Adventures in the minus forties

Two days ago, doomsday arrived in Chicago. Fun fact: at -40 degrees, you don't even need to specify Celsius or Fahrenheit, for at this godforsaken temperature they are one and the same.

I was lucky in that both the boy and I had the option to work from home. We were not so lucky in that a few weeks ago, we'd scheduled a biometrics appointment (part of the UK visa process where they collect our fingerprints and whatnot) for this very day. I still remember us booking the appointment and enthusiastically declaring, "How about the first Monday of January! Smashing! Fantastic!" and toasting each other's hot beverages and chuckling heartily about how we were being so clever and soooo proactive, when in reality and unbeknownst to us, we'd chosen the day when hell froze over for our 10:00 AM appointment.

Anyhow, the deed was done and we embarked on our 40-minute trip out in the cold, the vast majority of which was spent on a CTA bus (thank goodness). Up until now I'd been secretly nursing somewhat of a terrible suspicion that the immigrations office was going to be closed, but I didn't want to be negative (new year's resolution) and just went with it. Plus there wasn't a phone number to double check as immigrations offices function like it's the year 1850.

Well, after much ado involving squeaky snow and frozen hair, we arrived at the office. And turned the door handle and stepped in. We immediately heard multiple alarms. "Front entrance compromised. Police alerted. Back entrance compromised. Police alerted." etc etc. A quick scan of the room showed a very empty and closed-looking office space and an equally confused person standing a few feet away who also had a morning appointment. Then another person came in from his car and explained that the office was closed today, but for whatever reason the entrances/doors had been left open, and anytime a unknowing innocent person with an appointment opened one, it would trigger the alarm system and police would show up. Apparently they'd come once that morning already.

So, that trip was equal parts disappointing and confusing. But the silver lining was that we were in a neighborhood full of Vietnamese restaurants. We proceeded to drown our sorrows in pho and fried rice.

All bundled up.

After our bellies were sufficiently warmed and we had regained feeling in our toes, the boy took another brief trek back to the immigrations office with equally depressing results (nobody there, alarm still going off) and we hopped back onto the bus.

On the way back I ended up swiping my Ventra pass for the boy and a stranger in addition to for myself. Both of their passes/credit cards were not being recognized by the scanner, neither had singles on them, and the CTA bus driver was not being sympathetic to their cases (in his defense, he was probably following the rules of his job). I also saw another girl try to board the bus and scan her pass, only to have it not work either; she hopped off and the bus driver drove off before anyone could offer to pay for her. By the end of the bus ride I was pretty put out with Ventra (and took my complaints to Twitter, naturally). How many people were denied a bus ride on a day like this because of their systems not working?

We spent the rest of the day working from home, drinking tea, pouring and observing water freeze on our balcony, gazing out into the cold abyss, and generally being thankful for having a warm, comfy abode. The boy also earned his good samaritan badge of the day by helping shovel and push out a couple of stuck cars in the neighborhood.

The clouds looked like they were emerging from Lake Michigan.

Polar Vortex, you definitely know how to ring in the New Year for us Chicago denizens with a blast. Of icy terror.

Tomorrow we'll try and make our way up to the visa/biometric data office again; wish us luck to be met with actual people and not sirens this time!