Chicago was just as interesting as it was the previous two times i have gone there on business. We flew out around 7am, and arrived at our customer's plant at 9:30. There were commercial and technical meetings all the way through 3:00pm. After that my boss and i found a phone to see if there was an earlier flight worth taking back to Columbia. There wasn't, so we turned in our rental car and rode the "L" into downtown Chicago. It was a fascinating train ride, because there are long stretches of track that are raised above street level, and one can look down into the streets and buildings as the train goes by.

My boss had been to Chicago quite a bit, so he showed me around. Upon reaching downtown, we caught the bus to the Navy Pier, which was mostly deserted, since it was a cold and dark Tuesday night. Then we rode a taxi to a bar called the House of Blues, which is apparently pretty famous. He had a beer and i had a water, and then we walked a few blocks to the shopping district, which is called "the Miracle Mile", i think. We went into this large fancy mall and he bought a gift for each of his two kids, and we went into a store dedicated entirely to LEGOS, which was kind of neat, though they didn't make such fancy pieces when i was a kid. We took another taxi to the Subway station, and it was more whirlwind people- and street-watching all the way back to the airport.

At the airport, i was singled out for a more extensive inspection at the metal detector. It was funny in a crazy sort of way: I put my keys, wallet, etc. in the plastic box to go through the x-ray machine, just like i did in Columbia. I got through to the other side and saw the guard handling my keys. With some annoyance i remembered my mini-"leatherman"-like pocketknife that i had on my key chain. "Is this yours?" "Um, yeah." "You're going to have to check this." I didn't have any checked baggage to put it in, because it was only a day trip, after all. "They didn't catch it when i got on the plane in Columbia." "Well, Columbia failed." "Can you mail it home to me?" "No. Will you check it at the front counter, or give it up?" "Oh well, i give it up." And then they waved the wand over me and made me take off my shoes so they could be scanned for chemicals (thankfully i don't naturally exude anything explosive :D ), frisked me an sent me on my way. So on the way back home i did my part in the War on Terrorism. :P :}