Arrival in Chicago

The drive was uneventful, if not boring.  Thomas slept most of the way, waking only to eat a monstrous mound of strawberry waffles at the IHop in Michigan City (which is not, confusingly, in Michigan but in Indiana; similarly, East Chicago is also in Indiana and not, officially, part of Chicago) and to inform me as I navigated downtown Chicago in noon rush hour traffic when I was about to kill a bicyclist (they do have a strange desire to fling themselves under the wheels of cars and buses).

We pulled right up to his new abode, a giant building called "University Center" which has dorms for students at six major Chicago universities.   So who knows what sorts Thomas will end up spending his time with.  I dropped him off at the curb and drove around, hopelessly trying to find some place to park.  Eventually Thomas called me and told me to come back, pull up behind the building where people were eagerly awaiting the opportunity to unload cars.  I did as he instructed and it was incredibly simple:  students and staff ran to our car, dragging decapitated refrigerator boxes balanced on cart wheels.  They tossed all his things into two, and instructed me where to find a pay lot so that I could ditch the car.  This was when I really started hating not having my car: the car spots are TINY and anything larger than a micro-compact bloated into neighboring spots.  I had a hell of a time finding a spot I could fit Simon's behemoth in.  Here it is, parked under the famous (infamous!) Chicago L track.

Feeling footloose and fancy free, I headed back to find Thomas.  He had to stand in many lines to get his dorm room key and get the low down on the cafeteria system.  I went up to the 10th floor to find his room.  This was stuck to his door.

 Here is a study room just down the hall from his door.

Also down the hall from his room is a very nice trash and recycling room--very convenient for getting rid of fridge and microwave boxes and all sorts of other things.