Obama’s Inauguration as Witnessed by Kelly

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GUEST POST BY KELLY
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The trip started on a beautiful Seattle day. The sun hadn’t been out in a while and I knew the trip was starting off on the right foot. Here is the view from my friend Susie and Duff’s roof - Brag Alert…



My travel partners were Steve and Susie. Many of you have met Steve from the days of Hippie Kelly and Iowa City visits. Some of you may have met Susie on a visit out here to Seattle. They are two of my very favorite people. Traveling was super easy. There was increased security in Minneapolis as we boarded our flight to BWI but the TSA officers were helpful and friendly. The energy already began feeling Obamarific and only got better as the days went on.



We landed at BWI with our friend Martha’s car waiting for us. Now we just had to find the key..



Lucky for us we have fun friends. Martha and Abbey (formerly of Team Seattle) live in a cute row house in SE Capitol Hill area – they welcomed us from the west coast with a cold keg of Miller Light and lots of friendly faces. We partied till 5am and toasted to the last day of Bush!



Monday was a slow start as we were all hung over from Miller Light. We took a lazy Monday stroll through the neighborhood, visited Abbey at her Hardware Store, and enjoyed a cold but sunny day outside –Whiffle Ball anyone?



After a walkin’ around we met up with Martha at the bar. Martha had just picked up her and Abbey’s Silver Inauguration tickets. They were beautiful. I wish my photo was better quality but check it out:



The president seal was embossed and the ink was shiny silver. SUPER cool.

Here we are the night before inauguration. Everyone is very excited, especially me because now Marissa is with us!! Whoohoo! So great to have an old friend from Chicago with us for the celebration. Everyone loves Marissa – of course.



TEAM INAUGURATION! From the left (back row) Martha, Abbey, Susie. (front row) Joseph, Me, Duff, Kelsey, Stevo, Marissa



We decided to take it easy the night before and rested up for the big day. Slumber Party 2k9



The morning of Inauguration was all about layers. Everyone put on everything they had. We all got outside and some of us went back in for more layers. It was pretty chilly, but overall a beautiful sunny day. Everyone was all smiles, especially because we decided not to get up at 5am like the rest of the 1.8 million. Instead we strolled to the capital with whiskey in our coffee at about 9am.



Our walk with Abbey and Martha ended at the Silver ticket security line and our non-ticketed group headed in the opposite direction of the crowds. Our strategy was to get as far back as we could. Probably the smartest decision we made. The crowds trying to get into the mall area were very very packed. Many times you couldn’t move. Our group headed far and wide. We walked on the closed highway all the way until the exit to the Washington Monument! Headed over and found ourselves a nice big jumbotron to settle in for the show. Although it would have been amazing to at least see the Capitol Building we had plenty of company behind the Monument. I would say there were at least 100,000 people behind us. It was awesome. The folks right around our group were hootin’, hollerin’, high fivin’, and smilin’ from ear to ear.

The BOOs you heard from the crowd when Bush was announced were real and very very loud. The crowd was incredible quiet during Obama’s oath and speech, it was impressive. Then the crowd went wild when we was pronounced the president. We all hugged and kissed and danced around. It was all very emotional.



This dude was awesome. He had a Kenyan flag around his back and was hugging everyone in sight



The walk home was equally as fun as the walk to the Capitol. Once again we took the long around about way. High fivin’ with special police and taking in the happiness flowin’ in the air. Two highlights on the way home were this life size Obama cut-out and a 12 year old with the Obama campaign logo shaved into his head!



That night we celebrated some more at a local bar by Martha and Abbey’s.



It is amazing to see the preserved history of DC juxtaposed with the living history of the week. Welcome Home Obama.



As a conclusion to my post …A picture of DC’s Metro train system. It is impeccably clean, efficient, and cheap. Only 1.65 a ride. They even have carpet and cushions on the seats - What luxury!




Thanks for letting me share. I am proud to have my very first guest blog on Stiles and even more proud to live in a country that can transfer power to a new president with 1.8 million people in a small city with ZERO arrests or major injuries. I miss you all in the Midwest and hope to catch up in the Spring. GOBAMA!

The Mediterranean Islands in June

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GUEST BLOG BY KATE
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Three days after I got out of school in June, my family and I headed to Greece for what I thought would be an ill-fated trip. Turns out that a cheesy cruise around the Mediterranean Islands can cure any family's woes. I had too many pictures to choose from for this post so I decided on some of the more euphoric shots.

Everywhere we went, it looked like this. I honestly don't know which island we were on b/c it really looked like this everywhere.

Me and my adorable dad.

Human and real windmills on Patmos.

