-referenced this on the Garrett's store locator page but, then again, I was wet and cell phone + monsoon = disaster. Long story short, I got some later in the evening but not before spending another $1.50 for what seemed 30 minutes of street parking.

Standard Parking = "Bend Over and Take It"
It seems that everywhere we went in Chicago the lot we parked in was managed by Standard Parking. Google Maps has a pretty good depiction of their rein on the city. In fact, they have the lots both at the Shedd Aquarium and Navy Pier where we visited. Now, I'm not busting on a business trying to make a buck but for $16 and $24, respectively, I'd expect them to assign private security to oversee our parked car. The only thing we got was an automated parking payment system that used Microsoft SAM's voice to annoy us while paying our fees.