Ron's Brain

I wasn't acutally in Chicago for most of Friday. I was south of it, at the Argonne National Laboratory. This wasn't as exciting as Blue Man Group, but it was still cool. I got to tour some parts of the lab and give a presentation. That went very well, I think. I made a few friends from DePauw University.

While at the lab, I got to see some cool things. The Advanced Photon Source was pretty cool, but the ATLAS (Acronym That Means Something But I Can't Remember) was much better, mainly because it wasn't built as to allow tours. We got to walk where the scientists walk. I got to stand next to liquid helium that was held at 4.2 Kelvin. Brrrrrrr.

We were promised a banquet after the presentations on Friday. What we got was finger food, basically. There were some kebobs, some cheeses, and (bleh) seafood, but not an actual meal. Fifteen minutes after everyone started to eat, the food was gone. I decided to leave and get some Chinese food. The woman taking my order asked "Can I help you, Miss? Oh! So sorry!" Because my hair is rather shaggy right now, this would not be the only time that this would happen.

Friday night "the guys" came to Chicago. We went to the House of Blues. On the way, Roger was offered a "shoe shine." The man giving the shine was pretty friendly, probably because he's already had his heroin fix, and gave us some advice on surviving in the big city. He mentioned that we should be wary of the "hos" as they would bump up against you and pick your pocket. He demonstrated the bumping maneuver on me, feeling my ass. Nothing says "Chicago" like being felt up by a black man that shines shoes with hand lotion. Of course, the shine was to cost more than what Roger originally offered the man.

The House of Blues was great. I love blues, and seeing a live blues band was an excellent end to an evening. When we finally got our tab, we gave money to Rog and he paid for everything with his card. He put half of it off the table to let the waitress know that it was ready. When the waitress came to pick it up, he hit it and sent the card flying into the air. THAT was entertainment!