Yesterday I got sent to fix power lines for outdoor security cameras at Rock n Roll McDonalds' in Chicago. I don't have a two way radio or cellphone, so everytime the other guy I was with adjusted the focus on the camera mounted to the McDonalds' sign outside, I had to dash back into the store, through a throng of customers and loiterers, into the office and up to the camera monitor. I must've done it 40 times. I almost knocked a drink tray out of a mother's hands. She was sauntering around a blind corner at the wax sculpture of Paul McCartney. I also nearly stepped on a small child who crawled out from under the table next to the red neon Under My Thumb sign.

The view of downtown from the roof was beautiful, marred only by the garish decoration of the Rainforest Cafe across Clark street from the store. There's no place for a ten foot tall tropical toucan bird in Chicago.

Panhandlers love the RocknRoll McD's. I got begged upon 5 or 6 times during the afternoon there. The store gives free food to cops, and whenever undesirables start prowling thier lot, be it dealers, whores,or beggars, they get an average police response time of 90 seconds. With their new high tech camera system, they can see these characters coming much more quickly. There's another reason for the beefed-up security... to deter lawsuits. People claim their children found Miracle Grow on a shelf and drank it, that there was a nail in their nugget, that they slipped in ketchup and broke their funny bone, you name it, someone's claimed it. They get sued almost daily.

It was a fun day and I'm hoping to get more involved with the CCTV business.
7:52 PM - Bottle Rocket Fire Alarm