Chicago, IL, House under Repair, Newport Beach, CA and Susan Komen run

"I'm a-leaving on a jet plane . . .", and for this trip it happened to be one of those really nice Boeing 767's.  I wasn't upgraded to first class but I was in business class so not a bad way to travel @ 950 miles in a couple of hours.  Chicago is one of those great cities, period, and I typically travel here 4 or more times a year.  It was really nice when Jake and Gina lived in town because I got to see them a couple more times than I might otherwise have been able to, but now I miss them as Charleston isn't on the business route quite as often. The weather in Chicago can be gorgeous but fickle this time of year - 80 degrees in the morning and then high 50's, with wind, later in the afternoon.  The majority of my business here takes place close to the airport in an area of town called Rosemont.  I've stayed in this area enough times that I sort of know my way around.  I remember years ago there was nothing in Rosemont but a few hotels, now it's grown up to an entertainment mecca with a convention center, massive retail outlets, theaters, sporting events, and tons of restaurants and way more hotels.  I like to walk or run along the Des Plaines River Park that parallels River Rd when time permits.   Here's my



colleague Michael Brandenburg
while we were at dinner at Harry Carey's one night.

Then home for a day to see the water damage to the front of my house due to a crack in the stucco . . .  

and then a separate area of water damage, this one due to a leak in the roof.  Repairmen are busily working away now for the next several weeks replacing wood, drywall, paint, etc. 

And then off to Orange County via Denver in an even more awesome plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  I flew in one of these for the first time a couple of years ago and loved it and then they took them off the market due to some issues with lithium-ion batteries.  Glad they were able to bring these back, and some of the assembly is now taking place in Charleston, SC. 

 

I spent a short amount of time in Orange County, primarily at a customer appreciation type event with colleague Ryan Strick who ordered up the "In n Out" burger truck for the event and I got to try a "double double animal style".

and our colleague Terike Novak showed up too.

Then back to Houston in time to walk in the Susan H Komen annual 5 k Race for the Cure.  I met up with some more colleagues, Amanda Strazishar, Shannon Lowry, and Rose Klappa Caraglia (in front) while arriving at the check in point and we formed "team renegade" taking off on our own and following our own forged path.  Thanks ladies for helping to get in 10,000 fun steps today and collecting money for a great cause too.