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78F and sunny this afternoon.
At the high school, weekend building checks are a required part of my job, but since before I started there, Cezar has been voluntarily going in every Saturday and Sunday for two hours, to check the boiler and the doors and soforth.
But this week he's on vacation so yeserday Tom went in, and today, I did.
So... I slept in until about 1:30PM, then went straight to Potawatomi and got my two hours of double time to mostly sit around.
After that it was to Aldi, to get groceries... then I got gas... then I got beer... then I brought it all up here... then put the car away... then came back and put the groceries away.
And now it's 5:47, and I've cracked open a beer.
I actually shaved and showered at 7PM tonight, and then went down the block to Craft Urban afterward, to get a burger and an Old Style.
Six other people sitting at the bar with me, and four more out on the patio.
Two people walked in as I walked out.
Not bad business for so late on a Sunday night!
Yesterday was about exploring downtown for a while after I got up, and then I spent several hours here in the flat doing test vocals for, Clue Phone, which went very well!
I walked to get smokes as is the new custom, and stopped at Tavern on Broadway for a beer, to feel the place out.
It used to be, Tavern on the Fox, and back in the 90s and early 2000s, it was always jumping on Friday and Saturday nights.
But last night it was DEAD!.. four people in the place, and no music.
So, I've been living down here for over a month now, and I've spent at least some of my time every weekend walking around and exploring.
That began with Colleen's visit right as I moved here... then continued with GoFest the next weekend, and so on.
My preliminary report tonight is that while downtown Aurora definitely looks a lot nicer than it did back in the 90s... it's still kinda dead!
IT's cleaner now, and safer... there's a lot more public artwork... a lot more light and decor... and most of the storefronts are occupied now, with what look like very interesting little businesses.
But most of those shops, museums, etc, are closed on Mondays & Tuesdays, and even on days they're open, many lock up between 4 and 7PM.
Craft Urban is the only place I know of so far that's actually open 7 days a week until at least 10PM.
So... this place is pretty dead most nights, and even during the day it's dead for all of Monday and Tuesday.
It'll be interesting to see how that changes in September, because right now the two big draws are, The Paramount Theatre, and Waubonsee Community College's campus a few blocks west of it, on River Street.
But both theaters and colleges are seasonal!
They both ramp up in September, and shut down in May.
The City, I've noticed, really tries to get people down here in the summer by holding little block parties and events here an there... and they probably have to, because the only two draws are both dormant.
And you can really tell that everything down here is geared toward, either the fancy people coming to the Paramount, or the hip young students coming to the college.
That's why public art now has such a big presence down here, because art is one of the few interests that both crowds share in common.
Fancy people like artwork, and so do students!
But there still isn't an actual business that can draw both crowds.
And there's also no traffic between the college and the theater.
Fancy Broadway people aren't going to the college, and hip college students aren't going to the theater.
This is why Hoof & Horn is over on Downer, closer to River Street, and the college... while Altiro, the overpriced latin fusion restaurant, is here in the tower, right by the theater.
And because all the shops down here have chosen one camp or the other, there's nothing down here anymore for just... regular people from town!
Like, it was almost better down here in the 1990s, when most of downtown was rundown and vacant, but we did still have a few regular diners, and regular bars, where you could get regular cheeseburgers, and regular beers.
Those few places did manage to do solid business, seven days a week, late into the evening.
And I think it helped them, back then, that both the Public library, and Waubonsee's much smaller campus, were here on the island, a block apart... again, both open until 9PM.
Because they'd frequent those few little diners and bars along with the regulars from around town.
Again... most of downtown was dead, rundown, and vacant... but the little bit that remained alive was... for everybody.
By contrast, in the modern day, downtown's got nothing to offer to... just the regular working class townie.
And I feel like, without that... it's always gonna be struggling with this seasonal, weekend oriented economy that's trying to cater to two specialty crowds who don't have much overlap.
I mean, it looks like a lot of money's been sunk into this place in recent years, by the city, and by these entrepreneurs... but I can't believe anybody's even breaking even!
I feel like what's needed is a 24 hour Denny's, or something!
The casino (which was never any help) is vacating soon, and they built themselves a huge ugly parking garage right across the street from their front doors on New York Street, so that would be a perfect place to put a 24 hour, Denny's-type restaurant that draws people of all ages, wages, and colors.
Put a valet out there for the seniors, so they can just get out of their car and go inside, and everybody else can park in the garage, free of charge... no time limit!
That way you get everybody down here, at all hours, but they're not in any rush to get back to the car.
You throw some other regular joe type shops in downtown... a couple thrift stores, a Walgreens, and a few good old-fashioned dive bars... and you've got the Denny's people walking around... spending some money!
Then they see all the other stuff that's down here, and think, Hey!.. maybe I'll come back for this or that!
And all these places would at least overlap with the college crowd!
The fancy Broadway people would probably stear clear of the Denny's, but... they'd still be impressed by seeing all the extra foot traffic around, and, ya know... they might pop into the Walgreens!
So I guess the conclusion of tonight's downtown report is that the place is looking a lot better, and shows promise, but... it's not firing on all cylinders yet!
Far from being twenty-four/seven/three-sixty-five... it's only twelve/five/two-seventy-three.
As for myself, I do feel like it's silly, at 55, to be living alone downtown.
At 25, or 35... sure!
And yeah, sure... it's interesting to explore things down here.
But I really was living my best life a year ago, fixing up an old house, mowing a lawn, and walking a dog, with two outdoor cats hanging around!
I'm way too old to make new friends, or get into a relationship, so there's no future for me down here... where I've got no animals or plants to commune with and care for... and no house to maintain.
But it's probably impossible for me to buy the house back in October/November.
I mean... maybe, if all the stars aligned just perfectly I could pull it off, and then rent the upstairs to stay on top of the mortgage.
But I haven't even updated my address with everybody yet, and by the time I do... I'd be moving back and changing it back again?
What does that even mean for voting?
Am I really gonna break this lease after four months... pack all this shit up a second time, and move it all back?
And then when I get back, all the furniture's gone... all my lawn equipment's gone... garbage cans, lamps, a huge stock of supplies in the basement, and the shelves they were on, gone.
Even with a renter, would I have enough money to ever replace all that shit?
It may make a lot more sense just to take a few years here, to pay down the debts, let the chaos fade into the past, establish a history renting here, and working at Potawatomi, and then go for a mortgage on a smaller house, and start over with new pets.
My siblings do not seem to give a single shit about me getting that house back.
And while their kids may still be sentimental about it... none of them would ever magically move to Aurora and take it over, to keep the legacy alive.
So that means Prowly is the only reason I'd need to be moving back there, this fall.
Prowly and my own attachment to the place.
But the workers haven't closed off those cat doors yet, which I speculated on Friday meant they had no clue a cat was still around, so didn't see the need.
But Brian pointed out that he may have introduced himself to them, and charmed them into leaving his cat door functional, because he's the fun cat at the worksite for them.
And I suppose that's as plausible as any other theory I've postulated lately, about him, or the house.
Why not?
So, I think as I go into this new work week...
I'm gonna embrace the idea that I'm here in the studio for the longer term, to pay down debts and establish a new history... post Dad, and post foreclosure.
But if the cosmos wants to help me buy the house back in October... fine!
If that's what's meant, and that's what the house wants... fine!
But in the mean time, I need to get grounded, and get on a path to some kind of stability.
°¦}
