Cruise Day -3: Chicago: Christmas Eve
Dec. 24th, 2025 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingOverslept my alarm until 8 AM. I don’t know how long they’re serving breakfast.
Planes are sitting in a line waiting to take off. The view from my hotel window is great entertainment.
Had a nice breakfast. Everything about this hotel is perfection. It’s going to spoil me for other hotels.
I’m tired though. I’m thinking of skipping my downtown trip and staying at the hotel. I want to take a nap. It’s nice having a day in which I can do whatever I want.
Oooh. I was looking at DoorDash trying to get the correct address for the hotel because I need to DoorDash later, and I saw a place with Shrimp Scampi. That sounds delicious!
I had problems falling asleep for my nap because my brain was whirring, but finally did. Now I'm up working on a prompt for my medical journal with ChatGPT, but I need a pad of paper to rough things out. (I'm designing printable planners to sell on etsy.) Something else to get with my DoorDash. Okay, I ordered a bunch of stuff from Walgreens for DoorDash.
Not sure what to do. I’m not hungry yet, but I need the pad of paper to work. I could do two separate DoorDashes.
The DoorDash guy found me with the stuff from Walgreens. He spoke Spanish with very little English, and I was thinking that he’s one of the people whom Trump wants to get rid of. He’s providing a service. I added hand cream to the order at the last minute because my hands are rough. My mom can’t tell me to wear my gloves, so I need to get with it.
When I was bringing the DoorDash stuff upstairs, I noticed that the “grab-and-go” place had grilled cheese on sourdough. That sounded good, so I went back down and got some. I was eating grilled cheese watching planes take off. Life is good :)
I said on Facebook that this reminded me of the time Erik and I went to O’Hare to watch the planes take off, back when you could do that. A security guy did ask us what we were doing, and we explained that we wanted to see the planes take off, and he said that he did something similar when he was young. I guess that an airport is a good place to find airplane-crazy people. (When I was a kid, I could identify all the types of commercial aircraft on sight. I can’t do that now.)
Speaking of the airport, it seems to be quieting down. (Yesterday, it was packed.) I’m hoping that my flight tomorrow won’t be full. (Yes, it is. Drat.)
I saw a guy doing ballet in the hotel lobby. You never know who (or what) you'll see at a hotel.
Ran a draft of my medical journal through ChatGPT, and it mangled part of it. I'm playing a fun game of "how to think like a computer" to modify the prompt. But I didn't expect it to come out right the first time. (Hmm, maybe I could write ChatGPT prompts as a sideline?)
It's time to check in for my flight. I put the cane together, and yes, I can sit on it, but it isn't great as a cane. I'm debating whether to ask for a wheelchair or not. I can probably walk if I can take breaks and sit down for a while. Damn knee. The Wall Street Journal's "Jetway Jesus Miracle" article has got me spooked about asking for help. I definitely am asking the doctor when I see her for physical therapy to work on the knee muscles. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for WiFi, and it looks like I have to do that on the flight itself. I thought about paying with miles, but WiFi isn't very expensive, and I want to save my miles up.
I think that I'll order food around 6 PM. Traffic at the airport is picking up. Also, this hotel seems to be where the pilots stay. Makes sense.
Wow, the food was good (Shrimp Scampi, cheese garlic bread, and cheesecake). Lots of food, and I couldn’t finish it. I’ll finish it tomorrow right before I leave the hotel (I got an extension of the checkout time until 12) so I won’t need to eat at the airport. I’ll have to remember this place (Pasta to Go) for when I come back.
I started yawning around 6 PM. I think that I’ll make it an early night. I seem to be becoming less of a night owl as I get older, although I do seem to have a peak around 5 PM.
Whoops, my card keys stopped working. The desk guy said that it was because I had back-to-back reservations. The key from the first day stopped working. He fixed it. I think that's a sign that I should go to bed soon. I'll get ready for bed and read. I want to get to breakfast really early so that I can eat my pasta later.
The dog boarding place posted a picture of the dogs at the kennel:
They seem to be sticking together, not surprisingly, because they're friends. I want to give Bella a scritch.
