It's time to say goodbye to Chicagoland.

scott1970 said:

Summer weather absolutely sucks in Chattanooga. Even the okra gets to complaining by August.

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summer sucks in chicago too, just fewer bad days than Chattanooga.

it's the winters i want to avoid.

well the last day of loading pre-surgery went well on Wed.

got through the bathroom, bedroom and laundry room. i gave about 2/3 of my clothes to the estate sale, may they all find good homes and good riddance. that felt good, like a dark cloud has moved on.

i'll slowly make my way to HD for more boxes today, that handicap parking tag I have from mom will be used for up front parking. haven't used that since she was in the hospital. butt i am using it today, and grateful that HD has the boxes close to the entrance.

today will tell if I am ready to be back to packing, doc said lifting was okay. maybe I'll just pack the clothes and leave the boxes in my room for jason to carry out to the ubox.

i'm in really good shape move-wise. I got the taxes done, shows invoices, vendors paid, all in advance so I can concentrate on this. and then the surgery got thrown it because why not? let's toss that into the mix because life loves to do that shit. am i right @Roxy13?

saw a house sell in 6 day here, and for a lot more than my realtor and I expected, so we are re-visiting our thoughts on our asking price here.

i did find a Pink Floyd tab book, be nice if i had a Queen one too but I can shag those tabs online or watch YT instruction vids. i plan on working on Queen and PF solos once I am down there. it will be ugly, but most of those solos are melodic and in the case of PF, they are repetitive in the same measure frequently with varying takes of the same riff slightly modified each time. that's the plan anyway. the old vibro champ & klone will handle that task without any issue, any issues will spring from my fingers.

Don't overdo it, and fuck yourself up!!!!

SteveC said:

Don't overdo it, and fuck yourself up!!!!

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being careful, doc said walking and packing is fine and he wants me walking as much as possible. he said walking and drinking lots of water are my biggest allies to a less painful recovery. i'll keep it light as i will have heavy lift here for 3 days to button up everything before the estate sale.

so water and walking are top priority for today.

good news!

still chugging water.

speaking of water, this poor bastard has a really nice place but...

First: mucho happy to hear things are A-OK in the health department!


Next:

You figure there's anything you're gonna miss?

There's only one Chicago, you know... no other place like it on Earth...

But I'll tell you true: that town has always been one hard-ass burg, throughout all times. I will plop a little history in this thread later, to discuss the city as it was in about 1905. Are you aware of how Chicago came to be named "Chicago"? It's a hoot!

For now, however, I will only say that the "autobiography" known as "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" that was published by Martin A. Gosch (and Richard Hammer) in 1975 features one chapter, in which Luciano attended a syndicate meeting hosted by Al Capone in 1931, just a few months before Big Al went to Alcatraz. This chapter begins with Luciano telling the interviewing author:

"Chicago is a real goddamn crazy place! Nobody's safe in the streets!"

He went on to say that he didn't like Chicago worth a shit. New York had its hot spots, but the entirety of Chicago was hotter than hell in the opinion of Mr. Salvatore Lucania, aka Lucky Luciano.

Consider this: that's coming Charlie Lucky-- the only man in US history who is known to have ever actually survived after "going for a ride" with rival mobsters, and who was actually used to gangsters bumping one another off left and right.

For having failed to die on cue after the "ride" Luciano took is, in fact, why Meyer Lansky gave him his now-infamous nickname.

But despite all that, Luciano found Chicago to be a truly alarming place!


Less than an hour after arriving in Chicago, Luciano and his two bodyguards were in the Central Business District. It was in the early afternoon, and the streets were loaded with pedestrians when suddenly two competitive bootlegging gangs had a brief, impromptu shootout. Lucky and his guys took cover behind an automobile parked nearby and never drew their own heat because as soon as they had something between themselves and any bullets that might be whizzing by they were able to collect themselves enough to realize that this shooting had zero to do with them, personally. It was just two groups of guys they'd never seen before who were taking shots at one another in broad daylight!

In the first few moments, when they first heard gunfire, Luciano figured that Capone might have tried to hit him for having earlier switched sides during the NYC " Castellammarese War", which had ended earlier that year. As it happened, Capone was aligned with the losing side of that particular beef and it seemed possible that he might be seeking revenge. That war ended decisively, and Luciano's defection from one side to the other was THE reason the war ended.


But no: this was just a bunch of local idiots with some beef over who got to peddle booze where.

When Luciano met Capone later that afternoon he mentioned the shootout, learned that Al already had the whole scoop from his informants within Chicago PD, and then watched as Capone laughed like a loon as he explained to Luciano that in reality, both gangs were actually purchasing their liquor from Capone's people. Just, they weren't aware of it!

"They're all assholes! I don't give a shit about any of them!" Al guffawed, as Luciano marveled at Al's display of amused indifference.

