The worst Tuesday in my existence
Well, where to start. The day in the lab was particularly crappy. I know that it is research and all, so having a reaction go to complete crap is not unexpected. We did learn a bit more about this reaction that is troubling us, which is good, and it was on a small scale as suggested by my co-worker (so I didnt waste all the much material, although we are to the point where we cant afford to waste anything right now, both starting materials are in short supply at the moment and there is a deadline to met). Combine that with the fact that I also had to present at group meeting and you have a pretty crummy work day.
Now onto the ride home. The shuttles get us to the train station on time, nothing surprising there (there have been a few cases were a car accident or train crossing has delayed us such that we get to the station late and have to wait an hour for the next train). As soon as we get there there is an announcement “The next inbound train toward Chicago is operating 30 minutes late”. Great! Kirstie and I had plans to go to the movie in Grant Park The Night of the Hunter . We usually have more then enough time, and it was just going to be the 2 of us so I didnt worry that much. It is upsetting though to know that you wont be home at the time you usually are. So we get on the train and due to its lateness, we have to get off at Winnetka and transfer to the train behind (because the next train was right on our butt, our train became express to downtown and the next one ran local). No biggy.
Finally, we pull into Rodgers Park, its 6:30pm only about 20 minutes later then usually. Not bad for all the hassle. I walk over to where I locked my bike and …well…its not there. Now its not like a great bike, we picked it up at K-Mart about 3 years ago but, I did have 2 wheels and got me where I needed to go. More importantly is that I had also chained my helmet to it. The hemlet was basically new, I purchased it when I started biking to the train station in june. What was it looked with you ask? Well a Master Lock cable lock. According to the guy who’s bike was next to mine they can easily cut those, which they do quickly. After a few minutes, a van will the drive by and pick up all the lose bikes. Why did you use that? I had though “Well if its sold, it must be decent at keeping a bike safe” Wrong! The guy who I was talking to had a U-lock to lock the frame and a cable for the front tire. They didnt cut the cable because its not worth it to get just a tire, when they can cut one and get a whole bike. What was even more frustrating was that they had cut more cables than bikes they took because there was a Trek bike with no lock just sitting there. They must have run out of room in the van, silly them they could have got much more for the Trek than my many year old, beat up Huffy. Oh well, atleast I learned this on a bike I was about to replace anyway. Now I will know what not to do for the bike that I get with the certificate that kirstie gave me for my birthday. I do feeel bad for the other bikes stolen though. This was the rack infront of the metra station and a lot of the bikes with only cables where for the ppl in the neighborhood who take the train up to the suburbs, usually for hard labor type jobs, anything that will pay the bills.
I end up walking to the “L” and getting home at about 6:50 pm, and we pack up and go to the movie. Very creppy but at the same time some amazing scenes. there are some shots that are just breathtaking in their erie-ness. I enjoyed it but not as much as other movies. Its not going to make my top 10 list any time soon.