Polar Vortex

OKAY, I must admit, I am getting tired of this beyond freezing cold weather.  As each cold day passes by, you get slightly more angry.  Monday was beyond cold, as many of you may have heard in the news.  Tuesday, our car died, it just did not want to start anymore.  We winterized it too, so WTH?  So Frank was not able to make it to work.  I called the AAA Roadside Service and OMG, it took me 11 tries to get through.  Really, that is how freaking busy and backed up it is around here.  TOO CRAZY!!!  I was on hold for an hour before I was able to talk to a customer service person.  Then they tell me it is a 10 hour turnaround time.  WTF!!!!  So what can I do, all the towing companies are backed up.  There was nothing I could do but wait.

I had an event to go to that evening.  We took the cta.  Going into downtown, we primarily take the train or the bus.  It was our 1st Yelp Elite event in Chi-town.  We had a great time at Blackfinn Ameripub. It reminds me of Yardhouse back home.  There was ample appetizers to go around and drinks were plentiful.  We got to cozy up to a nice booth and warm up from the polar vortex looming outdoor.  I scored some Yelp swag.  My fav were the socks.  In fact, I am sporting them right now to keep warm. I have to venture out in the cold in a little bit because the AAA Roadside Service finally called.  I will continue that story later.

Here is the swag we score!

They had some great options for drinks which were generous on pours.  

Afterwards, we headed over to Eataly to walk off all the deliciousness and drinks we consumed.  It was pretty empty in there.  Usually it is crowded.  The polar vortex probably kept a lot of people from going out.  We picked up some parmesan and squid ink pasta.  That is what we had for dinner this evening.  I put mushrooms and red peppers seasoned with lemon, dill, garlic, chili, and olive oil.  

 Squid Ink Pasta seasoned with dill.

Dill Squid Ink Pasta topped with parmesan.  So after I made this, I realized that I am not a big fan of squid ink. It has an after taste that resonants.  Perhaps, a creamy sauce with butter and white wine would fair better.

Returning to my story about AAA.  Apparently, they claim they came at 4am.  I received no call or missed calls.  So when I woke the next day (Wednesday) at 7:30am, I was on hold again for an hour. 5 hours later, someone came to jump start my car.  That was around noon.  Result,  jump start was not a success.  The guy was helpful, but it would have helped more if he was able to tow my vehicle to the repair shop.  Anyways, I called AAA several times for update and soonest they said they would get someone out was 5:30pm.  

What a surprise!  No one at 5:30pm, so I was back on the phone on hold for another hour.  Apparently, they meant 5:30am.  WTF!!! Really?  So around 9:20pm, I get a call saying that they are 6 miles away. But you know what, the towing guy says that his flat bed is too big and he needs to call a snatcher in. He was pretty much useless, with a slight attempt to push the car out and quickly gave up. Fool could have used his vehicle's power and was just making attempts for show.  But at least got the guy with the snatcher to come out quickly.  

So another guy comes by.  This time the turn around time was a lot faster and this guy blows those other guys out of the water.  He shovel the snow and pushed the car out. It was a big job and I think I threw out my back helping push the car.  It hurts now.  We got the car to the repair shop so task accomplished.  In sum, this polar vortex is no joke.  Calls are in the triple digits the past couple of days and that why it takes so long to get any service.  Once service arrives, they are helpful.  But I wish it would be more timely.  The last reach out was and that is how it should be.  

I hope there isn't anything majorly wrong with the car.  Perhaps an issue with the starter.  I think we also have to start our car everyday now when it is cold so it is not frozen.  That's where a garage would help out a lot.  

A couple more days of this until I can bask in sunny SoCal!