Scotland Yard

Hey all, just wanted to post a little entry about two very hot topics for me - completely unrelated but all within a matter of days....

First off, it is just a beautiful - no scratch that GORGEOUS - day in Chicago. It is slated to jump to a record breaking temperature of 73 degrees and I am loving it. It is a bit hard to believe that a week ago there was snow and ice still on the ground and flurries were expected to fall but now, here we are in a late spring/summer kind of mood. It is so nice to leave my house in flip-flops and a t-shirt (with the requisite jeans - sorry, no skirt as this is the windy city! - falling in between those two) and not worry about layers or undergarments (i.e. long johns; very dowdy but oh so necessary to survive).

The other great thing about a warm up in Chicago is the exponential rise in friendliness that goes along with the temperature increase. Chicago is known for its Midwestern hospitality, which means any increase is friendliness borders on flirtations (possibly another reason to get all hot under the collar). I love this weather - people are happy, they smile as you pass them by, and at any moment, you could make a new friend or two. It feels so full of possibility. It's days like these that make me sad to be leaving Chicago but while I am here, I am working it to the fullest. On tap for the weekend (which is not supposed to be as pleasant or mild, but who cares? I'll be sloshed!) is watching the river get dyed green (because after all, is not there a little bit of Irish in us all?).....

My next heated conversation has to do with me being a rat, a stool pigeon, a mole, a leak, a tipster. You see, I was watching the news on Saturday night and I happened to see the lead story about a fire that had taken place, killing four. The police were looking for a "person of interest", asked anyone having seen said person to call nine-one-one, and then posted a description. Needless to say, I got flushed with dread/indecision. You see, I had seen the person. Granted, it was hours ago but I was not sure what to do. So I got some legal counsel, called three-one-one, and got transfered from department to department to department until I ended up repeating my story for the umpteenth time to someone from Bomb and Arson. Who also took my name and number, just in case (had it been any hotter, it may have qualified for flirting! Smile)....

Well, they have the person of interest (who was the person I had identified/seen which reassures me since I know how unreliable eyewitness identifications can be) in custody and she is charged. And my legal counsel makes me feel like I was a responsible citizen instead of just passing the buck. Plus, I get to call myself a stoolie and pretend that I am back (albeit briefly) in the roaring twenties when Chicago was full of molls and moles and bullet holes. The only sad part to the story is that I was so looking forward to being contacted by the police, maybe even some cops showing up at my door for further information. Because Chicago has some mighty fine cops. And I would not mind being protected and served by such handsome law enforcement. Oh, well, guess this girl has about four months to work on that. And if things don't fare well here, I can always try Scotland Yard once I am in the UK. Oh, wait...been there....smile.