Document
“The day is winter bright. I blink against it.
Each time the sun glints in my eyes,
each time I close my lids & let them go”
Blog
Teresa of Ávila, in Lincoln Park
A few days ago, I arrived early for a whisky tasting event. I had come from work, and Liz was en route via Uber… so I decided to kill some time by wandering around the area.
Grubhub Ping Pong Tournament
Speaking of nostalgia… our office also is having a Ping Pong Tournament. I was a little unsure about signing up, but figured… what the hey. I’m in the office, I may as well take advantage. And besides, what kind of tech company employee would I be, if I didn’t play ping pong at work?
Remembering “Fun Slides”
Today, I was in one of the hallways at the office, and I noticed how it was this long, uninterrupted stretch of carpet. And I immediately thought about Fun Slides, a toy that made a list of the most dangerous toys of 2004.
This would have made a most excellent skating area.
Scotch Malt Whisky Society, February 2026 Outturn
Had another fun night tasting whisky with Liz, at the local SMWS outturn event in Chicago.
Salt Sky
“The bright night sky,
Doorway to everything—
In all that black
All those stars:”
Whiskey Escape
One fun thing we did – we got to utilize not one, but two Christmas gifts we had received. One was a nice bottle of Macallan (Harmony Collection, Vibrant Oak), and the other was a “Whiskey Escape Room” game.
Marshall’s Landing
Instead, we got some drinks at Marshall’s Landing, a combo restaurant/bar on the second floor. The weird thing? It’s accessible from both the second and first floors.
There’s actually a whole section of tiered seating, that you can go up/down from the lobby. When I first saw it after coming back to the Mart, I was taken aback.
Hazel’s Project
I heard a lot of rumbling from Hazel’s area. I was upstairs at the time, and when I came down the stairs… this is what I saw:
Terry Tate, Where Are You?
The new Grubhub office is large and, honestly, quite luxurious. There are numerous kitchen areas (our office spans the entire length of the Mart)… and coffee options aplenty in each one.
There’s drip coffee, which isn’t… great. But hey, the price is right.
Hazel Gams
Look at these little ham hocks! As adorable as this looks, it’s even better in person, close-up.
Lonely Commute
This morning though – on my whole way in, it was a ghost town. Barely anyone at the local Stabucks. Barely anyone on the Metra downtown. And barely anyone on the CTA platform.
I learned later that school was cancelled again today for most of Chicago, meaning that a lot of parents probably had to stay home as well. So overall, fewer people downtown.
Snowy Chicago
When we got home last night, there was a dusting and the start of some snow. We were home around 8PM, and I took the liberty of clearing the sidewalk before going inside. That seemed to help, as when I woke up this morning… there was a decent amount that had fallen down. A lot…
Extension Extension
I had not one, but two extenders for my impact drill. I wasn’t sure how well this would fare, but it did the trick! If you’re surprised, well that makes two of us.
I guess it doesn’t have to look pretty, it just has to work.
More Fire
I cannot stress how lovely it’s been, to finally have a working fireplace in the house. We’ve been having a lot of fires in the evenings, whenever we can.