We learned that to make calamari fishermen catch the squid and then beat them on the floor of the boat to make them less chewy and then they hang them on their boats to dry.

Our shadows on the mosaic floor of an ancient hospital in Rhodes.

Supposedly one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. I'm not going to argue with the books. This was in Santorini.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

Inside of the Blue Mosque. I thought it was pretty cool that both religions managed to respect each other and not destroy each other's relics.

My bro and I in the mosque. They gave me a shawl to wear b/c my shirt was too "slutty."

Spices in the market in Istanbul.

A temple to Medusa in Ephesus. Ephesus is in Turkey and it's the largest intact Greek city. One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Surely the coolest tour we went on.

The library in Ephesus.

One of the marble roads of Ephesus.

All-in-all, I can't say enough about the trip. It was more beautiful that I ever imagined and these pics don't do the region justice.

Minute Clinic

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GUEST BLOG BY KRISTEN
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Managing my own health has always been something I've dealt with poorly. Combining late nights, a packed schedule, a severe aversion to hospitals, and a diet consisting strictly of carbs, encased meats and Diet Cokes, I am a prime target for seasonal sickness. Typically these come and go with the wind and I do my fair share of complaining, eating saltines, drinking ginger ale, and prematurely thinking my stomach can handle pizza.

Every once in a while I encounter something that can't be cured with herbal cocktails, rest, and hydration. That's when I am happy to be one of the members of the working class who enjoys health insurance. Health insurance is confusing; co-pays, "this is not a bill" statements, in-network practitioners, in-network laboratories, in-network whatever the fuck else. So confusing that I actually declined using the flexible spending account offered by my employer, knowing it would equal countless hours on the phone and online deciding what I could or could not pay for, submitting receipts, et cetera.

Whenever I have a health insurance question, lazy as I am, I call up my friend Sarah who works in human resources. Having our health insurance program memorized seems to be one of her job requirements (also I think she appreciates the break from ordering people wrist-rests and mailing packages). Today I looked into going to a immediate care center because I have had a persistent cough and ear ache. An immediate care center is an off-shoot of an emergency room. No appointment is necessary, the co-pay is less than an E.R. and the waiting room is mostly filled with sick kids and old people with medical non-emergencies.

Sarah suggested I go to a "minute clinic" instead. Minute clinics are off-shoots of immediate care centers and are located within pharmacies. I went to one today in the CVS at 137 State Street. There were a couple others downtown and throughout the north side of Chicago. I typically prefer Walgreens, and supposedly they have this type of service as well, but my illness and poor internet search skills allowed information about them to evade me.

The minute clinics are open until 8pm with a lunch break from 2-230pm, although the girls in charge did not get back from lunch until 3pm... the sign in was electronic, which i loved, and let me know what number in line I was (#1, bitches). There were two 30 something girls that worked there, either physician's assistants or nurse practitioners. In 20 minutes I was in and out. They really worked like a well oiled machine, taking my insurance information, allergies, current medications, blood pressure and everything else all at once. I entertained them and got a few laughs telling them about my anxiety around doctors, and my moving woes (to which they suggested I wait until I have a boyfriend to move). I was diagnosed with bronchitis, given prescriptions which they electronically filled to the Walgreens by my house, and was offered a note to skip work. I declined the note as my work foolishly trusts me. All this for a $15 co-pay.

As I said, I typically prefer Walgreens, but CVS may be swaying my opinion with their full array of services, cleanliness, and helpful staff. They are also delving into homeopathic remedies, which would be great to see. In conclusion I hope everyone with insurance has learned something today and will be willing to give the CVS minute clinics a try. To everyone without insurance, enjoy the long waits and lines for hepatitis shots at the free clinic.

We're all travelers here.

From Kate...

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and that's why they're called accidents

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GUEST BLOG BY KATE
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Last weekend I managed to smash up my car. I'm sure it was partially my fault, though I mainly blame the 90/94 split...I don't remember what I was talking about when it happened, but I do remember that I was looking at Carmen and gesturing wildly, no doubt probably gossiping. Not the point. We were all fine, but as you can see my car is not.

I was totally shaken up and on the verge of tears (yep, verge. this didn't make me cry but parades, circuses and singing "happy birthday" does). While everything was going on, I was amazed at how nice people were to me. I honestly expected to get yelled at throughout the whole experience, but not once did one person make me feel bad. The cops were kind and spoke slowly, the EMT's praised me on my car choice, the tow truck dude giggled at my stupidity regarding cars, and the people I hit stood around and patiently made small talk with me.

Chicago public servents were doing their jobs that day and doing them well.