Planes are sitting in a line waiting to take off. The view from my hotel window is great entertainment.
Had a nice breakfast. Everything about this hotel is perfection. It’s going to spoil me for other hotels.
I’m tired though. I’m thinking of skipping my downtown trip and staying at the hotel. I want to take a nap. It’s nice having a day in which I can do whatever I want.
Oooh. I was looking at DoorDash trying to get the correct address for the hotel because I need to DoorDash later, and I saw a place with Shrimp Scampi. That sounds delicious!
I had problems falling asleep for my nap because my brain was whirring, but finally did. Now I'm up working on a prompt for my medical journal with ChatGPT, but I need a pad of paper to rough things out. (I'm designing printable planners to sell on etsy.) Something else to get with my DoorDash. Okay, I ordered a bunch of stuff from Walgreens for DoorDash.
Not sure what to do. I’m not hungry yet, but I need the pad of paper to work. I could do two separate DoorDashes.
The DoorDash guy found me with the stuff from Walgreens. He spoke Spanish with very little English, and I was thinking that he’s one of the people whom Trump wants to get rid of. He’s providing a service. I added hand cream to the order at the last minute because my hands are rough. My mom can’t tell me to wear my gloves, so I need to get with it.
When I was bringing the DoorDash stuff upstairs, I noticed that the “grab-and-go” place had grilled cheese on sourdough. That sounded good, so I went back down and got some. I was eating grilled cheese watching planes take off. Life is good :)
I said on Facebook that this reminded me of the time Erik and I went to O’Hare to watch the planes take off, back when you could do that. A security guy did ask us what we were doing, and we explained that we wanted to see the planes take off, and he said that he did something similar when he was young. I guess that an airport is a good place to find airplane-crazy people. (When I was a kid, I could identify all the types of commercial aircraft on sight. I can’t do that now.)
Speaking of the airport, it seems to be quieting down. (Yesterday, it was packed.) I’m hoping that my flight tomorrow won’t be full. (Yes, it is. Drat.)
I saw a guy doing ballet in the hotel lobby. You never know who (or what) you'll see at a hotel.
Ran a draft of my medical journal through ChatGPT, and it mangled part of it. I'm playing a fun game of "how to think like a computer" to modify the prompt. But I didn't expect it to come out right the first time. (Hmm, maybe I could write ChatGPT prompts as a sideline?)
It's time to check in for my flight. I put the cane together, and yes, I can sit on it, but it isn't great as a cane. I'm debating whether to ask for a wheelchair or not. I can probably walk if I can take breaks and sit down for a while. Damn knee. The Wall Street Journal's "Jetway Jesus Miracle" article has got me spooked about asking for help. I definitely am asking the doctor when I see her for physical therapy to work on the knee muscles. I'm trying to figure out how to pay for WiFi, and it looks like I have to do that on the flight itself. I thought about paying with miles, but WiFi isn't very expensive, and I want to save my miles up.
I think that I'll order food around 6 PM. Traffic at the airport is picking up. Also, this hotel seems to be where the pilots stay. Makes sense.
Wow, the food was good (Shrimp Scampi, cheese garlic bread, and cheesecake). Lots of food, and I couldn’t finish it. I’ll finish it tomorrow right before I leave the hotel (I got an extension of the checkout time until 12) so I won’t need to eat at the airport. I’ll have to remember this place (Pasta to Go) for when I come back.
I started yawning around 6 PM. I think that I’ll make it an early night. I seem to be becoming less of a night owl as I get older, although I do seem to have a peak around 5 PM.
Whoops, my card keys stopped working. The desk guy said that it was because I had back-to-back reservations. The key from the first day stopped working. He fixed it. I think that's a sign that I should go to bed soon. I'll get ready for bed and read. I want to get to breakfast really early so that I can eat my pasta later.
The dog boarding place posted a picture of the dogs at the kennel:
They seem to be sticking together, not surprisingly, because they're friends. I want to give Bella a scritch.
