Looking

Well, it seems that I will most likely have my own new apartment in May or June of this year. I'm gonna start looking around today, in the same area that I'm currently living. I love this location and don't want to move TOO far, but I gotta find a place I like that I can afford on my own. And of course I'll have the housewarming party when I get all settled!

Pros and Cons

More than a year ago, I interviewed with a small travel company about a leisure position. Last week, they called me again with a corporate travel position. After all this time, it was pretty flattering that they remembered me and were still willing to talk to me. So I interviewed with them today. I think it went well; there are just lots of pros and cons to consider. They're a MUCH smaller company than what I'm currently working for, so that'd be a bit of a culture shock. They're also insanely busy right now with corporate AND leisure travel, so I would pretty much be thrown in the mix without much training. That doesn't sound too fun. He also didn't seem too thrilled with the salary I would want to keep making. He said he could MAYBE swing it. Doesn't sound too promising. I'd have to switch insurances again, which could mean switching to a new dentist/doctor/whatever else after having had my insurance less than a year. I would also be back to my five-day week schedule, which would sound like a plus to a lot of you, but I've been really liking having three days off a week. And of course the whole business-casual thing. I love wearing jeans to work. :) Plus the fact that I've finally gotten at least somewhat comfortable with what I do, that I'm not sure I want to be thrown into a new job all of a sudden again. AND, it uses my least favorite GDS, Worldspan. But in time I'd grow to be comfortable with it. Hmm.

The pros: I'd learn travel from a small agency point of view. I can build better rapport with clients than I do in a call center environment. It doesn't have a lot of room for growth, but it would provide a much easier segway into leisure travel than where I am now, because I'd be working in the same office as leisure agents and can learn from them and possibly take on some of their work if I wanted to. I would build more experience in booking travel because there's lots that I would do there that I don't do as much in the call center. And I'd get hour lunches. :)

So.. it looks like the con list is longer. But should I let all that stuff influence my decision? Is it too early to jump ship from Big Travel Agency? Am I getting too comfy with my benefits right now? Would it be worth it to learn more from the smaller agency and add to my experience? I just wish they could offer me the job at a time when they weren't so slammed, so I could have time to be trained... they haven't offered it to me yet, but they only have one other candidate right now (just like last time). But right now I'm not sure what I would say if they offered it to me. I have a few days to mull it over before he's supposed to call me...

Chicago Rocks

(Except where baseball is concerned, of course.) :)

Loved the show, loved the train ride there, loved the El, loved the city, loved shopping, loved the food, loved the neighborhood we stayed in, loved it all. We did everything in Chicago that we set out to do, including:

1) Had an awesome time at the concert.
2) Got Chicago-style pizza and ate it with a fork.
3) Spent several hours in Shedd Aquarium.
4) Ate at Grace O'Malley's Irish pub.
5) Shopped on the Magnificent Mile, mostly at Water Tower Place, an eight-story mall.

Seriously, if you're planning a visit to Chicago, I recommend staying in Evanston, a little northern suburb. It has a great little "downtown" area and it's close to two El stops. We felt very safe there as well. Lots of little coffee shops and pubs too. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. The only day I planned to take pictures, I forgot to bring my camera along. And all the times that I had the camera, I never felt like taking it out to snap a few. Oh well. You can have a good time without stopping to photograph everything.

I gotta visit more of our nation's big cities. Washington DC is high on my list cause I hear it has a good subway system too. :) Any others?