March 30, 2001: Ian Stevens from IRI

On my walk to work, I was near the Allegro Hotel on Randolph when someone called my name.   It was my co-worker, Ian Stevens.  He's from England and met his wife there through friends.  We walked the rest of the way to work together.   He didn't like his director, Jeff, so was glad to get Julia as our director.  He lived on Surf and Broadway, which was near my apartment on Oakdale.   He took the 156 bus down to work and the 'El' home.   He said I was leaving IRI at the right time in the midst of this transition.  

March 28, 2001: Chicago Hooters

Jamie Nailer, Crystal Cooper, and Ceylon Hayes took me to Hooters for lunch and we got wings.  They were delicious.  Jamie paid for all of our meals, which was very nice.  Ceylon and Crystal said I had a ghetto bootie. Another phrase I learned from them was 'hot mess' which meant a girl who dressed like trash.

After work, met Julia Tuthill at Quarker Oats and we took a cab up to where Tammy Mcquown worked.  The bible study went to this beautiful golden dome building in Garfield Park to mentor the girls in Nobie's group.  We made bracelets with letters spelling what we needed in prayer. One of the girls, Fallon, told us she was 15 and has 6 kids.   Julia and I didn't believe her.   I felt bad for these girls and realized how fortunate I was for the things I had in my life such as my family, job, and health. 

March 16, 2001: Palm Pilot/Art Institute

Went for my post operative eye appointment and my eyesight was 20/20. Then, walked to the Art Institute and used my free pass to go through it. I finally got to see the paperweights. I could tell that my eyesight was much better after this surgery. I couldn’t believe how clear it was in both the sunlight and the dark.



Then, I went to Best Buy and got myself a Palm Pilot for $150. Then, I wandered around Whole Foods Market, as I had never been there before. It was cold and snowy today.


The rest of the night, I played with my Palm Pilot and was so excited when I was able to send myself an email.

March 15, 2001: Laser Eye Enhancement Surgery

You would think that this enhancement eye surgery wouldn’t make me as nervous the 2nd time around, but I was really nervous, as I was now seeing 20/30 and didn’t want anything to goof it up. I prayed about it long and hard.



TLC provided me with a limo ride to the surgery and back. Mr. Ed drove me and he had the enhancement surgery done by Dr. Probst a few weeks ago. He drove Dr. Probst to and from O’hare. Dr. Probst was 35 yrs old, been married 1 ½ years and lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The doctor flew to Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Windsor in order to do these surgeries. Too bad he was married as he was sure cute.


The driver showed me his home on the way to the TLC clinic out in the suburbs. He was going down to Florida the next day and coming back on Monday. He lived down there for 6 months. He said Chicago was too expensive and that you could get a nice 3 bedroom condo in Florida, with a view of the Gulf, for $80, 000. He was telling me about all of these people who went to this other doctor, Carroll, to have their laser eye surgery and that he did a horrible job. Many of his patients then came to Dr. Probst in order to fix it.


This time, the doctor was able to use the existing corneal flap that he used in December, so the surgery went quicker. I couldn’t believe how quick it was this time. He was taking this bandage apart and it sounded so awful. I made a comment about that and he got a kick out of it.


This other patient was so funny. He couldn’t believe how easy and painless this surgery was. He asked the nurse to kick him and give him some pain, as he was so shocked at how easy the surgery was.


The limo driver drove me back to my apartment. It was sure nice to have a service like this when you don’t have family to drive you there.


Brandie brought me a pink rose later on, which was very nice.

March 12, 2001: Laser Eye Appointment

Came into work and Alison Basista said that Joe Idstein would not be coming into work as his future sister-in-law died over the weekend. Later on, I saw the obituary that said it was Dawn Dougher’s sister, Stephanie Arnett Dougher that died on March 11, at the age of 22, leaving behind 2 step kids, mother and father-in-law, parents and sisters. Dawn’s younger sister must’ve got married as her last name was Arnett. From what I could tell, her sister committed suicide. She got married in February 2000 and from what I heard, she was supposed to be in Dawn’s wedding. It was sad to hear about it, as her sister was so young.



