Ok, Ok, Ok....finally trying to catch up...todays entry is my day on Sunday with my dear friend Craig Henderson.
In a previous post I had mentioned that my friends in Chicago had promised an exciting and unusual stay here...well the first day we only spent a small portion of the day actually in Chicago.
Craig was kind enough to include me in a very special adventure, one that I will cherish for many years to come!

Our very exciting and unusual day began surprisingly enough at Chicago's O'Hare airport.  We got up early Sunday morning to catch our 8:40 flight, first class by the way (I can't remember the last time I flew first class, gotta be pre-recession)...to Philadelpha, not for a history lesson, but something entirely different (aren't you glad that the history lessons are lessening)!
Here's Craig standing before a dinosaur at the airport, who ever heard of a dinosaur at an airport?  Other than the little known, clayasauras!
Craig is another of my great friends from high school.  You have met two others here... Bill Crawford and Roger Ulmer, with two more yet to see.  Seeing my dearest friends on this adventure was one of my primary objectives before leaving Orange County!
Craig began his career out of college by working as a bond trader for First Boston on Wall Street!  Here is this guy who graduated from little known Western Michigan working with graduates of Harvard, Wharton, the University of Chicago and every Ivy League school that you can think of....Craig, the youngest broker and from the least prestgious school outperformed them all and almost outlasted them all!  Not bad, ehh?
Anyway, Craig grabbed his cajones and made the decesion to leave his lucrative job at First Boston, move to Chicago and start his own firm...specializing in municipal bonds...Craig has built his company into one of the top firms in the country, if not the top!
Craig like all of my close friends have made the decesion at one time or another in their lives to do what made them happy and to live in places that they love...one of the reasons I respect and admire them all.
His client list (whom I promised not to divuluge) reads like a who's who of people you hear about damn near on a daily basis in the media!

Say hello to Allieu Jallah.
Allieu is from Sierra Leone and was the first person that we had the opportunity to meet in Philadelphia, a very nice man...one who is extremely greatful to be in this country and have the opportunity to improve his life, through hard work and the freedom to live as he chooses...something that many of us take for granted.
Anyway after a white knuckle thrill ride worthy of Magic Mountain (Craig and I kept cinching our seat belts tighter), we arrived at our destination.
Here I am back in the eastern time zone after celebrating my departure from it only the day before...at least we had tickets back to Chicago that evening and would be westward bound once again!

By now you (hopefully) are wondering what prompted this quick trip east.
Craig owns a big piece of a trotter by the name of Put On A Show...shown here with Craig, Chris, on the left (the trainer) and the rest of the staff that take care of Show and keep her in top condition to run her races.
Put On A Show was running in a $100,000 stakes race (the top purse of the day).  Two years ago she was "Trotter of the Year" and won $1.3 million.
Once again...not to bad, ehh!

I get the opportunity to meet a celebrity!
once again carrying the TROJANS nationwide!
Everyone in the country will be envious of my alma mater by the end of the upcoming football season!
I hope!

Put On A Show is a beautiful horse, shown here warming up with trainer Chris.

To give you a feel for harness racing I took this picture a couple of races before the big stakes race...the racing is very exciting and as you can see has a degree of elegance that I wasn't expecting!

The proud owner watching as his horse surges into the lead...Show was the favorite going off at 3 to 5 odds.
I bet $40 on her to win!

Here is Show running away from the field...she ran the fastest 1st 3/4s of a mile that she had ever run!
The race was a mile.

Show being beaten by a head at the finish..she finished 2nd, costing me $40 but providing me with a memory of a lifetime!
Suffice it to say the driver (jockey) didn't hold Show back on a very warm day, tiring her needlessly when she had a dominating lead and single handedly was responsible for her less than stellar finish...I do believe that he was fired immediatly after the race...after all they are paid to WIN!

At the Philadelphia airport heading home.
Craig putting on his best smile after what turned out to be a disappointing day...but we were happy to be in the air conditioning after a really warm and humid day in the City Of Brotherly Love.
Thank you Craig for GREAT DAY!
I'm not sure if I'll be able to catch up on the blog after all today.
My good friend Dave Dickins is hammering me as I write this to get my shit together so we can go to his cabin in the woods...didn't know they had woods in Illinois!
They tell me it's going to be hard to find wifi...I will however make my best effort!
Till next time...live each day to it's fullest...you never know when your ticket is going to be punched.