Sears Tower Vexillology

At the Sears Tower yesterday, we didn't go to the tourist floor way up high. The Skydeck, as they call it, costs $12.95 for adults and $9.50 for kids over three years old. Twenty years ago, the cost was $3.50. I remember that because I paid it. Adjusted for 20 years of (fairly low) inflation, that means the cost should be about $6 now.

At that price for me and (say) $4 for the girls, a visit would have cost $14. In some minor-difference alternate universe, I might well have done that instead of going to the Art Institute. But that's not our universe. Instead of $14, the Skydeck made $0 off of me because of its price-jacking ways.

I had a short meeting on the ground floor of the Sears Tower, at the Starbucks there, with a real estate developer who's actually developing something. Nice to hear. True, the project's in Mexico, but as it happens the Mexican economy's not doing too badly. The development people and I sat at one table, and the girls at another, drinking hot chocolate, and they didn't bother me a bit during the meeting.

In the Franklin St. lobby of the Sears Tower, which has a very tall ceiling, there are 200-plus flags hanging on the wall behind the information desk. Even if you don't care one way or the other about flags, that's an impressive display -- and I like flags. But I'm not enough of a vexillology nerd to know all of them, and naturally Lilly asked me about one that looked familiar, but which I didn't know right away: blue field, yellow disc in the center.

Helpfully, one of the building employees behind the desk came forward with a pamphlet explaining the presence of the flags, and which flags they are. Turns out that one for each National Olympic Committee (205) hangs on the wall, plus three or four City of Chicago flags. Chicago, you see -- make that Mayor Daley -- wants the 2016 Games very badly. This is to remind passersby in the Sears Tower of that ambition.

Lilly had asked about the flag of Palau.