Chicago Trip Day 2
Oct. 28th, 2016 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingI overslept, but managed to pull myself together in plenty of time to walk to the University of Chicago. I got turned around near the end, but figured out where to go. Checked in about 20 minutes before the conference was supposed to start. Loaded up on food. They put more food out, so I went back for seconds. I was pleased that they had Earl Grey tea.
But I became drowsy during the first speaker. I needed to stay awake not only through the conference, but through the train ride back to Lincoln so that I didn't miss my stop. So I started drinking coffee. Lots of coffee. I think that I had five cups. It worked; I stayed awake the rest of the time.
I learned a lot at the conference. I happened to sit next to a VP for the company giving the conference, OCLC. The company is a cooperative that facilitates cooperative cataloging and interlibrary loan of books. He asked me a lot of questions about Lincoln College, and by the end of the conference, had our Web site up and was looking at it. That's probably the most attention that little Lincoln College will get from a company as large as OCLC.
The conference ended at 3:30. However, they were giving tours of the University of Chicago library, and I really wanted to go. So I did, but I was sweating the whole time as it got later. (My train was scheduled to leave at 7, which would be plenty of time in a lot of cities, but in a city as large as Chicago, I was nervous.) The tour was fascinating though. The U of C has deep pockets, and they're doing a lot of elaborate preservation work. They also have put their books underground, with robots that retrieve the box of books that a particular book is in, and bring it up to the desk where a worker pulls out the book. The reading room has a glass ceiling.
I shot out of there when the tour was over. Flew over to the place where I had stayed the night before to get my suitcase. Flew to the commuter train station. At that point, it was around 5 PM. I figured that I'd be okay because the rush hour trains ran every few minutes.
But they were running every few minutes in the opposite direction. Then I really started sweating. Eventually the train came. A woman who also had a suitcase asked me if I was going to Amtrak. We discussed what bus to take to Union Station. As it turned out, we were going to the same train. She said, "Don't worry, we'll make it," but I was still stressing. (All that coffee probably didn't help.) We joined forces to find out where to catch the bus. We got there around 6:30, and the helpful bus driver told us where the elevator was to the station.
The woman didn't have her ticket yet. (She was one cool customer.) She was wondering where to go, and I pointed out a sign that pointed in a direction for "tickets," but I have to say that I abandoned her. However, the train didn't even have a gate yet. Then the gate popped up, and an Amtrak person told me how to get to the gate.
The line was short. (I guess not a lot of people take the evening train.) I got on in plenty of time. I hope that the woman who needed a ticket made it, but I bet that she did.
I had originally planned to eat dinner before I went to the train, but obviously, that didn't pan out. The train did have a dining car, but I didn't want to pay their prices. I had a leftover bagel from breakfast and an apple from lunch, but I didn't get hungry until we were close to Lincoln. I had switched from being worried about making the train to getting off at Lincoln because I figured that I was going to be the only person getting off at Lincoln. I got up a long time before the stop, and the conductor told me to sit down, we weren't close enough yet. He helped me out in a courtly manner. As it turned out, someone else got off at Lincoln as well.
Downtown Lincoln rolls up its sidewalks at 9 PM, and it was 10, so it was completely deserted and a little spooky as I walked to my car. The parking lot was dark too. My car was still there, and I drove home. The girls were fine, except that I had forgotten to leave extra food for Mimi. Bad Mommy. I had something to eat, hung out with the cats a little while, and went to sleep.
But I became drowsy during the first speaker. I needed to stay awake not only through the conference, but through the train ride back to Lincoln so that I didn't miss my stop. So I started drinking coffee. Lots of coffee. I think that I had five cups. It worked; I stayed awake the rest of the time.
I learned a lot at the conference. I happened to sit next to a VP for the company giving the conference, OCLC. The company is a cooperative that facilitates cooperative cataloging and interlibrary loan of books. He asked me a lot of questions about Lincoln College, and by the end of the conference, had our Web site up and was looking at it. That's probably the most attention that little Lincoln College will get from a company as large as OCLC.
The conference ended at 3:30. However, they were giving tours of the University of Chicago library, and I really wanted to go. So I did, but I was sweating the whole time as it got later. (My train was scheduled to leave at 7, which would be plenty of time in a lot of cities, but in a city as large as Chicago, I was nervous.) The tour was fascinating though. The U of C has deep pockets, and they're doing a lot of elaborate preservation work. They also have put their books underground, with robots that retrieve the box of books that a particular book is in, and bring it up to the desk where a worker pulls out the book. The reading room has a glass ceiling.
I shot out of there when the tour was over. Flew over to the place where I had stayed the night before to get my suitcase. Flew to the commuter train station. At that point, it was around 5 PM. I figured that I'd be okay because the rush hour trains ran every few minutes.
But they were running every few minutes in the opposite direction. Then I really started sweating. Eventually the train came. A woman who also had a suitcase asked me if I was going to Amtrak. We discussed what bus to take to Union Station. As it turned out, we were going to the same train. She said, "Don't worry, we'll make it," but I was still stressing. (All that coffee probably didn't help.) We joined forces to find out where to catch the bus. We got there around 6:30, and the helpful bus driver told us where the elevator was to the station.
The woman didn't have her ticket yet. (She was one cool customer.) She was wondering where to go, and I pointed out a sign that pointed in a direction for "tickets," but I have to say that I abandoned her. However, the train didn't even have a gate yet. Then the gate popped up, and an Amtrak person told me how to get to the gate.
The line was short. (I guess not a lot of people take the evening train.) I got on in plenty of time. I hope that the woman who needed a ticket made it, but I bet that she did.
I had originally planned to eat dinner before I went to the train, but obviously, that didn't pan out. The train did have a dining car, but I didn't want to pay their prices. I had a leftover bagel from breakfast and an apple from lunch, but I didn't get hungry until we were close to Lincoln. I had switched from being worried about making the train to getting off at Lincoln because I figured that I was going to be the only person getting off at Lincoln. I got up a long time before the stop, and the conductor told me to sit down, we weren't close enough yet. He helped me out in a courtly manner. As it turned out, someone else got off at Lincoln as well.
Downtown Lincoln rolls up its sidewalks at 9 PM, and it was 10, so it was completely deserted and a little spooky as I walked to my car. The parking lot was dark too. My car was still there, and I drove home. The girls were fine, except that I had forgotten to leave extra food for Mimi. Bad Mommy. I had something to eat, hung out with the cats a little while, and went to sleep.
