So, SGI not only shipped the replacement power adapter right away, it came at 10am the next morning, which basically means that 24 hours after I made the call to customer support, I was up and running again.
But anyway.
I’ve been pondering a lot about my trip to Chicago. It seems that I caught some glimpse of something: there is life outside of California. It’s not just the weather, too. There’s subtle differences that make life in the Midwest unique. Little things that you Midwesterners take for granted that seem so foreign to us West-coasters.
Toll booths. Snow routes. Driving for an hour and actually being in a different state. Vacationing hundreds of miles away in the same place every year. The list goes on and on.
The concepts all mesh together into a feeling that seems to familiar. I could joke that it’s because I was born in Indiana and it’s in my blood, but it’s probably simpler than that. I’m the son of two people who grew up in the Midwest. It’s certain that many of their ideals were imprinted on me, in such a way that when I find myself in a small town in the suburbs of Chicago, I feel almost at home.
I’m not saying that I’d want to move back there. I’d be such a fish out of water it wouldn’t be funny. That, and I was in Indiana in December, so I know how bad it can be. I may have Indiana in my blood, but I can handle 110 degree weather much easier than I can handle -10 degrees. (That’s 110 with zero humidity, for those of you who want to comment that it can get pretty hot in the Midwest, too.)
I don’t think I’ve managed to get down in writing the feeling I have right now, but I think I’ll reiterate/summarize — I’ve started to understand how people can actually manage to live in the Midwest. There is life outside of California.
Meh. I think I’m going to bed now. God, I hope Luke stops snoring… I can’t wait until we move into our new place, at least there I’ll have a wall between me and his snoring.