Yeah, it's something of a shock to me to see more latinos here in not only in the Midwest, but in the rural Midwest. . .more than in actual Chicago!
Then again, I probably have a biased view of Chicago, being white and relatively upper middle class.
A Minnesota winter is probably going to last you six months. It's not at all warm in October, but it doesn't get bitterly, bitterly cold until late December / early January. By February suicide is an attractive option, as leaving the house has been such a miserable proposition for so long that you have effectively gone into hibernation.
There's a reason I live on the west coast, now. However, I still maintain that it's only cold outside if it's not physically possible to dress warmly enough to be comfortable. Having that attitude makes sure I never lose sight of the wonderful gift of reasonable temperatures year-round that I now have.
I'm a bit sad that after you talked about the guy who designed the conveyor system, I couldn't stop thinking about John Cleese talking about his design for a block of flats.
There was a BBS, the Abattoir Flats, that was named after that sketch. I'm still in touch with the sysop.
Heh, hadn't heard that sketch, but Googled up http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3370/archi.htm and http://youtube.com/watch?v=IwwztaZUkUw