Traffic part 1 zillion

Traffic. Did you know I drove through Oak Park IL from Harlem and Lake to the Westside of Chicago (Austin area) and it took me 32 minutes. I drove another from Berwyn to Goose Island via the expressway it only took me 43 minutes. Although there was an expressway involved in the latter trip, it would still make you wonder why Oak Park, IL is still harder to navigate than whizzing to downtown Chicago. I just wonder when this little crappy burb will use all the taxes paid by its residents to address the long existing issue of parking and traffic?

Maybe it is just one of those things people just do not care about or feel that it adds to the “Special feeling” about the burb. Could be that addressing the issue would bring more traffic into the village than what it already deters? Like a moving cul de sac, but of course most of those cul de sacs were built to discourage “traffic” of a different sort. Basically, cutting off easy access to the village from the changing (black) areas bordering it, maybe this is more of the same and we are just not admitting it.

Think about it how hard is it to create parking solutions around this burb when it really matters? The downtown area got those huge buildings put up down there and supposedly they added a bunch of parking into the buildings’ designs to offset the lack of parking in the area for the building residents. Why can’t Oak Park, IL do the same, is it brains? Desire? Or maybe just fear of change?

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Oak Park IL related: Rahm Emanuel out

So I go to all this work to make a sign to post to have the people of the city of Chicago to vote against Rahm and then his ass bows out? Good. Between my work schedule and hanging out it would have been hard to post these suckers in the first place. I got tired of this dudes fake tears anyway. There is a huge pool of candidates to choose from all democrats, great time for a third party to decide to run since the party is this fractured.

Going back to rahm funny how he was like “Chicago is such a great city… residents are safe here.. etc etc” and the first press conference he does Rahm states he is leaving the city! Nice way to tell the entire world you were full of shit the last 4 years as mayor. Rahm blew smoke up everyone’s collective asses just for power was the real motive behind saying such lies, not because he really wanted to change anything.

Well, I am glad he dropped out because it drains the local swamp of a long time bullshitter. I am not saying any of candidates left are fantastic but how bad can they do compared to this upshot that is leaving? Now if we can get periwinkle out….

New job Oak Park IL blog related

Honestly after finding a new job that got me in the heart of downtown Chicago I felt better on my soul. Because I am dealing more with the real world than the flakes of Oak Park, il it’s sad when Chicago makes more sense than one of its suburbs. You are supposed to be getting away from craziness when you go outside the city limits not going into it. But that’s why I have not posted that much to the Oak Park, il blog, looking for a job is a job with in itself.

Then once you get a new one there is that transition period with learning new things, and tighting to altering your budget to this new reality. At least this Korean air job is closer to what I went to school for, and I am not flipping fries worrying about how to pay for student loans while wondering how I am going to get my professional career off the ground. Oh well back to the grind.

Oak Park IL blog related: Chicago Naked bike ride

I was thinking about the weekend will pan out I am going down to the naked bike ride to see some people ride bikes nude I guess, maybe boo at them. nothing too major. I think they should roll through Oak Park, Il because this suburb is supposedly “liberal” free thinkers” and “artsy”. But I doubt that would fly because some of the people here are hypocrites and state they are all that open-minded crap however could not take a minute of this bike ride event for a moment. Honestly if the event rolled through here I bet it would be met with tons of opposition and protests. As if the 1960s never happened or that the residents who practiced free love back in the day were the only ones who should be allowed to do so, ever.

Of course, that is the thing about Oak Park, IL what is good for the goose is not always good for the gander or however that old saying goes, the people here can be so full of themselves that it would leave you a migraine thinking about it. So, save yourself the time, pain and waste of time that would go into figuring out what such a paradox exists. This is simply Oak Park, IL. They would argue, for example, that the event is not “family friendly” and my thought would be: “So?”” That just limits the chance for event participation by singles, non-parental units or empty nesters who may want to see this event or ride in it. But the status quo must be maintained in this suck area and such fun events excluded from riding through the Oak Park, IL area.

