With another day on reserve, I woke up around 7am, having been on the clock for the previous three hours. See? I make money in my sleep. The airline would be happy to learn, however, that even in my sleep, I dreamt that I was assisting the ground crew by loading soda cans onto an airplane. Why the airplane was parked at the beach and had its inflatable slides deployed is neither here nor there.
After a subpar and overpriced breakfast at the hotel's Starbuck's, Greg and I convened with another high school friend living in a nearby suburb. As it is Monday, you could reasonably infer that none of us have real jobs. We spent our morning exploring the Morton Arboretum. Some of the leaves were still clinging to the trees. We put a lot of miles under our shoes as we walked around the expansive network of trails. There wasn't necessarily a huge amount of things to see other than trees (it is an arboretum after all), but it was nice just to get out. It was unseasonably warm, at one point getting above 70 degrees . . . in November . . . in Chicago.
Portillo's is a Chicago area staple like deep-dish pizza, or graft. I hadn't eaten there since high school, so it was strange to be back. In my youth, I would always go up after my meal for a chocolate cake. Sadly, I went cake-less today. There's always next time...
Tomorrow is another 12-hour reserve shift beginning at 4am. While I didn't receive a call today, it is impossible to predict what may happen tomorrow. While it seems unlikely that they would assign me anything substantial on my last day on reserve, I can never fully relax because I feel like I have to constantly be checking my phone when I'm out and about. It's also going to be a logistical challenge because I have to check out of the hotel and still be around until 4pm. I do not intend to be wheeling my luggage around town and wearing my uniform all day if I can help it...even though I would look adorable. Just look at that face!
