I miss the old place

Back in October, the building where I work was involved in a fire and we’ve been displaced since then. Our facility sustained quite a bit of damage and it looks like it’s going to take another four months before we can move back in.

In the meantime, all of us on staff are now working out of the head office which is on the west side of Chicago. It’s a fancy brand new building that has lots of offices, a homeless shelter, cafeteria, chapel, etc. etc. However, the West side of Chicago is a pretty scary place.

I really, really liked the location where I used to work. It was downtown and a mere ten blocks from my apartment. How many people in Chicago are fortunate enough to be able to walk to work? It was a very nice walk, too, straight through the heart of downtown.

I miss the old place. A lot.

Now, I have to take the “el” west of downtown and transfer to a southbound bus in a really icky part of town. I’m including pics of where I have to transfer from the el and wait for the bus. There are lots of abandoned building around, no restaurants or Starbuck’s within walking distance, and often some pretty messed up people around.

I used to be able to walk to work and pass by Macy’s, Border’s and could even ice skate on my way home after work.

Now, for the next few months, I get to wait for a crowded bus in the cold next to a fetid vacant lot. There's a dog pound nearby and I can always hear big dogs yapping and growling. One day, I even saw the dog truck drive by, full of snarly inmates. I hope none of them get out and gnarl my leg off.

I used to have a nice glass downtown office overlooking Wabash Avenue and a roof garden. Now, I’m in a maze of sterile cubicles where I can’t play music or have anything to eat.

I used to be able to walk within a one-block radius and have Thai or Indian food for lunch, or even KFC if I was feeling a bit oinky.

Now, the only place within walking distance is Doggy’s Soul Food Eatery, which I hope, has nothing to do with the dog pound nearby.

My other option is to bring my own lunch but I've yet to be organized enough to actually prepare a lunch ahead of time.

Then, there's always the cafeteria in the homeless shelter.

Actually, the cafeteria isn’t bad at all. The cafeteria is also a food service training program, so it’s impeccably clean and the food’s pretty good. Most of the time.

The day after Christmas, the entrée turned out to be leftover Turkey Gristle in Barbecue Sauce over Rice. But yesterday, they had the best minestrone I’ve ever tasted.

I think I should really work on making my own lunch. Anything's better than turkey gristle.

I miss the old place. . . . whine . . .