pigs don't fly

 i began the day in elk grove village, Illinois, at my hotel, the super-8. i still like the continental breakfast and had a waffle again. as usual, i like how there isn't much to do on the final day in town. besides the breakfast, check out of the hotel and get on the road back to the airport. i did go past one place i recall from living there and noticed the Butera grocery store i once shopped at has changed again. it became a Walmart for a while and now it is a 'pickleball club'. at the hotel, i saw a wall phone with a GE logo on it, a reminder of my former employer. turned in the rental car and got on a tram that took me to the terminal. i bought some postcards and a sticker, then saw a big sign saying, 'pigs don't fly'. it was a public service ad from the USDA to prevent African swine fever. i flew a different airline leaving Chicago than the one that brought me there, wanting to use some miles to make one of them a free flight. two more notable songs from the trip, due to having the radio on in the rental vehicle, was by Sabrina Carpenter, and Eminem. first time i had heard Sabrina, it was 'espresso', i liked the line 'my give-a-damns are on vacation'. and as for Eminem it was one i wasn't familiar with, called 'smack that'. when i landed back at MSP i did go into some shops. first was open book, it had name recognition as i am a member of the loft literary center. i bought a greeting card. then it was to a Minnesota-themed shop where i got a Linus candy bar, along with a Charlie Brown and snoopy can cozy. then it was home. i picked up my car from long-term parking, checked in there for the first time since i had heard of a chance of snow and wanted to avoid being towed. no snow emergency texts on my phone, so it must have been very little snow when i was out of town. there was some snowfall when i was in Chicago, thankful i had a snowbrush to take care of it. then it was to Aldi to get groceries and watching 'jeopardy'. i went to perform in the evening, and most of my stories were about being out of town.