Jen

We hope they treat you well. We hope you don't work too hard. We hope you get to be happy sometimes.

Boys, you keep changing your format. No more pretty colors . . .

Where do I start? Here is a quick review of some interesting things that went on during the week, NOT in ATR style.

My parents flew home from Las Vegas last Sunday. On Monday night, I call my mom to chat and she’s crying. Why you ask? Some asshole broke into my parents Vegas home and took, get this, the dishwasher, the oven and the range top. I bet you are wondering how someone would a) know that my parents would not be there Sunday night even though they were there all weekend, b) know how to disconnect all of these appliances and c) have a vehicle, inconspicuous enough so that they could remove the appliances from the house. Oh! Did I mention that they didn't harm the house in anyway? They didn’t take anything else? It was an inside job. I’d like to have a word with those construction bastards. “Honey, there’s this house I’m working on. Do you want a new dishwasher?” GRRR!!! I have been pissed about this all week!

My mom thinks the house is doomed. I don’t know what to tell her. Actually when she told me this story, I told her to call management of the subdivision and “tear them a new asshole,” which probably made matters worse. Ah, my big mouth.

Of course, I had class all week, which was all together pretty good. Wizzo, er, um, Aaron, the guy in my graduate program, said something to me Thursday. He kind of muttered it, so I don’t know what he said. It kinda sounded like, “you’d look good without any clothes.” I’m pretty positive that is not what he said.

Tuesday! What I’ve been waiting to write about! Ok, so I’m downtown, taking some photos of the new building that is being built on the corner of Dearborn and Adams. I’m just about to leave the site when this guy with a hardhat walks up to me to ask what I’m doing. After a short introduction, he asks me “How would you like to take some photos from the top of this building?” Before I know it, I have a hard hat on, I’m taking this construction elevator up to the 29th floor, and then I’m climbing two 15 or so feet ladders to the top of the building. Incredible! With Ralph (the guy who took me up there) as my tour guide, I got to walk on corrugated steel beams, watch a load of steel be lifted from the ground to be unloaded, watch beams being welded together and of course, see the world from 35 stories up, with nothing surrounding me. I took tons of photos. And to top it off, next time, I get to go into the crane. Bring it on.

Oh yeah, it gets a little windy that high. Hold on when you are looking over the edge.