Oh well, no skin off my nose I will take myself, my time and dollars to downtown Chicago, because they are all wanted down there, obviously. Meanwhile Oak Park, IL lives up to its boring status as a village and destination one more time. Wondering why people shy away from here? this is an obvious example that nothing really fun happens here in Oak Park, IL shit and you wonder why Hemingway left?

Here is the website for the event: http://chicagonakedride.com/

I pity the fool who thought I was dead (been watching a lot of old tv)

Hey there I am not dead… yet. I have been so busy after graduation from Roosevelt  trying to find a new job.  Unfortunately job searching is like a job onto itself and does not leave time for the finer things. Plus I have had a lot of personal shit literally shit/rain down upon me from all angles it is really not funny. I still feel like once you reside or have resided in Oak Park, IL you are basically cursed for life!

I have been looking out of state for jobs because this area is, Oak Park, Chicago and Illinois in general is not very pro business or employment. Not in the modern business sense at least. So I have been searching outside of the state to like Denver, Colorado to Los Angeles, California anywhere that has opportunity and less bullshit that Oak Park, IL has, creates or even brings.

Now that I have done the student-masters thing you would think employers here would be naturally breaking down my door but not here. Hell I have gotten offers from Minneapolis to Utah but i have experienced enough Chicago winters to last a lifetime to go north like that. I will break down the rest of the shit later on (hopefully). Peace

Oak Park, IL says goodbye to the Divvy bike program (insert laughter here)

Ah so Oak Park is pulling out of the divvy program? After all that construction to build the necessary bike racks like the one near Harrison ave only to drop out a year later. You know were there any studies or surveys done to make sure this was a good idea in the first place? Nah probably not. Just a bunch of greedy village officials who saw dollar signs and had these half haphazard things installed. Good I laugh at this failure chalk it up to another gaffe by village officials.

Ask yourself if you had the track record these village officials have would you still be employed? Could the average small business owner weather these types of gaffes and still remain open? So how do these elected officials remain in office with the obviously stupid mistakes they make time and again? I mean it is obvious that the suburbs west of Oak Park are highway laden therefore no way to really ride a bike. And to the east there is the Austin area, the West side of Chicago where the city of Chicago puts the least amount of economic investment into.

And therefore, you take your life in your hands when you try to drive through the area, let alone ride a bike. Hence, why this failure was not obvious from the onset is a mystery to me. Hopefully the taxpayers in Oak Park, IL whose money has been wasted by this endeavor remembers this when election time comes around.

Here is an article that discusses the end of the program: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/oak-park/news/ct-oak-park-divvy-deal-ending-tl-0125-20180117-story.html

More Crime in Oak Park, IL

I saw in the news that an elderly gentleman was murdered brutally in Oak Park, IL on Austin avenue hopefully they catch who did it. Unfortunately, the news channel I was watching showed a picture of this “welcome sign” that had green plan management’s name written all over it, since they own or manage a lot of the rental spots in Oak Park, IL it makes me leery to rent from them. I have had last dealings with this management company about security and the representatives have all given bull shit excuses or drag their feet when I asked about solutions to my security concerns (When renting from them).

Mostly that it was “Oak Park” and I am safe here yada yada yada however I now wonder how tragedies and crimes that happened to this gentleman have happened or occurred due to crimes of opportunity or is there a direct/indirect link to this management company or was it by chance that the cameraman used THIS sign. Even though it happened on Austin avenue which everyone will rationalize is the borderline with Chicago ie: the Austin area, therefore crimes like this “will happen”.

I wonder what it will take to get the necessary data to secure the area to the point of which it is believed to be safe? Will news outlets realize the ” casual” reference they made or is there something more? All I know is that when I saw that sign every memory of every security issue I had with green plan management came flooding back to me. I just hope that the same ignorance I faced was not part of the case here.

