Journal Entry: Chicago Update

Internet in the new hotel is rubblish at best. We can barely log on before the signal drops...hence the lack of posts.

Over the last couple of days we've visited the SHEDD Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Skydeck (formerly Sears Tower, now called Willis Tower)

As a side note, museums have grown increasingly...consumer based, in the last 7-10 years. It's slightly discouraging to be inundated with a barrage of shops to buy merchandise and food at every turn.

The best parts? The Jelly Fish exhibit at the SHEDD Aquarium (photos and video to come soon), the Tornado Alley film at the Museum of Science and Industry...and the Skydeck. Not worth the extra cash? The Mythbusters Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.

All the people exposure and our back pain is making us...difficult, but today is the last day.

This afternoon we will (hopefully) be going to the Art Museum. We were going to go earlier in the day but James has been up (and us, as a result) since about 4am, he was having lower back and abdominal pain, as well as testicular pain.

Apprehensive about going to the hospital, because of the high cost of medical in the United States he moaned, complained, cried and then when he eventually vomited (likely due to some Ibuprofens he didn't swallow properly) we hoped into the car and went to the neatest Emergency room...but by the time we found it, around 6am the pain he was feeling subsided. After some discussion in the car, a joke about going in to declare we had a British emergency and needed a cup of tea, stat!, and a trip in to inquire about costs (undetermined) we decided to head back to the the hotel.

He's now resting, and we'll hopefully be doing the same because tonight Nick Twist comes into town, and tomorrow morning we will be headed to Detroit for the Tweetup. We're excited, nervous...and one of us would prefer not to go.

As far as the locating a place to move...We've added Kansas City, Cincinnati and Minneapolis to the list of places to consider. Chicago is still there, but it might be the suburbs, and it might be many years. We have more on the issue, but the battery on the laptop is low, and we need to try to publish this before the internet connection drops again.

~ Frank et al