Events

As threatened yesterday, we got a few rounds of lake-effect snow overnight and this morning. Since not all the leaves have fallen yet, it still looks pretty: And of course, one member of my household really, really, really likes a fresh snowfall: Right now we've got about 100 mm on the ground. That will melt quickly as the forecast calls for above-freezing temperatures from tomorrow morning onward, reaching possibly 18°C on Saturday. I hope so, because I've got a 20 km hike planned for the day, and I'd...

I don't enjoy taking 6 am flights, of course, but they do have advantages. I left my hotel at 6:11 am and was through SFO security by 6:25. That's even faster than last year! I'm a little less enthused about this, however: URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Chicago IL 224 AM CST Sun Nov 9 2025 Northern Cook-Central Cook-Southern Cook-Eastern Will- Including the cities of Chicago, Peotone, Northbrook, Crete, Evanston, Lemont, Park Forest, Schaumburg, Cicero, Oak Park, La Grange, Des...

After dragging my tired ass to Peet's just as they opened at 6 am (8 am back home), I got the same tired ass to the BART station just down the street and discovered that the Red Line operates as a shuttle between Millbrae and SFO sometimes. This knowledge came to me after I took an unplanned round-trip to the airport, learning this bit of BART lore at the cost of 25 minutes of my life. I did make it to Powell and Market before 8:30 am, which allowed me plenty of time to take the oldest form of public...

I made it to the Bay Area, and I'm about to fall asleep. Tomorrow I've got plans in both San Francisco and San Jose, which, if you care to glimpse a map, are nowhere near each other. (Seriously, they're farther apart than Chicago and Milwaukee.) Fortunately they have trains here. Right, well, I'm off then. Assuming I don't get re-routed involuntarily, I should be home mid-afternoon Sunday, and assuming meteorologists know what they're doing, I will be rewarded for schlepping a heavy coat all over the...

I resigned myself to taking the delay and going home for a few hours, but before exiting the secure area of the terminal, I decided to try the American Airlines app one more time. Success! The reservation system suggested a 1 pm flight through Dallas and a connecting flight to SFO that gets in around 7:30 pm. Not ideal, but also not wasting two hours going home and back and getting to SFO after midnight Chicago time. I won't be able to make the Brews & Choos stop I'd planned for this evening, nor does...

I posted too soon. Obviously, I tempted the wrath of the whatever high atop the thing, and it noticed: Here's the ironic part: the government shutdown has (almost) nothing to do with this delay. The plane is broken. And because of the capacity controls today, the airline can't simply swap in another 737-800. Fortunately, I live in Chicago, so I'll just go home for a few hours. Updates as the situation develops.

Despite the FAA reducing flights at O'Hare and Midway today because of the Republican-caused government shutdown (longest in history!), I got from my house to O'Hare and through security in just over an hour. Red-state friends: I took the #81 bus to the Blue Line, so the whole 45-minute trip cost $3.00. I even had time to get coffee. So far my flight is on time, and--unusually for the heavily-traveled ORD-SFO route--I got upgraded. Sometimes I think about cancelling my club membership because I only fly...

A warm and dry October has given us unusually late fall colors this year. They seem close to peak intensity this week, at least in my local park. Enjoy:

Ain't she sweet:

I'm heading to the Bay Area tomorrow, and I know I will get there, but thanks to the Republican Party I'm not sure whether I'll arrive when I'd planned to: The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it would cut 10 percent of air traffic at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports, in a move that analysts said would force airlines to cancel thousands of flights while the administration tries to push Democrats to end the government shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the reductions...