Monday, June 18, 2012

Day-to-Day Life in Chicagoland

06/11, Monday
We went car shopping at Enterprise. Our choice there is a 2010 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan, silver. Nice clean car...37,000 miles, still in warranty from Honda, plus 1-year power train from Enterprise.

Should we register in Illinois or New Hampshire? Chicago IL: sales tax is 9.75%, about $1520 one time cost; NH, $0, no sales tax. Insurance: IL, $76/month; NH, $46/month. License: IL, $65/year; NH $85/year. Registration: IL, $99/year; NH, $185/year. The annual savings of registering in NH is $330, plus the one-time tax savings. No-brainer, if we can figure out a way to do it! How to drive an unregistered, unlicensed car from IL to NH?

06/12, Tuesday
It's golf day with Zach at the Village Links. We couldn't ask for better weather...clear, in the 70s, with some breeze. Lunch before heading out at 12:45 for 9 holes. We finish at 3:00 and head for ice-cream at Oberweiss...loser buys...that's me, Dick...Zach, 56; Mom, 66; Dad, 72.

We watched Zach swim several events for the Gators, the Glen Ellyn team that Paige coaches. The team won, and Zach did well in his events. Paige swam one event, too, and won...she needs to get two times to qualify for finals.

06/13, Wednesday
We need to make a car decision today. We bought the Honda, drove about 5 miles and the TRMS light came on...something about the Tire Management System. Mom took it back to Enterprise immediately and had to haggle with them to get it fixed. Did we make a mistake buying from them?

I had an eye examination in Glen Ellyn...Sue's doctor. He is very high-tech and thorough. I have the initial phase of a cataract in my left eye. I wondered why things were so hazy-fuzzy. And, I need new lenses.

Dinner out with all except Paige (working) at the local sushi place.

06/15, Friday
Our Enterprise sale man, Chris, called to say the car needs a new sensor part. (Is this a not-so-subtle way to get us to buy an extended care repair policy? If so, we might as well have bought a brand new Honda for $500 more.)

Chris delivered Lily (our Honda) at 11:00, all repaired and ready to go.

I'm repairing the Lupori mail box which has rotted out over the years, replacing rotten wood. It's not a pretty result, but it will serve a few more months.

06/16, Saturday
Today I have a dentist appointment in Chicago to repair a tooth that broke in Italy. Requires removing a 1950s filling and build out a new one.

Then, meet Matt & Lizzy at Wilde for lunch. Matt has had a tennis lesson at 6:30, and a business dedication on the south side earlier today.

Matt is a director of Timeline Theater, a few blocks away from their home. He gave us tickets to the 4:00 production of "My Kind of Town", a world premier about torture used by Chicago's police department, Unit Two, to get confessions. It is a challenging portrayal of how we, as a community, ignore abuse of our public servants.

Lizzy and Matt invited us for dinner and overnight stay. Their friends Barbara and Peter are dinner guests, too.

06/17, Sunday...Father's Day
Brunch with Matt and Lizzy and Sandy at Erwin on Halsted. Plenty of good food. Erwin will close on July 1 this year after many years of operation.

Matt figured out how to get some of our travel pictures printed so we can show them to Lala.

Maddie is off to Minneapolis with OSP high schoolers to serve inner city families. We returned to Sue and Vince's where we watched the end of the U. S. Open golf tournament. Vince finished the mailbox with a new post and paint. We played Hand and Foot (Sue and I won).

06/18, Monday
Everyone in the household is back in their weekly routine. Zach is off with three friends for swimming. It's going to be 97 degrees today, and hot for most of the week.

We're headed out to visit Lala and Brad for the day. They are out back on their deck reading when we arrive. Catching up on family and travels. Out for pizza and home for a movie.

No comments:

Post a Comment