This morning I sat in my O'Hare hotel room staring at the traffic updates on my iPhone. The route into the city was flashing a lethal-looking red, so I figured there wasn't much point in leaving until the roads opened up. Otherwise, I'd just be paying for a taxi to sit in traffic as the meter racked up an already-huge fare.
Eventually around 11:00, there was enough green showing on the traffic monitor that I decided to head into the city and check-in to my hotel.
The first thing I did when I got to my room was throw open the window. It was a glorious day and, unlike most hotels, the windows here are not limited to opening just a few inches (I guess they're not worried about suicide jumpers). It's hot outside, with a few scattered clouds and beautiful blue skies...
While soaking up the atmosphere, something blows up against me and I look down to see this little card sitting in the window sill...
WTF?!? Beware of the spiders? SPIDERS?!?!
Then I look outside the window pane and see that, sure enough, there's little spider webs all over the building exterior. Then it hits me... GAH!! SPIDERS!!!
I think my worst nightmare would be to wake up in the middle of the night, notice that there's a strange tickling sensation on my face, then turn on the lights only to discover that my bed was covered in spiders. So, uhhh... yeah... we'll just close the windows and enjoy the view that way.
Around 1:30 I went to have lunch with a good friend and ex-coworker I haven't seen in a while. Everywhere I looked it was absolutely beautiful out, so we decided to eat outside. The heat was pretty intense, but an occasional breeze made things bearable. An hour-and-a-half later, lunch was over and I decided to head back to my hotel and catch up on some work. It was noticeably darker out, and I saw that additional clouds had started rolling in...
By the time I actually made it to the hotel, the weather was positively grim. Thunder was echoing in the distance, and rain had started to fall. The scene out my window just two hours after the first photo above had been taken was quite a bit different now...
Oooh! And there goes massive lightning flashes with thunder so loud that my windows are shaking. Sweet! You can't tell by the photo, but the rain is actually falling sideways. And the sky just keeps getting darker and darker, so I'm not sure what we're in for here in The Windy City. I'm guessing it's an alien invasion.
Maybe I should just crawl under the covers and try not to think of what might happen. After all, now that I have the spiders crawling around in my mind, do I really need something else to worry about?
I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.
Atom Entries Feed Comments Feed
AAAAAGH!
SPIIIIIIDERRRRRRRSSSS!!
My daughter was bit by a nasty spider this week while sleeping. She is on antibiotics and all. She will have a little crater scar on her arm. I think i am going to tell people it is a bullet wound. She is a badass six year old so it is probably completely believable. OK, maybe not really a bad ass, or a bad ass in a really cute way. Anyway, scary spiders seem to be a theme this week.
That was pretty cool no? But dangerous too. Quite the double-barreled storm eh?
Oh great. Now I’m going to be all spider-freaky-sensitive tonight and every two seconds think I feel a spider on my legs or something.
Thanks, Dave.
Oh, so that is what that little auto icon on the map thing does… i’d been wondering what it was for…
We had a tornado warning at work (in Schaumburg) and had to move away from the windows. When I left a half hour later I noticed a lot of split trees and debris on the roads. I heard the winds got up to 80 MPH at one point.
Did you know we were actually under a tornado watch in Chicago this afternoon? The weather changes so fast! It’s good you got outside before it was so icky.
I bet it was more fun watching the storm than driving home in it which is what I got to do. I was in the ICU at work watching the staff peering out the windows looking for funnel clouds. The weather channel was showing a tornado warning for Elk Grove Village. We were all waiting for the warning to be announced overhead, but…nothing. After several minutes: “There is a severe thunderstorm warning. We advise everyone to remain inside the building.” We all said, “Severe thunderstorm, my ass.” The trees aren’t laying down because it’s raining. Then the sky turned black and we heard the hail on the skylights. The power flickered and all the computers went dead. Hmmm… Staff started running around gathering up portable oxygen tanks for all the ventilator patients in case we’d have to move them. Then: “There is a tornado warning. We advise everyone to remain in the building.” Ya think??!!
It missed us by a few blocks. The ride home was a little hairy, driving around the trees in the road and detouring a few times to find streets that weren’t flooded. Good times.
I woke up one morning with a spider leg hanging out of my mouth.
Yes, there’s something you need to be more worried about than spiders crawling over you when you wake up. You need to be worried about Demon Spiders.
Reminds me of the time I was reading on the bed in a hotel room and noticed a bit of movement in my peripheral vision. Glancing over I was horrified to see an amazingly ugly looking black spider crawling towards me.
In a blind panic I smashed the book I was reading down on the spider and rolled off the bed all in one movement.
A bit later, after I had my hyperventilation back under control, I lifted the book to find, not a smashed spider, but nothing at all.
Great, I missed. And now I had a pissed-off spider somewhere in the room out to get me.
It took me a long time to get to sleep that night. I checked under the sheets several times and kept feeling phantom spiders moving around my legs. *shudder*
Thanks alot. I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept thinking about spiders crawling on me.
Ah ha!! So I see the HRC did deliver the box of spiders I sent to you after all!!
I like Smashing Pumpkins and all… but is that supposed to be SOOTHING or something??
Except for the ooey gooey fuzzy hairy creatures….that sounds pretty fantastic. Thunderstorms under the covers…mmmmmm!
I.Hate.Spiders.
heh… i think this is the storm that caused Kosh’s flight to be canceled… sob sob! at least he managed to get another flight out to ZRH, & should arrive only about 21 hrs after originally planned :p
those are such awesome photos. i really have to get to chicago one of these days. i love the buildings!
keep the window shut. spiders are creepy!
Wow. What Hotel is this that they quote Smashing Pumpkins to warn guests about possible spider invasions?
P.S. I don’t think I need to tell you that taking copious amounts of photos tomorrow at Davecago is a must.
I´d like to go to Chicago for the blues Festival next year.
Are the spiders poisonous?
The spiders were there just for you. And what is up with the Smashing Pumpkins reference? I missed that decade, so I don’t get it.
I was in Chicago Tuesday thru Thursday and and the rain was pretty intense! Thursday I was driving north on 94 to 55 and the skyline just disappeared in a matter of seconds. That was the craziest thing I’ve seen!
On the way home Thursday I drove thru more torrential downpours in Indiana. 80/94 East was at a crawl because of flooding.
I had several “spider incidents” this summer. Check out ‘morning nightmare’ story on my blog. I was one of those people who believed in ‘live and let live.’ I didn’t have spider issues until this summer.
Anytime a place takes the time to type up a formal warning about spiders, of all things, and you’re not in a third world country, a person needs to beware. Beware of the spider(cue theatrical music.)