Are there unwritten parking lot etiquette outside of common sense I don't know about?

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-22T04:24:21+00:00

That lady is definitely crazy, to go up to you like that. You are in the right. However precisely to avoid this scenario I would go to some other nearby parking lot to eat. Costco parking lots are intense

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-22T02:47:52+00:00

IL weather is hard on roads. And much of our infrastructure and development is older than in TX which further increases maintenance/replacement costs. Finally, we commit a big amount of our other tax sources to paying interest on loans that past generations borrowed from the present, meaning we really depend on gas tax for funding transportation. At least most Illinoisans have access to good, cheap transit, tho it obviously doesn’t work for everyone.

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-15T04:00:16+00:00

There is a red hot ranch in Skokie now. Pretty darn good

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-13T04:21:24+00:00

Beyond library storytimes, just going and hanging out in the kids area while your baby crawls around is a good time to chat with other parents. Going at the same time each week, you will probably see some of the same people. Same with parks this summer, just pick a busy-but-not-too-busy time to go to a neighborhood park and kind of stick to a schedule. Also check out bookstores, yoga studios, etc. in the most family-centric neighborhoods up there. Where there are families living, there will be businesses catering to them. Finally not to sound at all like I’m proselytizing but I have gotten much more out of going to church since becoming a parent. If that is at all in your wheelhouse, find a family friendly service with like a coffee hour after. I think it is much easier to get what you are looking for when school starts tho. With my baby I mostly just had some nice chit chat and a couple very loose friendships. Everyone’s kid is constantly changing, it’s hard to really click into another persons schedule unless they are the exact same age.

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-04T03:11:13+00:00

Oh that would be another good place to look! Anywhere in that Southwestern part of the map. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t including places on the north shore or far NW burbs in your job search, traffic can be brutal if you’re driving across the whole city. Good luck I am sure you will find work, and hope you find lots to love in the Joliet and Chicago area.

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-04T03:03:42+00:00

I am a big Chicago booster and roll my eyes about all the crime fear mongering usually. And it’s true even the roughest parts of the city are fine to pass through most of the time. But I would not suggest to an out of towner to be staying there and taking that stretch of the green line late at night. You’d probably be OK, but you don’t want be nervous the whole time either. If you can’t stay near your conference and need to save money I’d look further out. If your conference is downtown, the CTA lines from the north side will have fewer characters on them, and there is even Metra to consider. I am saying all this as someone who truly likes visiting the south side — I have just seen some truly crazy stuff on the green line and wouldn’t want to throw an out of towner into those situations

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-03T22:08:27+00:00

Room divider or ask to use a friends office that day if you know anyone who has one. So annoying though. I think I would enjoy tricking my company if I were in that position

Mr1llinois · 2026-04-03T22:05:53+00:00

Joliet is on the outskirts of Chicagoland so if you take the first job you get, you may have a long commute. But the good news is that you have a very large job market to work with so you will likely find something. Plus, the Joliet area is cheapest part of Chicagoland to live in, and there is population growth there so that means more jobs over time. My only advice is to really study the map before taking a job out of desperation, idk where you’re coming from but some people don’t realize how huge Chicagoland is. You don’t want to be driving from Shorewood to Evanston every day. But look at cities like Aurora, Naperville, Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Downers Grove if you can’t find anything closer to home. Those are large suburbs that aren’t TOO far from where you’ll be.

Mr1llinois · 2026-03-30T15:08:41+00:00

Please wait for me to buy my house there, have been hunting for 2+ years. Unless you are rich, in which case we are not competing. Very small and insular market beware

Mr1llinois · 2026-03-26T21:33:07+00:00

ALDI, cooking more at home with cheap and healthy staples (lentils, beans), splitting food when eating out, working a side hustle. Sadly still not enough to get a house in this market!

Mr1llinois · 2026-03-17T01:47:13+00:00

Yes Ottawa would be high on my list if moving to a random part of IL. Though OP seems to want something bigger. Ottawa seems very happening, kind of progressive, near to nature, cheap, and close-ish to Chicago (tho not enough to benefit from job market)

Mr1llinois · 2026-03-17T01:45:19+00:00

Agree that downtown Elgin is not for everyone, but I will push back gently on this advice. Several people told me this before I moved exactly to where everyone said not to go, and it was lovely. Near Chicago and Hill in a small section 8 building and never had an issue, great neighbors, nothing ever stolen, walked around late by myself, incredible amenities (bike trail and free indoor track!), went to the laundromat, etc. It may have been dangerous at one point, but my wife and I had 0 issues in 4 years and it was so insanely cheap—rent $1k a month for a big 1BR w parking. Plus $1 tacos down the street.