Under Luciano in NYC, that sort of thing didn't happen at all-- everybody knew whose turf was where, and the Five Families of NYC enforced the lines of demarcation. Too much fighting brought heat, and heat brought a drop in profits. So if you hit somebody in public it was at least sort of discreet, like in a restaurant... not a freakin' two-gang cowboy shootout on main street at high noon with 1,000 witnesses!

But in Chicago?

"What a fuckin' free-for-all!" Luciano said, laughing as if in disbelief at just how wild and crazy Chicago really was. He went on to say that he never stepped foot in Cook County, let alone the City of Chicago itself, ever again.

He always sent a representative!


But I'm not here to bust on Chicago, really. Instead, I merely wonder if you have any particular misgivings about leaving the place-- though I hope you don't, and I assure you that the West Coast of Florida is heaven on earth... until it ain't.

Here's one for The Windy City:



--R

@Roberteaux the things i'll miss from Chicago are largely gone now. sure i'll miss the lake michigan tap water. but there isn't much left here for me aside some great neighbors and an airport with more direct flights than anywhere else.

pizza has gotten so expensive and now that Lou's got sold, it's already not the same.

high property taxes, high sales tax, high income taxes? fuck all that shit. then there's the months with hardly any daytime. dark out at 4PM? keep it.

Olds442 said:

@Roberteaux the things i'll miss from Chicago are largely gone now. sure i'll miss the lake michigan tap water. but there isn't much left here for me aside some great neighbors and an airport with more direct flights than anywhere else.

pizza has gotten so expensive and now that Lou's got sold, it's already not the same.

high property taxes, high sales tax, high income taxes? fuck all that shit. then there's the months with hardly any daytime. dark out at 4PM? keep it.

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Sometimes, it's time to move on. Glad that you figured it as you did-- frankly, it has sounded as if you've had enough since about 2020 that I'm aware of.

I'd say the time is ripe. I'm truly happy for you, too!

--Rob

Ya know the old saying, "You can't go home"?

When we moved back here from CA, after 11-ish years, it was not the same.

Reading Greg's post about how his "home" got old for him over time reminded me of that.

Where I live is nothing like where I lived growing up, got married, and started life. And, they are the same zip code.

well...



my Uboxes are packed. I have a couple things to add just before departure, sheets, pillows, shower stuffs, all last minute, need the day of. The Ubox departure is on June 9th, but the beasts be loaded.

my soreness has all butt left, i'm about 70% right now, feeling pretty good.

so tomorrow Jason gets to spread 35 bags of mulch about the property, and then the outside is ready for prime time realtor photos.

can't express how happy i am to be where we are right now. the house is staged for the estate sale, the boxes are loaded, i am all butt out of here.

i am down to two suitcases, and i probably only need one.

Congrats on getting out of this shitty state of Illinois. Best of luck to you!

scott 351 wins said:

Congrats on getting out of this shitty state of Illinois. Best of luck to you!

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thanks scott. hope all is well out west, well, west for us.

Olds442 said:

well...

View attachment 855535

my Uboxes are packed. I have a couple things to add just before departure, sheets, pillows, shower stuffs, all last minute, need the day of. The Ubox departure is on June 9th, but the beasts be loaded.

my soreness has all butt left, i'm about 70% right now, feeling pretty good.

so tomorrow Jason gets to spread 35 bags of mulch about the property, and then the outside is ready for prime time realtor photos.

can't express how happy i am to be where we are right now. the house is staged for the estate sale, the boxes are loaded, i am all butt out of here.

i am down to two suitcases, and i probably only need one.

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Good progress. Ironic that when you leave, the pain in your ass will have subsided and gone away. Hmm, maybe not so ironic after all.

Mortgage Application Process.

So, I'm packed and the Uboxes are ready to go. I just have a few things in the house to throw in last minute.

I think I'll stay at a hotel on the last night since my bed and mattress will be on the curb for the garbage men.

Basically, until I buy a place and take delivery, I'm going to be living out of two suitcases.

The estate sale starts tomorrow, ends Sunday, and she's out by Wed evening.

Cleaners and floors after that, and I'm out.

Travel well, Greg. Hope it all is smooth sailing from now on!

G'day Olds, long time mate. Hope you're recovering well man, and good luck with the move.

Matty said:

G'day Olds, long time mate. Hope you're recovering well man, and good luck with the move.

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Matty! Bro long time!!

Thanks man,

Well the estate sale is kicking off.

I'm having breakfast and then a hair cut, and then I'm gonna find something to do until it ends at 5pm.

Nice day, we got lucky there.

swung by since there weren't a ton of cars and met up with the neighbor that wants to buy the place.

he made me a solid cash offer, I'm taking 24 hours to talk with my smart people about it. it would make things very easy.



well it's unanimous, my smart peeple are telling me to take it and run.

time to email my lawyer.