Guardian Angels and the Whitecaps of Lake Michigan

My guardian angel and temp for the day, Rose

This morning I got downstairs to the banquet room and started preparing for the biggest turnout of one of these events yet, teachers expected to exceed 80. I put my Townes Van Zandt on the house speakers and got to work, setting up the LCD screen, testing microphones, and moving tables and chairs. Then came the set-up of the registration table, where I met a nice old woman with a Boston accent saying "I'm here to help. Where do you need me?" I asked her who she was looking for and she told me she's with Kelly Services...a temp for BER. I told her I had no idea a temp was scheduled for the day but relished in the prospect, so I put Rose to work stuffing course packets with promotional material. When I told her my name, she said "Ah, Michael...the Archangel. You know my son's name is Michael. He's got three kids of his own and lives out in...." For the rest of the day, she wouldn't stop chatting. Rose had many stories of first hand accounts with her own guardian angel, who had helped her hitchhike to a job interview after a torrential snowstorm wouldn't allow her to drive. She talked about her one daughter with MS, her other daughter who was in cardiac arrest for 20 minutes. She talked about all her grandkids and their kids. She has been the greatest thing I've seen in Chicago this week.

Trying to take a picture of myself in a torrential windstorm on the beaches of Lake Michigan

Instead of heading to the next suburb of Chicago in Oak Lawn, I was dropped off downtown by my instructor and am sitting at a bar called Butch McGuire's on Division Street. From here I'll train, and then bus, to what is a trendy part of town (and also Chicago's meat packing district I've been told by the locals) to see Karl Blau and Mt. Eerie perform at the South Union Arts Center. Tomorrow's show would be better, but I'll be in Champaign, IL and can't make it. From the show, I'll bus and then train and then bus again to the Hilton in Oak Lawn, where I'll get to sleep around 1am, wake up once again at 5:30, and have another 80-100 grouchy teachers waiting to be registered for another seminar. The life of Mike moves on!