Nobody is ever lost

After the rains it was good to see the pizza party return around midnight - soaked, but satied. The strom quickly passed, which disappointed the ten or so English guests, who'd spotted a golden opportunity to rekindle some form of blitz spirit.

So desperate were they to dig in for the long haul that they remained huddled like mice in the corner of the lobby long after the storm had turned to heavy drizzle, trapped in a heroic disaster movie of their own making, united excitedly around a couple of apples and a packet of pringles, salvaged from their rooms on the 'unsafe' upper floors.

Tuesday morning - Chicago sparkled and I went to meet my old friend Bridget from Milwaukee, who I first met in Canterbury, when I was a first year undergraduate twenty years ago. She was on a one year exchange programme and although she's been back since I can't think that we've seen each other for fifteen years.

It's amazing to realise that nobody in the industrial world is ever really lost. Facebook, blogs, reuniting websites all make it seemingly possible to re connect with anybody from your past. Its the surveilliance society's secret joy ... hidden treasures in the shape of old friends, unexpectedly reappearing to delight you. In the end we just sat by the Chicago river filled in the gaps, laughed a lot and I couldn't believe how fast afternoon turned to evening. A fantastic day!