Haven't posted here at all through the whole process, but this board has been very helpful and (somewhat, as much as possible) inspiring. I'm not the only one still waiting on December applications! And as a long-time resident of the chicago area (and phd dropout from one of its schools), I can assure you that it gets worse than that AAA weekend. Much, much worse. Think 3 feet of snow being carted off ton by ton in dump trucks, or this winter, -25 F air temperatures. Still a great place to live though