Anyway, I went to my eye doctor’s appointment and apparently, my eyes were still at 20/30, six weeks after surgery. However, I still had to have the enhancement surgery done this Thursday. The business manager set up the ride in the limousine.  She said the driver had it done 2 weeks ago and was seeing very well now. I’m very nervous about going, as I will be having this done on my own, without my mom there. I was nervous about having complications as a result of the procedure.


I sent an email to Dawn with my regards. I will keep them in my prayers.

March 11, 2001: Joy's Visit

We took our time this morning. I went and bought groceries and Joy played my Savage Garden CD. I came home and we downloaded some theme songs from TV shows from Napster.com



She said she didn’t want to go home, which made me feel good. She was a lot of fun to hang out with.


We took the 151 bus to Union Station and boy, was it crowded. I’ve never seen it that crowded before on a Sunday. I will be glad to not have to deal with public transportation anymore.


Joy and I had lunch at the train station and then I saw her off on the train. I went to Walgreens and got some bubble bath. Then, I ran into Brandie and her mom. It was nice to see them.


Then, I took a nap and used my new spa machine.

March 10, 2001: Chicago Museums with Joy

Joy and I left the house at 9 a.m. to take the 151 bus down Michigan Avenue over to the museums. It was a cool, but sunny day outside. We got some wonderful pictures of the city of Chicago from the Planetarium. We went into the Planetarium and got the $30 city pass. We didn’t realize how much it covered---Art Institute, Planetarium, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Sears Tower.

At the Planetarium, we saw a show in the theater. There was a screen all around the theater. The presentation was about the galaxy and stars and Native families and their stories. We wandered around there and then had lunch. The view from the dining room was wonderful. The Planetarium sets out quite far from the edge of Lake Michigan. I bought the Chicago Edition Monopoly game at the Planetarium.

We headed over to the Shedd Aquarium, but the line to get inside was so long, so we decided to go to the Field Museum and come to the aquarium later in the day. We got to see the dinosaur, Sue. We wandered around the museum. I was quite surprised by all of the animals, plants, etc, that they had on display. Then, we went to the Underground Adventure which was pretty neat.

We got hungry so we stopped at the McDonalds in the lower level of the field museum and had a hot fudge sundae. It was so hot in the museum, so we ate it outside on the picnic tables.

Then, we went to the top floor and looked at the gem display. There were some beautiful diamonds.

Joy said that Marianne and Wendy liked the Marquis cut stones.

Then, we walked over to the Shedd Aquarium. The line was shorter this time. We saw the dolphins. One of the workers was feeding the dolphins and diving which was funny to see. Then, we went to the dolphin show in the theater that overlooked Lake Michigan.

Joy and I took the bus over to Adams St/State St. and walked down Adams St. to the Sears Tower. Joy really wanted to see it. We watched a short film on Chicago before going up to the Observatory. I felt like a tourist today, but I realized how this day would close a chapter in my life as a Chicagoan. I recognized most of the buildings and landmarks around Chicago. I am so glad I got the opportunity to live in Chicago when I did. The Observatory was on the 103rd floor where you could see the entire city. They remodeled the Observatory and had added in some computers to show you key buildings. I showed Joy the train station, IRI, the train tracks, O’hare Airport, etc. She had never been up in a building this high before. There were 2200 steps to the top of the Sears Tower. I think Joy had a good time and I know I did, too. I don’t get to spend time just hanging out with good people. People in Lincoln Park are superficial and very hard to become friends with. People in the suburbs are much nicer.

Joy and I took the bus to Water Tower Place and had dinner at Food For Life. Then, we came home, as we were quite tired from a busy day.

Joy got on the scale and couldn’t believe the number and said she hadn’t weighed herself in 2 years. I really felt bad for her. She was so fun to hang out with. We played with my new Chicago edition Monopoly and had fun.

