We returned to Chicago for this year’s AAO, where I once again secured a room at the Hyatt adjacent to McCormick Place for maximal convenience. Upon landing, I opted for an Uber over the sketchy walk to Chinatown for late night HK eats at Chi Cafe. Having left my hat on the plane, I picked up a replacement at TJ Maxx on the way to a Genentech ad board next morning. Without a friend to join me for dinner afterwards, I requested a stuffed companion for solo hot pot at Haidilao. On Friday, I bounced between the Retina and Uveitis subspecialty days, and gave my talk on gene therapy-associated inflammation to the more intimate uveitis crowd. Dinner at S.K.Y. was sublime, with an unforgettable foie gras bibimbap that had me savoring the umami bomb the rest of the evening. I presented my second talk and OCT course on Saturday, with a lunch break in between over more hot pot with my ex-fellows. The Arts in the Dark parade that evening kept downtown traffic in gridlock, foiling my hopes of attending all three alumni receptions. I did a few interviews and a consulting gig before returning to O’Hare for dinner and flight home. Melody and I returned from our respective meetings to find our house in chaos, with no internet and no microwave. I hurriedly purchased a replacement cable modem and microwave from Best Buy on Monday, which helped me troubleshoot, identify, and replace the culprits – a failed power adapter for the modem and a burnt thermal fuse in the microwave. We celebrated my DIY repair successes over AYCE wagyu hot pot with my parents, followed by more hot pot, froyo, and father-son time before they returned home. With Chinese school in full swing, we had little time to enjoy Pioneer’s Fall Festival, as we acknowledge our waning free time together against mounting Westley activities.