Here is an article that briefly discusses what happened to the elderly gentleman: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/death-of-81-year-old-oak-park-man-ruled-a-homicide-468253793.html

Plastic bags are now 10 cents each in Oak Park, IL part 3

With the 10 cent plastic bag tax I wonder how that will impact local businesses? That will probably impact the bottom line of the smaller businesses as now they have to charge their clients additional expenses with each purchase. Without immense assets to cover any decline of profit or added expenditures that this tax may bring like the larger businesses such as CVS or Jewel-Osco, small businesses will most likely suffer ergo like during the cook county soda pop tax.

Small businesses are now left on the hook to figure out ways to offset the costs or the unnecessary back lash that the bag tax brings whether it is huge discounts to keep customers coming back and distracted from the tax or incentive programs that help even out the cost to savings ratio? Either or I am simply loving how the village simply taxes the crap out of everyone and still get elected. I love the chaos and mean spirited public debates it creates, that is all that is needed for change or to cause a larger exodus out of Illinois. Keep doing stupid Oak Park, IL you do it well.

Here is an article that discusses the 10 cent plastic bag tax:

http://www.oak-park.us/your-government/environmental-initiatives/single-use-bag-initiative

Plastic bags are now 10 cents each in Oak Park, IL part 2

The 10-cent plastic bag tax went into effect I feel like this is just like the soda pop tax where local stores will lose business to other areas just because people will shop elsewhere due to the principal of the thing. I don’t blame them I mean I try my damnest not to buy plastic bags in Chicago. Score one for the environmentalists but score a vote for anyone running against the incumbent in office. Although there may not be a lot of change there will be an intelligent smart few who will remember this shit when at the polls.

And so, it should be in Oak Park, IL where the community already focuses on the recycling of most the items that go to waste. Charging 10 cents a bag is just a way to have people have disdain for the village, and it basically looks like a money grab by the village board. Stupid taxes just look like overreach and/or too much “big” government for everyone. If you were not responsible enough to recycle plastic bags in the first place would this force your hand? Not likely

Instead you will like most of us buy less, only the shit you can carry or like I said before going elsewhere like Forest Park to buy your items so you don’t have to put up with this stupidity. My family recycles a lot ever since we got those little blue bins however those neighbors that did not recycle did not immediately start recycling or even tried to recycle when they received theirs. In other words, taking plastic bags away from these individuals will not make them recycle more but maybe just the opposite.

Instead it may harden their resolve and as I aforementioned go to Forest Park to buy their items and stock up on as many plastic bags that they can. Making the situation and environment worse, or it may turn them off to recycling 100% which is the exact opposite goal or purpose of the plastic bag tax, only time will tell.

Commencement over thank God

I don’t mind having less to do, and met a lot of people at the commencement ceremony include ma pro. The whole thing was a mess and disorganized the fam did not know where to go. There was this dried up little lady hollering at everyone about where to stand. I guess she was faculty or administrative assistant or something but she was a bitch who looked like her Friday nights were pretty much open from here to eternity.

The ceremony was quick as hell lucky because it was cold as shit in that auditorium. There was only one speaker who totally bogus all the other speakers were great. So, this terrible speaker, 1 was not a valedictorian 2 was terrible at…. (drum roll) public speaking. A lot of people were looking at each other rolling their eyes or looking at their phones because he was that bad. Okay the divorce of his parents in freshman year was bad, the fact his mom didn’t have a lot of money for him and his siblings is a common story but complaining about lack of air conditioning was lame as hell. I was seriously like why are we listening to an undergrad crying about no a.c. divorced parents who was a self-admitted non-valedictorian. I was like hold my beer, because I had worst stories when I merely walk out the door.

Then meeting one’s family and friends after the ceremony was crazy and the receptions were salad platters and lemonade. But most people I think did not know that at all. Really a shit show that I merely smiled through, grinned and bared it. But the ceremony was really a reflection of the organization, a contradiction of an institution that wants to focus on social justice, but can’t get the social structure or interactions right.