March 9, 2001: Jenny Jones/Rain Forest Cafe

Joy and I got up around 7 a.m.  I went through my bookwork.  Then, at 10 a.m., we went to Bank One on Clark St and walked over to Linens N Things and I bought one of those Conair spas for $39 and then a plastic tub.  Joy carried the tub home for me and I carried the spa.  We walked down Briar St.

It was a nice sunny day.   Then, we dropped that off and headed down to catch the 36 bus down to the Thai restaurant on State/Delaware. We had a nice lunch. Then, we walked along Michigan Avenue and I finally got to go in the Hammacher Schlemmer store. Then, we got to NBC studios and stood in line for the taping of the Jenny Jones show. We had a long wait in the waiting room and everyone seemed impatient.

Joy and I sat in the 2nd to the last row on the left-hand side (if you are facing the stage). The show was about women who dress slutty. I think Joy had a good time. I think this was Joy’s first time going to a taping of a show. We went to the studio almost 2 hours before the show began. While we waited, we went through the NBC gift shop and then walked to Michigan Avenue and went inside the Lego store and Ann Taylor Loft.

After the show, we got some caramel corn at Garretts popcorn and walked over to Marshall Fields in Water Tower Place so she could see that.

By then, our feet were getting very tired. We walked over to the Rain Forest café for dinner and got home around 9:30 p.m.

I wanted to try the new spa so tried that out. We were laughing so hard as I was standing in the tub with my pants rolled up and Joy put her feet in and we felt so good having the water hit the bottom of our feet.

March 8, 2001: Training/Joy

It was an interesting day today.  Had the usual Safeway conference call, sent out new adds and then conducted my first training session with the director of RIS and 19 other people.  I dreaded going down to teach the class. I taught them our calendar system and schedules related to the retailer schedules.  I was real nervous. One of my co-workers couldn’t keep her mouth shut and would interrupt my teaching.  Crystal said I did a good job. Just before I left work, the other director, Jeff, from RIS brought me the answers to his exercises and wanted to see how he did. I got the answers again and corrected Jeff’s paper and went to his office to show him which one he got wrong and explained why. He was happy about that.   

Then, I went to Union Station to get my cousin Joy as she was visiting me this weekend.  It was good to see her.  She had a heavy suitcase on wheels. I rolled it along to the Adams/Wells ‘El’ so we could get her a bus/el pass.  We took the brown line to Diversey and walked home.  I could tell she was tired of walking.  My Grandpa said the same thing when he came to visit me last summer.   That was why I preferred to walk down Randolph to Dearborn to catch the bus.  We had dinner at the Golden Nugget restaurant on Clark. 

March 4, 2001: Nina

Nina Ganesh gave me some great advice about how to handle the situation with the director. She said that when I explain why I’m leaving IRI,  was to say what I said to Alison.



Nina said she had 3 weddings. Her 1st ceremony was in India on August 16, 1999 with just the immediate family. She did this as it took a year to get her husband’s green card. Then, in August 2000, there was another ceremony in India where the whole family was present. The 3rd wedding was in November outside of Detroit when Joy and I went.

March 2, 2001: Resignation from IRI

It was an emotionally exhausting day for me. It all started when I went to ask my manager, Alison Basista, about why my accruals on my time card didn’t appear. I wanted to know how many sick days/vacation days I had accrued. She said if you were here 6 months, then you would have accrued half the time. She asked why I was worried or if I was leaving before the end of the year. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I ended up telling her I was leaving. She asked if it was in 6 months. I said no. She asked if it was sooner and I said yes. I finally told her that I was leaving Chicago and IRI on April 27th. She asked if I had a job lined up. I said I didn’t have one yet. Then, she asked why I was leaving and I told her that it was for many reasons. First, the competency review in November didn’t go as I had hoped. Second, the new review system would screw me over in that I was so close to getting the 2nd one and now had no chance to even try with this new system. She asked if there was anything she could do to keep me here and I told her no. Then, I saw Liz and Joe coming back to their seats so I told Alison I would talk to her later about it as I didn’t want Joe, Liz or Bev knowing. She was surprised at me saying I was leaving IRI.


