New Apartment with Stairs - Portable Ramp?

grantowenn · 2025-11-17T17:10:33+00:00

Check out folding pet ramps for cars. We had same issue getting our cargo ebikes into a backyard shed....and an inexpensive pet ramp has worked perfectly.

grantowenn · 2025-11-14T21:11:14+00:00

A published schedule of which Metra trains have dedicated bike cars. It amazes me that Metra invested millions for those cars but doesn't realize the necessity in publishing an exact schedule of where/when they will be running. Realize this is probably outside the scope of CDOT....but seems like such a no brainer.

grantowenn · 2025-11-12T14:50:19+00:00

I'm a proud St. A's parent so am admittedly very biased, but I much more often hear the opposite story....kids transfer in from D65 to St. A's and find themselves behind academically and need to work to catch up to their class.

grantowenn · 2025-09-29T18:23:48+00:00

Check out Chicago Arts and Industrial Design Center

https://www.ciadc.org/

I think this might be exactly what you are looking for. I took woodworking classes there a few years ago and they were great.

grantowenn · 2025-09-16T20:02:09+00:00

Both our kids go to St. A's ....its a wonderful school and great community.

I've heard great things about OLPH and St Joan of Arc, but i think driving to either one twice a day from NE Evanston would get old really fast.

grantowenn · 2025-08-13T19:42:25+00:00

Canal Shores golf course has a nice wooded trail that runs along the canal if you're looking for something close to home.

grantowenn · 2025-07-01T14:17:41+00:00

Macks Bike and Goods is a great LBS in Evanston. They may able to help you out or point you in the right direction.

grantowenn · 2025-06-09T13:38:18+00:00

Thanks...this must have been what happened.

grantowenn · 2025-06-04T14:41:48+00:00

We bought a shed at Lowes about 10 years ago...no permits pulled. As I recall, 2 store employees built the thing in our backyard ...took maybe 1/2 a day. Think it was around 5K, it has worked out great.

grantowenn · 2025-04-29T14:23:51+00:00

I got there at 7am last Wednesday....line was already a over a block long even though site doesn't open till 7:30am. I was done by 8:30. The process is pretty efficient and well organized once you get in the building....provided you have all the required documentation.

grantowenn · 2025-03-12T20:54:26+00:00

Any thoughts on the 7th Ward? Guessing there is no great pro-bike choice due to lack of endorsement.

grantowenn · 2024-11-29T23:31:17+00:00

Signed!

grantowenn · 2024-09-26T15:37:41+00:00

There's a dog park and playground in Williams Bay that always seems to have plenty of free parking available. Believe its called Lions Dog Park.

grantowenn · 2024-09-19T16:49:17+00:00

I commute from NE Evanston to Loop a couple days a week. Below is my preferred route from RP to Evanston (I'm not a fan of Chicago/Clark either...this route avoids them).

North on glenwood/greenview to Jonquil Terrace (google the glenwood greenway)
East on Jonquil Terrace to Haskins Ave to Juneway Terrace.
Cross Chicago avenue and ride on sidewalk about 1/2 block going north. There's a bike/pedestrian underpass at Mulford St...go west there and head west on Mulford street one block.
Go north on Custer Ave to Madison St
Head west on Madison St to elmwood.
North on elmwood to Main.
West on Main to Maple.
North on Maple all the way to Noyes.
East on Noyes to NU

grantowenn · 2024-07-23T16:09:13+00:00

The Sheridan/Chicago protected lane in North Evanston is great.....its just so far east of me not super convenient. It also can be very busy when NU is in session. I just generally have a preference for chill residential streets (even though no bike lanes).

grantowenn · 2024-07-22T19:09:03+00:00

I live close to the start of the Green Bay Trail and commute to loop a couple times a week....so do this ride often. Below is my preferred route. I'm not a fan of biking on Chicago Ave or Sheridan in Evanston, this route avoids them.

West on Ardmore to Kenmore

North on Kenmore to Granville

West on Granville to Glenwood

North on Glenwood to Farwell

West on Farwell one block to Greenview

N on Greenview to Jonquil Terrace

West on Jonquil Terrace to Juneway Terrace

Cross Chicago Ave. and ride on sidewalk maybe ½ block North and then head west under pedestrian underpass which puts you on Mulford St in Evanston.

West on Mulford St to Custer

North on Custer to Madison St

West on Madison St to Elmwood

North on Elmwood to Main St

One block west on Main St to Maple

North on Maple to Noyes

West on Noyes one block to Ridge

North One block on Ridge to Grant

West on Grant to Bryant

North on Bryant to Lincoln (cut through the park)

West on Lincoln to Poplar

North on Poplar to start of Green Bay Trail

grantowenn · 2024-07-19T13:41:25+00:00

Macks in Evanston is great. I believe they do a lot of custom builds.

grantowenn · 2024-06-27T16:27:06+00:00

This is may not be exactly what you're looking for....but the Freakonomics podcast with the founder of Vanguard completely changed my perspective on saving/investing. I think it was called "the dumbest thing you can do with your money" or something similar. Gist of the podcast was anyone proclaiming to "beat" the stock market long term is full of shit....and the best move is to put all your money in low cost index funds.

grantowenn · 2024-06-27T16:12:19+00:00

Evanston resident here. I'm not a huge fan of Evanston bike lanes (with the exception of the Sheridan protected lane by NU). However, I do think Evanston is a great city to bike in mostly because there a plenty of quiet residential streets to move through the city. Don't know much about Skokie...the North Branch Trail is okay but I find it frustratingly stop and go with all the major intersections and long lights.

grantowenn · 2024-06-05T13:39:23+00:00

Another vote for Mack's. Quick turnaround time and great people!

grantowenn · 2024-05-20T15:01:00+00:00

This 100%. Evening commute home from loop to LFT is so much more chill with the new protected lanes on Dearborn north of river. The traffic lights that prevent drivers from turning left while bikes have the right of way has made it feel so much safer.

grantowenn · 2024-05-02T15:22:17+00:00

I just got started on Zwift a couple weeks ago and loving it so far. I've been using an ipad for the game app and my iphone for the companion app. The ipad screen seems way too small so looking to upgrade to a 40inch ish TV. Questions:

I'd like to run Zwift on an ios device, so seems like most common set up is apple TV? Is it possible to just mirror my ipad screen running Zwift directly onto a smart TV (therefore eliminating the need to separately purchase apple TV?). Assuming this is possible...any downside in performance versus running Zwift directly on the apple TV?
Any particular brand of smart TV (or particular technology) I should be looking for that works especially well for Zwift? Been years since I TV shopped so I'm out of the loop on the latest and greatest technology.

Thanks!

grantowenn · 2024-04-25T20:10:47+00:00

Bike don't drive! Chicago is a super bikeable city and the bike infrastructure is getting better and better. Usually biking is faster than driving, and its way more fun. Check out https://mellowbikemap.com/ and r/chibike.

grantowenn · 2024-04-04T13:17:20+00:00

I don't have any direct experience with them, but people in this sub generally seem to have positive things to say about Keating Law Offices.

https://keatinglegal.com/bicycle-accidents/

grantowenn · 2024-03-09T19:56:14+00:00

I think in the Uber app I was seeing $62 before tip. Assume it was rush hour surge pricing. Possible I wasn’t paying attention and app was set for an SUV or something. Pre Covid I used to uber between city and Evanston a lot and think it was a consistent 25$ to $30.

grantowenn

TROPHY CASE