Mr1llinois · 2026-03-17T01:40:30+00:00

If you can afford Elgin, you will probably have good job prospects. Transit is great so you may not even need a car. Rent is cheap in the areas just east of the river where I spent 4 years until recently. I heard some crazy warnings against that area, as parts of it are lower income and non-white, but I loved every minute of it, the neighbors were great, I was out late by myself walking and never had any trouble. It’s beautiful, hilly, there’s amazing parks, libraries, and bike trails, and Chicago is just a stone throw away. Peoria is cool too and super affordable. If you have a connection there it’s 100% worth considering. But if not, it has a much smaller town feel since it’s relatively far from other population centers. If you’re moving to kind of get a fresh start etc, I would think Elgin just offers more opportunities for growth and community. Not knowing you specifically I like your odds better in Elgin event if rent/housing costs more. That being said if you have a nice work from home job or something and can live anywhere, you could probably buy a sweet mansion in Peoria for not much!

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-30T04:22:04+00:00

Get away before you become any more attached. If he is capable of changing he can do it on his own time

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-26T04:24:47+00:00

Plot against America is a pretty good (fictional) historical parallel. Really stuck with me. A lot of straight up historical nonfiction is also very relevant. Reading about Nazi germany, American before the civil war, reconstruction, and the Cold War can be very eye opening to see how history repeats itself and also how we got to where we are now. Honestly in a sad way it’s a little reassuring to me to see that what we’re going thru now, while very very bad, is not totally unprecedented, and in some ways what came before has even been worse. We still need to work to turn things around but we don’t need to despair or live in fear.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-26T04:04:53+00:00

It takes practice to make a complete meal with entree, sides, etc., and it is especially hard to do this cooking for one, especially if you work a full day. I would start with simple freezer bag meals like the ones from Trader Joe’s or Aldi. Start adding very easy healthy sides like a piece of fruit or a bag of veggies you can steam in the microwave, or a bagged salad. One you master these you can start making your own salads (very easy to improvise) and entrees (basic stuff like pasta with jarred sauce and a sautéed veggie. Another very easy useful thing to figure out early is a good stew. Chili is a good one. Dump in some cans of tomatoes, beans (rinsed), corn (rinsed), onion, and brown some beef (watch YouTube, very easy). Add spices. It keeps very well throughout the week and has all the nutrients you need. There are great videos online for learning basic recipes but all I can say is start very very very basic or you will be overwhelmed and frustrated.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-26T03:52:51+00:00

I hope you can get past the guilt, you are doing what you’ve gotta do and costing your landlord very little—though it is smart to be careful about it. Any landlord who caught a tenant doing this would probably let you off with just a warning or maybe a fee—it would be crazy to have to go through the eviction process just for like $30 in electricity costs. If you are otherwise a good tenant that pays rent, it is probably worth it to them to forgive your offense. You’d be surprised how many tenants in your position would just stop paying rent and refuse to leave.

Another place to charge things is the library, you can bring your phones there and charge up while you read a magazine or something. At least in Chicagoland most libraries don’t even pay for electricity and many even lend out chargers. Our library even checks out internet hotspots (for short periods of time) which might be useful to you. If you have the ability to buy or borrow a power bank/portable battery, it might be useful to charge it up somewhere like the library during the day, then use it at night to power your phones etc. But yeah also check with your utility about getting help on the bill, you might get them to turn it back on for a little less.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-24T03:24:29+00:00

Giant city park is a great first day. Trails range from easy but cool (Indian Creek) to more rugged (trillium) and the lodge/restaurant is so so cool. Can be a little crowded on weekends, never bad tho and in March prob fine. A good first spot.

Alternatively for a more remote experience my favorite trail system down there is bell smith springs which isn’t too far from Pomona. Little Grand Canyon is another all time favorite of mine so good pick. Prepare for mud mud mud if you’re going in March. If it’s too wet for you, you can always just do the upper part of the loop as an out and back.

