I’m a little late to the news, but apparently the Sears headquarters (at Hoffman Estates) has been torn down.
I got to visit the building a few times, though I think I only documented one of my visits. To say the place was massive is… an understatement. Inside the complex (and it was a complex), there was a coffee shop, restaurant, beauty salon, travel agency – a ton of actual shops.
Via Facebook Marketplace, Liz found a door that she really wanted, to use as our back kitchen door. She repaired the one we have now, but has been on the lookout for its replacement for some time.
This morning we rented a U-Haul van, and made our way down to La Moille.
There were some ok exhibits, and some less than stellar exhibits. To be honest, I enjoyed things most when we were all making fun of the lights.
I’m excited to announce the news that, in August, I’ll be working as a Senior Software Engineer at The Nerdery in Chicago. I’ve kept this news under wraps for a while, but I’m thrilled to be able to share this publicly. I’m over the moon excited at my new role, and looking forward to this next, big chapter in my career.
Recently, one of the buildings where we have an office opened up their new rooftop deck. It’s meant to be used by anyone in the building with a keycard, and they had a bit of a shindig with the unveiling (lots of free food, giveaways, etc).
The photo above is actually a lot brighter than what it was like here, earlier this AM. I got in around 6:30 AM, and most of the lights were off. Right at about 6:40 AM, I heard this digital tinkling music, and then all the lights flickered on. It was very odd – but I guessed it was the automated process for turning things on.
Most of these photos are from a prior visit, but they still don’t quite do the whole place justice. It’s a campus to be sure, and it’s just a sprawling series of buildings. I’ve only been up here a handful of times, and I get lost every time I go in.
I’ve asked for the weekend to consider the offer, and to think on it more. The opportunity is challenging and would set me on a markedly different path than the one I’m on currently.
It’s amazing how many folks stop by to visit Asher, and how much he brightens up the office. Asher visited once before, and has gone to a few meetings. But today, while Joanna was away in meetings, Asher ended up having a lot of babysitter volunteers – and moved to various desks around the office.
Liz and I had a nice conversation with Bob about our workshop, and the things we’re learning. A lot of what we talked about focused on learning the techniques/tools (as opposed to simply completing a task).
It was my coworker Beck’s last day at work yesterday, and she was offering to do small drawings for anyone who stopped by her desk and wanted one.
She felt terrible and nauseous for a long while. So then she decided to try to force herself to throw up. Which she did, and that seemed to help for a bit. But then the nausea came back. And she threw up again. And after a while, she was no longer needing to force herself to do it… she just started throwing up because that was the thing she needed to do.
It’s been fairly quiet of late, and the only real change to my schedule is to ensure that I check to see if any messages come through from 8:00AM – 10:15 PM every day (we have an offshore team that takes over at that time). Of course, I have to have my laptop nearby. And a kind of constant awareness of the closest wi-fi spots, should I ever leave the house. But all in all, nothing too strenuous.
I was in Evernote today, and accidentally hit a button that triggered my laptop’s camera. While it was open, I ended up just taking a photo anyways, since it seemed to capture the background of where I work.
Around 4PM, my coworker Casey was messaging our team asking if anyone else smelled smoke. A few people walked by her desk, and everyone all came to the same conclusion: definitely smoke.