Official A2K Gathering in Chicago, May 7th, 2006!

I'll be one of the early to show up and early to depart people, so I appreciate if we could we could reserve the room for such an expanse of time, knowing most people are apt to want to get there later and stay later.

If we turn out to have more than the allowed number of people in the room, can some of us mill around by the pool? Given there is some outlet for milling if we are a few more than the allowed number - somehow I'm not really worried about this, but just in case - then I'm all for reserving the room now instead of waiting and possibly losing it.

Sounds good to me, Soz. I can bring a camera, laptop, a case of wine and ask my partner what kind of snack food will survive a 2 hour road trip (and the poker stuff, just in case Craven is serious). I doubt I'll have any problems with customs at the toll booths. Also Sublime; internet access shouldn't really be a problem in a Condo. Anymore, you hardly ever encounter a densely populated area where there isn't some wireless connection available without a password. :wink:

Boundary Waters! Oooh!

Yes, thanks so much for your efforts, sublime. It'd be good to have it reserved. Is it a hassle to cancel if something else comes up?

I like Osso's idea about milling. Hard to predict, but there is often good weather in May.

I DO appreciate your sad faces when I said I wasn't coming. You are so kind. But there will be another meeting on the eastern seaboard somewhere and somewhen, won't there? I really want to meet you all! And the cake.... I have just iced a definitely scandalous marzipan-covered fruit and nut and brandy cake... I will toast Dagma and the rest of you in the fumes.

It would cost me the best part of $2000 even if I came for 5 days, and I'd have such jetlag I'd be asleep when you were awake and vice versa... hopeless!

Thomas, you are so polite.

I thought that might be case reguarding the wireless connection. As for the poker stuff I have chips and a fold out table so don't worry about that.

I am going to have to check when they open the pool area, I am pretty sure the deck area will be open but am not sure if it will be all set up as far as the tents and tables are concerned.

This is what it looks like now:


There is plenty of room to mill around but it would be nice if it was all set up.

Damn, you're up there quite a ways, eh? Can you see the city at night from there? Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

OBill here are some other shots from my window. Link

Poker? Count me in!

Sublime .... your photos are beautiful! Awesome .... Awesome .... Awesome!

I will be arriving in Chicago on the 5th and departing on the 9th. I had told Bill that it would depend on my schedule. The month of May can be very fast paced for me. Then I had an unusually rough week last week at work. As the week rolled on, the more I kept thinking about Chicago and how much fun it would be.

Then it dawned on me .......

They don't need me at work. They'll survive just fine, without me. Just like they did before they ever even knew I existed. I'm very replaceable. So let em' replace me for a few days.


Chicago here I come!

Brooke, I look forward to meeting you, as I do to meet Bill. I conject we all disagree on batches of substance, but, still... there we are, and I'm pleased you'll be there.

I dunno, politically inclined as many of us were in the SF gathering, I don't remember politics being mentioned once over three days. On the other hand, I was in a hotel by myself - ah, but not for so long. Or else wisps of politcs float over m'head.

Folks all wanna debate, go ahead. Some of the rest of us will be seeing the city together...

That's the other thing I thought we could plan here and then plonk on the "Just the Facts" thread. Like: Sunday, May 7th, group meeting at the Art Institute at 1:00 PM.

Or whatever.

(IF I go, I'll probably be able to make it just to the main get-together and one or two one-on-ones, amidst various Sozlet-ferrying and Chicago-friend-visiting.)

I can't remember that we mentioned politics on any of the various meetings I've attended ... as an own topic, that's it. :wink:

Before I forget it: someone should perhaps collect/store our mobile telephone numbers, just in case, as well as the hotels/accomodations - just in case.

(Shouldn't be done here or on the other thread, though!)

I've no specific plans what I'll do when, besides, perhaps that I want to go to some jazz club one evening.

(I suppose, I'll explore some parts just on my own - just for photographing :wink: )

Sign me up for the jazz club, well, if you want company that is. Hurrah. Chicago. May. All sounds like a dream from an ice cold Austria.

Sublime, I'm well aware you need to get out on the big water for the big fish. I figured with people being there likely for a few days, a charter trip wouldn't be out of the question.

Now I see that Brooke is gonna be there.... oh man, the temptation!

Certainly. (And no need to jubilate before :wink: )

Momentarily, there's as cold as here at our place. (A bit warmer than in Vienna that is)

I'm just on the other side of the big pond. We got 3" of snow here this AM in the middle of commute.

yeah, but have you got minus twenty bleeding celsius degrees? i mean, brrrrrrr!

I may have mentioned it before but The Green Mill is an excellent jazz club and they have live jazz every Sat.

Is it safe to come back?

>looking around<

OK. Seems like the worst of it is over.

I know that everyone is looking for other activities (jazz clubs, museums, sightseeing, etc.). Most of these don't require any advanced planning -- it's not like the Art Institute, for instance, will be sold out if you don't get your tickets in advance. There are two activities that I can think of, however, that might require some foresight and preparation: Second City and baseball.

Second City (for the two or three of you who don't know) is an improvisational/sketch comedy revue that has been an institution in Chicago for over forty years. I've found that it is fairly easy to get tickets for weeknight shows, but weekends need to be booked in advance. If a bunch of A2Kers are interested in going, we could arrange for a group outing.

Lots of out-of-towners, when they come to Chicago, want most to see the Cubs play in Wrigley Field. Well, it ain't gonna' happen, folks. The Cubs leave Chicago on May 3 for a west coast road trip and don't return until May 12. So unless you plan on an extended visit, the best you can do is look at Wrigley Field from the outside. But the great thing about having two major league teams is that, when one is out of town, the other is at home. And the other team just happens to be the defending world champion White Sox, who have a home stand from May 3 to May 11. In the past, it was pretty easy getting tickets to White Sox games. I don't expect that to be the case this year. But it should still be possible to get tickets, especially for the weekday games, if you order in advance.

Just some thoughts. There might be other events that you can think of that will require some forethought and preparation (May is actually kinda' quiet around here -- winter events are over and summer events haven't begun yet).