Trip to Chicago

Is inflation here?  Not exactly, but I did notice an uptick in prices since my last trip to Chicago and Milwaukee.  They've started to up the prices of some high ticket items like Coach purses.  My wife likes them but frankly, I don't look good sporting a Coach purse.  I stopped that a couple of years ago.

Chicago looks like a war zone, however.  We pour millions/billions into these cities with little effect.  One of the things that caught my eye was a couple of urban renewal sites where you have nice row houses with one of them sticking out like a sore thumb because the house and lawn have not been cared for properly.  It is usually boarded up with a 6x6 foot lawn overgrown with weeds waist high.

I could use a hand powered grass clipper and mow the lawn in 15 minutes.  Apparently the recipients of such housing fail to understand that one run down house out of 10 can make the whole row look like sh*t and if these properties are privately owned it reduces the value of their property.

Frankly, it doesn't matter who the mayor, president, senator or congressperson is; throwing dollars at a problem doesn't fix every problem.

Indianapolis and Chicago Trip

The first picture is a personalized Barry Sanders autograph I found for $50 in Indianapolis at a Village Discount Outlet.  The second is a $15 Burberry purse at a Unique Thrift.  I'm not sure if the Burberry is real, in fact I have no clue.

It is amazing how many fakes of a lot of things exist out there.  I found a Ben Roethlisberger official jersey and found out later it is a fake.  No problem, however, because it didn't cost me the real price!  And I'm not offended when someone points out it is a fake.

Speaking of jerseys, I also found what I think is a Milwaukee Brewers game used uniform top!  Set me back a full $5.

Chicago Bound

Headed to Chicago next week for the great thrift shops there.  I was wondering if anyone has a review of the Brown Elephant,  I think it is called.