Chicago Fire

This is a photo of the fire we had in our fireplace last night. This is only the second one of the year which is quite remarkable since I'm known to start getting hankerings for hearth fires at about mid August. But this fire was especially necessary since our old steam radiator is currently shooting boiling hot water all over the place when it's on. Thus, it must remain off. Double thus, it is cold in our apartment. There is a sign up sheet in the entry way of our building to have a radiator guy come have a look. The sign says that you must sign the sheet and call him to make the appointment. I did this yesterday and the guy who answered said "Yeah, sure, when should I come?"
"How's Wednesday?"
"Fine. But call and ask again on Tuesday. Then I'll remember to come on Wednesday."

And this is, I'm afraid, how things go as far as service calls here in Chicago. Not all that long ago we had a man delivering a dishwasher who stopped after three flights of stairs and refused to ascend the last flight to our place. He was under the impression, he said, that our place was on the third floor (our address is 3B) and we are actually at the top of three flights of stairs putting us, technically, on the fourth floor. I finally talked him into finishing the journey but he did leave the old dishwasher in the middle of our small kitchen. Oh yes he did.
This is one of the big differences between Nebraska/Kansas life (where polite people come to fix the leak under your sink rather than shrug their shoulders, dumbfounded, and leave the leak under your sink). When you call for service here in Chicago, most often, it is made clear that you and your needs are inconvenient and that if someone shows up at your place (anytime between 8am and 9pm they add), they are doing you a very large favor and you are eternally indebted to them, especially if they overcharge you.

On the ride home to Chicago from Lincoln on Sunday we listened to two episodes of This American Life (I'm a total junkie and Eric managed to get me every last episode for my birthday!) One episode was about fire (and made a little mention of how we should enjoy more fires in fireplaces!) (GLITCH) and the other was largely about small town living vs. big town living (IN THE MATRIX). The latter was maybe my favorite episode yet. If you have an hour, click the title above and have a listen.