Graceland Cemetery: Grave of George Pullman

Other than its size, George Pullman’s grave doesn’t seem that interesting. But hidden underneath, is the story of a man who’s controversial life caused him to fear retribution even after his death.

 A high school dropout at age 14, George Pullman started his working life helping his father relocate houses along the Erie Canal in New York. When he relocated to Chicago in search of more opportunities, he used that knowledge to come up with a way to raise up the buildings so that a sewage system could be constructed.

 To reach Chicago from New York, Pullman had ridden a cramped cross-country train. This inspired him to design a sleeping car that would be more comfortable on long trips. Pullman’s sleeping car first gained fame when it was used to transport President Lincoln’s body from Washington D.C. to Springfield, IL.

The demand for Pullman’s railroad cars kept growing, leading him to hire more and more workers. Pullman purchased 4,000 acres of land near Chicago and created what is still one of the most famous company towns. This area is now managed by the National Park Service.

While Pullman’s company was having success, across the nation laborers were starting to assemble. The Pullman workers were eligible to join the American Railway Union and started airing their grievances. Negotiations were not successful, and so, a strike was called. Union members stopped any work dealing with Pullman cars, the effects of which were felt nationwide. The Illinois government tried to intervene and military members were sent to Chicago to try to stop the strike. This only made things worse and mob action grew once the military was there.

Eventually the strike did end, and the ARU ended as well. After the strike, things didn’t quite go back to normal in the company town. People were upset over living conditions and feeling that the company was taking advantage of them.

 George Pullman and his family knew he had screwed up. The family was so fearful of someone digging up Pullman’s body to desecrate or for ransom that they had the coffin covered in tar and asphalt. The coffin was then encased in a large block of concrete that was reinforced with railroad ties.


Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/pull/learn/historyculture/the-pullman-story-part-2.htm https://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/graceland/pullman.html
Photo: Author's Own

Blog Resurrection 2: Electric Boogaloo

It's been five years since I've last touched this blog and so much has changed! Well, my life has changed, but my love of learning has not. I now work in education and being surrounded by learning everyday only motivates me more to continue my self-studies. I am back on Blogger to chronicle my MOOC obsession, reading, and travel. I also wanted a place to publish pieces I've submitted to Atlas Obscura that haven't been published there. I love visiting weird places, and now also, researching new ones. I love the excitement of falling down a rabbit hole of interesting research! Really, this blog is just for me. I've never had regular readers and doubt I ever will. But, if I'm going to be writing these things down anyways, why not slap them up here, just in case?

January 3-13 Summary

Personal Training: I worked pretty diligently on studying the ACE practice test, when I tested myself on 1/ 11 got a 59/60, not bad! Towards the end of the period I also started actually read the book and writing down and defining vocabulary words. I found some good videos online explaining a few different concepts too and am on the look out for more. Reading: During this period I finished the books How to Instantly Connect with Anyone by Leil Lowndes, What the Most Successful People do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam, and The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness by Steven Scott. How to Instantly Connect was pretty good, it was 90-some "little tricks." I liked that it was practical things to try instead of general philosophy on communication. Before Breakfast was a quick little read, nothing too profound but nice motivation and I have been trying to get up earlier. Richest Man was ok, I liked the idea and the advice but I wish it had more practical applications. I also started reading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Camera Surgery: A while back the tabs on the mounting ring of my DSLR lens broke. I researched the problem online and apparently it's pretty common. I finally ordered a new part during the period and attempted surgery. It didn't go so well. At first I thought I had it and then I tugged a bit too hard on a ribbon and it snapped. I figured ok, so maybe it won't auto-focus. I finished putting it back together and it went onto the camera alright. Apparently it's the wrong part though because now it won't come on. I've set it aside to work on again later. I still think it's worth it, a professional repair costs as much or more as a new lens. Definitely an interesting learning experience too. TED Talks: I wish I had discovered TED talks sooner! There are so many great ones. I enjoyed most of the playlist How to Tell a Story, as well as a few other random ones. Interesting Things Watched: I watched a lot of episodes of Shark Tank. I love seeing all the new business ideas. An interesting documentary I watched on Hulu was Erasing David. My dad is very into privacy and has gotten me into it as well somewhat. I wish there was an America version of Erasing David but I still think it would be eye opening to anyone who isn't familiar with privacy and data mining. I made a joke to a friend the other day that if someone were to look at my "Recently Watched" on Netflix they would probably assume I'm a boy. I've been watching a lot of weapons and military shows.

Resurrection

So I've decided to resurrect this blog, mainly with an autodidactive focus. I've been keeping a notepad file with notes on what I accomplish each day, but thought why not go ahead and post them publicly too? I'm thinking I will keep my notepad file for daily notes and then weekly or so post them here, since notepad is simpler for quick jottings. What I've been working on: -Study guides for the ACE personal trainer certification test, I usually work on about 5-10 pages a day -Lots of reading of all kinds -I have a large list of bookmarks of resources that I will start to utilize -Soon I will be starting the new semester of college, which isn't really autodidactive, but oh well -I have some anatomy books and study guides that I'm going to start using

P90x Update

So I have today left and then I'll have done a full week of following the actual P90x schedule.

I did Yoga X for the first time this week. The beginning I found really boring and I was starting to whine, but after the first 45 minutes it got fun.

Yesterday was Legs and Back and my DVD is scratched so it skips a little so I did parts myself, but I've done it enough to know the moves without the video on.

Today is Kenpo X which I've always liked, so I should have no problem doing it today.

We'll see how next week goes!

My Newest Hobby....

From schooling blog to mail blog to... fitness blog?
Really that's not as many changes as some blogs I've seen. But it's my newest hobby so that's what I feel like writing about. Reading so many fitness blogs has made me want to write again. And I read a lot of fitness blogs, and watch fitness youtube videos, and read fitness magazines. Sometimes I think I spend more time reading about working out than I do actually working out. But really I've never done much athletic (closest I've come to a sport is when I started karate a few years ago) so a few times a week is good. I've been working up to working out more.

So one thing I do is P90x; I love it. At first I just randomly did whatever sounded fun because I have exercise ADD. But this week I decided to at least try to follow the schedule. I'm on day 3 today, shoulders and arms. This is one of my favorites anyways because I love flexing my arms. =P Day 1 was chest and back, I needed a new copy of that so I subbed in chest, shoulders, and triceps which isn't in this phase. The last few weeks my shoulders have been killing me (I need to get to the chiropractor) so I'm thinking today I'll do shoulders with no weights just to stretch them a bit. Seriously, I love working my arms though! Yesterday was plyo, which I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with. For the first time I made it all the way through! I took a couple extra breaks and started off a little lighter than normal, but it was worth it to make it through. My new all-time favorite exercise move EVER is the rockstar hop:

It's an exercise move based off the lead guitarist of my all-time favorite band ever. My life is now complete. At one point Tony even says, "Get it up there Peter Townshend." It was great.

So besides P90x I just bought the New Balance Minimus shoes to start running, but the package is still in my dad's car. I have other random cardio stuff and I love trying routines off youtube too. My best friend Liz is now my work out buddy and we just mix things up when she comes over. I definitely like working out at home better than a gym so it's nice to have company sometimes.

Alright, I'm not going to write everything in one big long post so I'll add more later.

Incoming: "It's A Spring Thing" swap..

..in which I got totally spoiled!


The envelope, along with a card I got the same day


Ready to be unpacked, plus address labels


Everything was in cute little bags


The first bag had tons of stickers


Then this one had address labels she made me and My Little Pony stickers!


Cards and more stickers


Everything together