Chicago: The View from "Work"

I warned you.
A flood.
The mushy gushy flood of pictures and stories from our awesome "just us" get-away to Chicago.

THE VIEW FROM "WORK"
Truth be told, if it had been left up to me, I'm not sure I would have picked NOW for us to sneak off without kids.  There is just a lot going on.  But we had an opportunity we couldn't pass up.  I had an opportunity to attend a meeting for a couple of days mid-week in Chicago.  (no pictures of that view- it really was an awesome staff meeting, but unless you want a personal presentation of my discussion on "overheads" there are more fun things to talk about.)

The work side of me is one a rarely talk about here (well, other than constant reminders of my accountant-crazy-tendencies).  I'm not sure I've ever mentioned that I'm actually an accountant for a railroad.  Usually this means I sit in the office surrounded by reports and numbers- trying to remember that there are real trains out there somewhere.  But as a bonus to this meeting, I actually got to ride in the cab of a locomotive of a passenger train.

YES!  This commute to work "just walk to the front of the train and climb the stairs" was a little different from my normal commute.  The whole time I was thinking "act like you know what you are doing, don't look shocked at the height of that ladder. Pretend like you are going to know how to open the door when you get to the top of the ladder"

Despite my ignorance, it really was an awesome way to be reminded about the company I work for and the really amazing work it does each day. AND I kinda liked being on this side of the train-induced-traffic-jam that I experience from my own vehicle nearly every day in my home town.

So, here's another side of me- the steel-toe-boot, safety glasses, ear-plug wearin' side.  (ps- it was a REALLY early morning start.)

I'm not gonna lie, there were several comments from "real railroaders" about how clean my boots were.  And one security guy, as I was headed to the front of the train, stopped me thinking I must be in the wrong place.  I may or may not have gotten great satisfaction out of showing him my badge.  I know, guy, I'm a little surprised to see me here, too.  And the early morning view of the city from the front of the train...pretty cool!

So, yeah, that's why we went.  My job.  And now I have further evidence to convince my children that sometimes being an accountant is really cool (but for now I'm fine just letting them believe I "work" for the railroad)

ABL