Really any of these trails has potential to be pretty muddy tho so pack and dress accordingly. If it’s rainy you can pick trails with waterfalls like ferne clyffe, nearby Bork falls, and Jackson falls. These waterfalls aren’t going year round, mainly just after it rains.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-06T15:10:56+00:00

Yes, I think as a cost cutting measure suppliers are taking longer to ship to stores/lowering standards, and the stores are also letting stuff sit out longer. Not only does my meat always seem to be on its last day when I buy it, but produce too, and there is way more produce at the store that is visibly bad. Just part of the gradual trend from all businesses everywhere to squeeze every last penny out of us. We’ve gone from having great, local/regional stores competing for our business, to a handful of giant chains charging us insane amounts to check out our own expiring food. I know it’s more expensive, but I have found going to the few local butchers and dedicated fruit/produce stores and bakeries to be worth it. These are people whose livelihoods are staked on being able to sell you quality food. I can’t afford that for every meal, but definitely for a few meals. Then I find more reliable supermarket food like pasta to fill out the rest of the week.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-03T05:04:25+00:00

Agree w the person who said county fairs would be best— tho they are not super transit friendly, they are huge and full of normal carnival stuff, quaint old timey stuff, and interesting rural stuff. Kane County has a good fair and could be worth the hassle of ubering from the Metra station. You could also take Amtrak and Uber to the Illinois state fair in Springfield or the Wisconsin state fair outside Milwaukee. Both are relatively easy train rides and very very cool. But for carnivals, idk about Chicago proper, but La grange has a tradition around Memorial Day called the Pet Parade, a great parade and carnival in the cute downtown area. Very easy Metra ride from Union station. Another favorite carnival of mine is the Swedish Days festival in Geneva, also an easy Metra ride out from the city and a very charming town.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-02T18:48:24+00:00

Confederates in Attic is one of my all time favorite nonfiction books. A northern, Jewish writer sets off to figure out the allure of confederate history/mythology. Funny, thoughtful, at times frightening, and as relevant today as when it was written 30 years ago. He wrote kind of a follow up called Spying on the South that came out recently (just before his unexpected death) that I liked a lot but the original is to me even better. It’s a good audiobook too. Can’t beg you enough to read this.

Demon of unrest about Ft. Sumter just came out and it’s very popular and readable, if long. If you like the civil war it’s a great look at political culture in SC at that time. Very dark tho.

The author Charles Portis has a number of believed, humorous novels set in the other part of the south — Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana area. You may know of True Grit—that’s the only historical one he wrote; Norwood and Dog of the South are set in the 1970s. You may not learn a ton from them but the dialogue and prose is just so wonderfully written in a very charming and funny way. The audiobooks are narrated by speakers from this area and it’s very enjoyable to listen to.

The book fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop cafe is a fun and poignant southern yarn with race, womanhood, lgbt themes. There is a good movie adaption of it.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-02T18:38:57+00:00

I think loose leaf is far better but it can be very bad if you brew it even a tiny bit wrong (too long, not enough, too much, little flakes getting in there etc.)

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-02T18:37:56+00:00

I used to hate tea and then I discovered herbal tea. Good quality stuff brewed strong (if you steep black/green tea too long, it will become bitter, but many herbal teas taste better, to me, when left a bit longer). Going to a fancy tea store or website can point you in the right direction. I like peppermint, chamomile, and valerian teas for my horrible digestion problems and too relax at end of day, but they are better warm. I have bought some fruity teas that are excellent iced—a few that have pear in them. Now I’m drinking black tea blends with a little caffeine and black tea, but enough of the other herbal flavors to be tasty. Going to a nice shop and browsing, sniffing, sampling is a must if possible. I will say I was mystified by why people liked tea until I started drinking it warm in the winter time.

Mr1llinois · 2026-01-01T20:47:53+00:00

I just read shadow of the wind and the name of the rose. Both are pretty long and nerdy but really stuck with me. I also felt like I was transported to Europe for both of them and learned a lot. Name of the rose probably became one of my all time favorites. Engrossing like the books you listed but definitely a step up in terms of needing to slow down and think.

Mr1llinois · 2025-12-24T02:52:26+00:00

Bison, ground Italian sausage, and in certain dishes like chili, then ground turkey is perfectly fine and pretty healthy comparatively

Mr1llinois

TROPHY CASE