The Choo Choo

Driving around the Chicago suburbs, Des Plaines to be exact, looking for signs to take pictures of, I passed by a cool looking hamburger stand. If you know me, you know I love hamburgers. I am also a fan of cool retro burger joints. I made note of the location to return later for lunch.

I made it back to the Choo Choo, Burgers on Wheels, at about 2:30. When I had passed by it earlier in the day, I thought it was kind of cool that it had a railroad theme. One thing I didn’t think of was that kids like trains. Well, when I walked in I realized that this place was like a 1950’s version of Chuck E. Cheese, sans the life sized rodents walking around.
I decided to suck it up and have lunch there even though there was a birthday party going on for an eight year-old. The kids seemed all hyped up on sugar or something. They were running around, blowing train whistles and playing on a mechanical train in the corner. There were probably 20 people in the small restaurant, 4 were adults.
The food was simple, burgers and fries. The quality was similar to what you would get at the county fair, nothing special. Your order arrives via the electric train that loops between the kitchen and the counter. The train stops right in front of you but I could not see anyone controlling it. How do they do it? The kiddie party started getting a little raucous when the train delivered cupcakes with train whistles on top for the birthday boy. The waitress plugged in a CD that sang happy birthday. While the song played, the staff rang bells and tooted bigger train whistles. What the hell am I doing here?
I tried to eat as fast as possible. I am not in my element. What I thought was going to be a cool experience is turning into a nightmare. More cupcakes are coming down the rails, just what these kids need, more sugar. A mob is climbing on the mechanical train ride thing despite the notice above it that says “only two people at a time.” The moms are not happy as they extract three kids from the train. I need to get out of here, the shrieking is hurting my ears.

If you have kids that like trains and you are ever in Des Plaines, Illinois, check out the Choo Choo. If you don’t fit that profile, you might want to reevaluate your options.

A First Time For Everything

After two days of closed meetings, President-elect Obama made his first appearance. His highly anticipated first official press conference since being elected would follow a meeting with his economic advisory board. Finally, a chance to get a decent photo of this guy. We had been staking out his office for a couple of days with little luck.

The presser was being held in the basement of the Hilton Hotel, which is conveniently located across the street from where I am staying. An easy commute. The place was packed when I got there. There had to be a couple hundred people jammed into the room with many that couldn’t get in. There was media from all over the world, I heard French, Japanese and Spanish being spoken.

A podium was set up in front of flags with a placard that said “The Office of the President Elect”. Of course, everyone posed for pictures in front of that, including me. I’m such a dork.

It was a simple setup, main riser and a cut. I got the cut and Scott took the main. I set up a remote, which of course didn’t work very well. There was one good frame that would have been great if it was actually in focus.
Obama seemed surprised when the press corp came to their feet when he arrived at the press conference. I guess he was used to the press conferences on the trail where the press didn’t show that kind of respect. Biden and Rahm Emanuel were with him along with a dozen of his economic advisors. Biden didn’t say a word during the presser. I’m sure if Palin had been there she would have asked to give a speech, just like she asked to do before McCain gave his concession speech on Tuesday. Is she really that clueless or is that just the cowardly gotcha elite media makin stuff up again. Before taking a few questions from the press, Obama made a statement that he read directly from notes. It wasn’t like his stump speeches that he could rattle off from memory. It wasn’t the most eloquent of speeches. But, I don’t think anyone was expecting a great moment in presidential (elect) speeches. Maybe they were, what do I know?
The Q&A session was brief, nine questions in all. All of the questions were on important topics like the war and the economy. All except one which was about what kind of dog the first family was going to get. Forget about all those daunting issues that he faces, lets talk puppies. That’s when Obama called himself a mutt when referring to adopting a dog from the pound. And with that, 19 minutes after he started the presser, it was over.