Well, first, it was chilly in the teens but definitely comfortable, no wind. And second, while riding up to a stop sign, I saw a cop approaching from the opposite direction so naturally, I came to a brief halt. HE DIDN'T! WTF? He didn't even slow down!

-Below doesn't really have a lot...err... nothing to do with commuting, it's more or less an observance on my commute.

Today was funny to me because as I was riding the streets of Chicago, and maybe what I mention is popular among other cities too but I have noticed before, put some thought into it, though never really thought about bringing it up in a thread but.... what is with people thinking that they can "hold" their parking spots with miscellaneous household items when there is snow on the ground?! I see chairs, benches, stools, garbage cans, bins, strollers, etc, etc, and these are supposed to be obeyed? I don't own a car, my apartment is the best parking spot for my "vehicle," and it doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, I understand that the sides of the roads are a pain in the rear to park especially when there is a ton of plowed snow to get your car stuck in and that you put some effort in shoveling your car out to get it unstuck. When the car is free, you then decide to clear the rest of the spot for ease of parking later. I also understand that you don't want somebody else taking advantage of a parking spot that is free of snow so that you can park two blocks away just to get it stuck all over again. But still! How is a folding chair going to stop someone else, who put all that effort into their parking spot just to have it taken and they found your clear spot, from parking in it? So they move your chair and park in a public free spot..... now what?

Well, as I was riding along, thinking about this and appreciating the fact that I don't have to deal with this problem, I remembered that I will be passing by a police station and maybe I'll be lucky enough to catch an officer outside so I could ask him. Well, a cop happened to step outside and I asked him what is up with (the above mentioned) the parking situation? And he said, no, it is not a legal way to "save" a spot but you know the kinds of people that can be around here... and you probably don't want to find that chair that you moved to be in your windshield or something else to happen to your car. I said... ok, thank you.

I should've should've asked the cop about the stop sign and the police car goin through it and yatta yatta but that was after the fact and I didn't feel like turning around.