February 8 True Friendship

Debbie & I have been friends since we met in eighth grade. We grew up across the street from each other. For over 30 years now, we've kept in touch on a pretty regular basis. For quite awhile we've treated each other to dinner for our respective birthdays. Even though Deb's was 3 weeks ago, last night was her birthday dinner. We ate at Mado in Bucktown. The place prides itself on using local suppliers for meat & produce. It has a limited menu, but I liked it. I had grilled trout stuffed with pork belly confit & spinach. Surprisingly delicious. The night flew by as usual. When we get together, the conversation is always entertaining and the time together is always a joy to me. As usual something goofy happened last night. I parked on Milwaukee Avenue about a block from the restaurant. While we were looking for the parking times on the meter, we started discussing how Mayor Daley sold the parking meters to a private company. It will soon cost 3 to 4 times as much to park on the streets. Then we realized these were new meters and have to be fed from 9am to 9pm everyday. As I'm dropping in quarters (15 minutes for a quarter), I'm bitching about the Mayor fucking up the city once again. After putting in $1.75, Deb's boyfriend, George, tells me I'm feeding the meter for the car behind me. I had to scrounge up 6 more quarters to cover my car while George walked across the street looking for a meter with time on it. Anyway, that's why there's a picture with Chrissy, George & Deb by a parking meter. The other picture is in Mado with the chalkboard menu behind them.