Personal Narrative

ChicagoBoyz Horse Update

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At our hobby farm we have cattle for beef, chickens for eggs, cats for rodent control, a dog for a warning system (and to kill a coyote/fox if needed) and horses for pleasure. I don’t really do the horse thing but the wife and kids sure do love ’em. It is nice that we have our own grass hay to feed them, making their maintenance cost very low, just need to keep their hooves taken care of and the occasional vet visit.

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Swissotel Chicago Hates One of My Kids Right Now, But All of Them If I Have Three or More

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So the wife decided to make plans for a nice weekend in Chicago on a weekend in December. Museums, the Christmas lights, windows, Michigan Avenue, some fine food, etc. I had stayed at the Swissotel before for business and had a good experience. I am staying there later in December to visit Carl and got a nice rate of $99 per night.

I began to noodle around their site and came up with the following rate for 2 adults and 2 kids, staying two nights. $306/night if you pay ahead of time, $339/night for the regular rate (plus tax of course).

Knowing that I just got a room for $99 I started scratching my head a bit and looked at the different rooms, etc. Couldn’t figure it out. Maybe it was because this particular weekend was in high demand.

For kicks I took the kids out of the equation. Lo and behold the rate for two adults: $117 advance payment, $129 standard rate.

How about if we just bring one kid: $117 advance, $129 standard.

What if we adopt a kid before then, making it two adults and three kids: “We’re sorry, but no rooms are available for your specified date range. Please modify your search criteria and try again.”

68F on November 13, 2011

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The Location: The front porch, Oak Park.

The Drink: Bourbon and ginger ale.

The Book: Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea: The Daring Capture of the U-505, by Daniel V. Gallery. A pal, a former destroyer officer as it happens, gave me this book with the highest possible recommendation. Rear Admiral Gallery was a salty character. He gives excellent and colorful and opinionated explanations of all aspects of the war against the U-Boats, with many anecdotes. A most educational read, and a page-turner. As of page 130/338 I can recommend it to all who are interested in such matters. If you visit Chicago, you can see the U-505 at its permanent berth at the Museum of Science and Industry, where it came to rest after Gallery’s men captured it.

We won’t get many more nice days like this one this year. Today is pretty much an aberration. I am expecting a severely cold winter this year, based on pure guesswork and gut feel, speculation about sunspot activity and its effect, contrarianism about global warning, general pessimism, and not much else.

(Below the fold, Gallery on the conning tower of the captured U-505, via Wikipedia.)

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