Walk this way.

Grab a cup of coffee, we're going on a ride.

The ride starts at the local DMV office. It turns out that, of all the DMV offices in the Chicagoland area, there are only two where you can actually do anything with a car, Libertyville and North Chicago. I won't go into how stupid it is that the Department of Motor Vehicles of the third largest city in the country only has two places that can help you with the most prolific motored vehicle (by far).

Anyway, I went down to Foster St. and Elston yesterday because I needed a new driver's license and registration for the 6. Before I go on, I would like to pat myself on the back for passing the written test even though I haven't seen a DMV book in nine years. I only missed one question (by the way, if you are driving down the road and the rear end starts to slide, you SHOULD steer in the direction of the slide and NOT hold the wheel firmly and gently press the brake).

Next thing I know, I'm a bon-E-fied resident of Illinois with proof and everything. Next I had the pleasure of getting a registration for the love mobile. This I managed even though the incredibly smart, handsome, nice-smelling people at the Michigan DMV managed to get BOTH my name and car's identification number wrong on my original registration. Some would say they are "Comcastic!". I would agree. Life lesson: if you are ever in a similar situation, it pays off to flirt with the cute girl at the auditing counter who checks all your paperwork. I felt like Faceman on the A-Team.

Well, after the wily actions, I headed home. The plan was to go the corner of Foster and Elston and take the #92 bus east to the Red Line. When I got to the bust stop, I decided that it was not too cold to walk to the El. Turns out it's a five mile walk. The walk itself was actually pretty nice. It was good to go through the town and feel a part of the city. It reminded me of when I was in high school and walked home from the bus stop.

Well apparently, Foster St. is the education corridor for Chicago because I passed these places, in order:

• Budlong El. School - Home of the Fighting Bulldogs
• Chappel El. School - Home of the Fighting Some Guy on a Horse
• Amundsen High School - Proudly displaying a sign outside the gym that says, "Are you setting a good example?"
• Trumbull El. School - Part of the gifted magnet school program

The walk in general went well until I came up on Ashland, where I got a blister on my left heel. Things got a little difficult after that. Now, there is a very important lesson here. If you are ever walking east on Foster in the city, trying to get to the closest El stop, you SHOULD turn left on Broadway and right on Berwyn. You should NOT continue walking down Foster until you get to Sheridan Rd., double back, head north down a side street, left on Berwyn and into the station. Whatever you do, remember that there is no El stop on Foster itself. Not that you would think that... only someone completely dumb would think that.

Two and a half short hours after leaving the DMV, I arrived at Casa Cardenas. I was envigorated by the whole thing. I felt alive! To that end, I took a nap.

What's the point of this rambling entry, you ask? Simple: most people will read anything. Want more proof? On how many links did you click?