It seems that this winter is proving to be very educational in spite of CPS starting off the new year with two snow days. We are learning about terms like ‘polar vortex’ and ‘record breaking freeze.’ We are also learning that sometimes being the 4th highest scorer in a team’s history is not enough to keep that player from getting traded to Ohio. Yet sometimes statistics are given only a minor glance when drafting up a player’s seven year contract, if only because it is deemed better interest to a team’s offense to maintain continuity and solidify cohesion. A lot has changed in a year. Highway speeds in outlying rural areas have increased to 70 mph, concealed gun permits are legal; shootings have gone down in the last year while traffic accidents have gone up. We’ll just have to see what these new changes bring for this year. It turns out that more people are leaving the state than are coming in, which may have something to do with Illinois having the second highest property taxes in the nation.

There is a lot of heavy stuff going on right now and it might be a good time to consider going on an extended vacation to Hawaii, consider that property taxes are lower in Hawaii you might want to consider buying a house there. But we Chicagoans don’t get scared off that easily do we? Nope, we bear through the cold and truck on through the snow-salt-sludge, we use lawn chairs to mark our territory, and we eat bacon by the fist. We’ve got a good thing going with this city. Just in case you’re looking for a fun way to beat the cold, check out the 13th annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival. In case you don’t know what the sketch comedy festival is all about, I’ll fill you in. It’s a two week long event where comedy troupe’s from all over the world visit our fair city for the sole purpose of making you laugh. At the very least, Chicago has a great sense of humor, how else could we come up with so many comedy legends.