I talked to the gas company this morning. They told me that the previous tenant had asked to have the gas service discontinued. The gas won't be back on till Friday. They sure have created some problems for us. In addition to turning off the gas, they stole the dishwasher. Who steals a dishwasher?!? I saw it when we viewed the apartment, and I can tell you
that it wasn't worth the energy to move. Toby is wondering what we're going to do!
On another note, it's 9/11.
So we moved in yesterday using the junkiest UHaul truck I've ever seen in my life. 
When I filled out the rental form, I just circled the entire picture of the truck noting that the entire thing was damaged. I didn't snap a picture, but to give you a mental image, the grill was missing.
Lots of moving followed the truck rental. We (Erin, mom, and I) picked up a pair of large dressers and a bookcase before starting to load out Mary's garage. 
Caffeine headaches have been plaguing me, and were in full effect. Luckily the weather cooperated.
We moved more today, and in the evening, when we had decided to quit for the day, I found out that we had no hot water. In fact we had no gas service at all. Bummer to say the least. I took some pictures before we left for my parents house.
Erin and I began to pack up our stuff at Mary's today. I'm exhausted and have a much longer day ahead tomorrow. Mom stopped by the apartment today and is really impressed, so I guess the paint colors look good on the walls! I'm excited...for it to be done.
I returned by Bianchi to Turin today. I took care of everything I needed to and settled my account. There will be a better time for reflection on the season. Reflection is a process for me that'll take a bit longer, but this has (for sure) been the last season where cycling takes precedence over everything else. As I've said before, life's changing. I can tell you now that I'm disappointed that I didn't get out to the track more, and I hope to make the track the focus of next season. Time for bed now.
I drove the new Mercedes C Class today. Very nice vehicle. I don't think I'll be purchasing one anytime soon, but it was a good chance to get a feel for a nice car. On a parallel note, Critical Mass built Mercedes-Benz's 2008 C-Class website. I'm not on this account, but it gives a feel for what we do.
This evening was Dad's birthday party (although his actual birthday isn't till Tuesday). I was in charge of the grill. I'm not sure that was the best idea, but everyone said that I did a good job even though we had to dump a whole bottle of water on the grease fire I created. It was a great time. Happy Birthday Dad!
Erin and I picked up the paint for our apartment from Grandpa today. The colors are excellent. I'm really excited to see it all done! At this point I'm not sure exactly when we're going to be able to get into the apartment. There's a lot of work our new landlord wants to do and the old tenants don't move out till tomorrow.
My direct boss, Reid, is finally in Chicago. This is looooong overdue, and I'm glad he's finally here. I worked pretty much all day yesterday to get in front of a project that I've had to rethink a few times. So lets recap the weekend. I worked while Nat, Ben, Robby, and Steph played. That sucks (for me). I wish I was there.
Like I mentioned, there's been a lot of storms lately. Erin and I got into the garage today to check on some of our things. Not good. My Lazy Boy recliner is moldy as well as my Berkenstocks. You can see how bad some of the mold has gotten from the picture to the right. Work has also been kinda nuts lately. I worked Friday night and have been working on and off today as well. I'm really disappointed that we may lose a lot of the furniture that we labored to transport from St. Louis.
Today didn't start all that bad. I mean, I'm missing Aspen, so that sucks. I realized the true scope of my current project last night, so I've realized I'll be working this weekend as well. At about 3 o'clock this afternoon, a storm front rolled into Chicago what crippled the city. It hit the northern 'burbs first, trailing across downtown. I didn't even think about leaving the office early (I had actually planned on staying late). The winds blew patio furniture onto Lake Shore Drive, felled trees, and the water completely flooded the Wilmette streets, so that you couldn't even see the top of the curb.
Dad drove Erin and I home around 7:30. We didn't get home till 8:45 cause we stopped by the outlet of the North Branch River to see it flooding. Normal river height is about -1. The top of the flood wall at the locks is +5. The North Branch had risen to +7 and had flooded the gate house. It was quite a sight to see. Dad talked with the Chief Electrician, who gave him the run down. Basically, the gate never made it more than a foot open, and the channel flooded.