Later that morning, we sat in Mark’s old office with the lights off. It was strange sitting there looking outside at the same reddish brick building I saw the day I was interviewed by Mark and Yolanda just 4 years ago.

I didn’t think this transition in my life would get me so emotional and teary eyed, but it did.   Anyway, I further explained that this wasn’t a decision that was made lightly and that I had been thinking about it since last June, but in November, I decided that this was what I had to do.  I told her I liked how IRI gave its employees flex time, chance to have every Friday off, and being able to dress casually.  I told Alison that the competency review back in November really ticked me off especially when I was always asking for opportunities to do testing and such.  I was so close to passing the 2^nd threshold, but then didn’t get it because Bev decided so.   I said I knew that you don’t get everything you want in life, but the new review system beginning in May 2002 screwed me out of even trying to get the raise this May.  Alison agreed that we should have had the opportunity to try 1 more time in May and that human resources had no clear answers on how much of a raise we would get with the new system.

I also explained to her that I wanted to save money for a condo and I couldn’t do that when I was spending $700 in rent. She wanted a home, but couldn't afford to buy one. She also said her family was always asking her why she didn't buy this and that and she said she didn't want all of her money going out for mortgage payments. She would like to be able to buy 20 pairs of shoes or whatever when she wanted to and not have to worry about money.


I also said that I wanted to move possibly to San Diego or somewhere warm in 2 years and buy my condo there.


She said she would hate to lose me as I am a real asset and I am the only one who knows the Safeway restatement process inside and out.


She said, though, she could tell I had a lot of future goals.

I told her I would most likely get a temp job when I moved home as I am going on a 2 week cruise in June, and that no company would hire me and then give me 2 weeks off for vacation, when I first started. She agreed. She said maybe I would find my niche through these temp jobs.

Her sister started out as an office manager and now is working in Human Resources. Alison’s dad is a VP so she asks both of them questions. She said she would be a reference for me. I also said that I wanted to talk to Bev about how things she says are told to Joe & Liz through Melisa. I told Alison that I think that is unprofessional especially for a director. I said I wasn’t sure if I should as I want to use IRI as a reference. She said don’t use Bev as a reference and that it shouldn’t reflect anything when a company calls to verify your employement. All companies are technically allowed to ask if you worked there and about your attendance record, so Alison said not to worry about that. She said that if I told Bev those things, then when I walked out of the office, I may feel better. She said maybe that Bev would be mad, but maybe after awhile what I said may impact her later on and make her think about what she tells people.



I found out that Bev was the one who interviewed Joe. Anyway, Alison wished me a lot of luck with my future.

Kelsey wrote me a real nice email asking when my eye surgery is and if I needed help with finding a job.  She also asked for prayers with regards to getting Devon in a charter school.  She said there are 76 spots and 105 applicants and the names are drawn from a hat.  After reading my email about Chicago, she said she is glad she doesn’t live here, as it isn’t a place to raise a child. It was really nice getting an email from Kelsey.

March 3, 2001: Chicago Food Depository

Walked over to the Blockbuster on Sheffield and Fullerton. Yolanda Thomas said that she was the team coordinator at the food depository this week. She drove us to the Food Depository. We stopped at Krispy Kreme donuts on the way . Our work today was on the conveyor belt doing salvage. There wasn’t much for me to pack. I had cookies and crackers. There was a gal there named Jennifer. She was from Tampa, Florida. She moved to Chicago with her husband as he was going to school here. She said 2 years was enough time to see the city and experience living in a big city, but after 2 years, they wanted to move back to Tampa. What she said really made me think.



It was really nice sitting in the car for the ride home along Lakeshore Drive. I was looking forward to having my own car again.