I spent most of the game on the computer trying to dig up information to make some maps that will go on a "recruiting" site I'm developing for our local Club Z! NCLB efforts. While we're the only franchise that's actually in Chicago, another 4-5 of the suburban franchises are "helping out" with the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) stuff, and we (along with Corporate, which is picking up the schools which "fall in the cracks") have sort of divvied up the city. I'm hoping to have this site (with info for who Teachers should contact if they want to be Tutors with us, depending on what schools they want to work with) up by mid-week, so am sort of scrambling. Of course, being the obsessive-compulsive guy that I am, I spent several hours grabbing map graphics in about 8-block high sections from the Chicago Public School locator site (they have a piss-poor little map window that you can't make larger), resulting in over 100 map files in 23 "strips" (which I will eventually cut-and-paste together for a full map of the city).
The Wife had seen something about a kid's book fair down in Hyde Park today and decided to take The Girls down there, I opted out of that (correctly reading the "vibe" that the trip was going to be pointless at best), but agreed that I'd meet them over at Celtic Fest at Grant Park at 5pm. As I've noted previously, The Wife has a rather "unique" relationship with her cell phone (she keeps it set to forward all her calls to a land-line in her office, so, although she may have it with her, you can't ever get her), and is a bit unclear on the concept that if you are in 773 and dial a number without an area code, it is going to assume that you are trying to reach a "local" number ... which turns out to be why I never heard from them today, she was trying to call my 312 number from 773 without using the area code, and then getting pissed at me for not answering. Anyway, I got down to where we'd agreed to meet at 5:15 (I hadn't figured on it taking 20 minutes to get the El), and looked around and waited, and called, and waited, and called, and looked around for them, and waited, and called. I finally gave up about 6:30 and headed back home, eventually making contact once I was out of the subway and on my way up the street. Needless to say, I was pissed off for having wasted a huge chunk of my afternoon, she was pissed off that I "wasn't answering" (despite it being her fault for not dialing the right numbers!), and I was pissed off that I can never get a hold of them since she has her phone set up that way. Of course, I was also pissy that I really hadn't gotten to SEE any of Celtic Fest, since I spent the whole time I was there waiting at the entrance to meet up with them!
Grumble, grumble, grumble ... at least my BEARS won. Back in my "drinking days", that would have put me in a good mood all week.