1 The story continues at DecemberBlog
3 == Bernie's brain backup for November 2007 ==
9 My friend and colleague DjbClark invited me at his parents'
10 house for thanksgiving. It was a new, pleasing experience for me.
12 My impression is that it is a family reunion very much like
13 a second Christmas, but without the inconvenience of presents :-)
15 http://www.bigoven.com/images/blog/tgiv/tradmenu.jpg
21 ==== Yummy photos ====
23 DaSnake uploaded some pictures of the places we visited together on Flickr:
25 * BostonCity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasnake/sets/72157603205244949/
26 * NewYorkCity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasnake/sets/72157603203628915/
27 * ChicagoCity: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasnake/sets/72157603198958510/
28 * OneLaptopPerChild: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasnake/sets/72157603203191269/
30 === Wed 14th to Thu 15th ===
32 ==== Back to Boston ====
34 I'm back in Boston with DaSnake. He's been my guest for just one day.
35 Then he had to be back in FNAL for the shifts.
37 I really had urgent business at work, so I left my friend alone sightseeing Boston for the day.
39 http://www.radisson.com/rad/images/hotels/MABOSTON/loc3_450.jpg
43 === Mon 12th to Tue 13th ===
47 Flought Went to NewYorkCity with DaSnake. Finally got to visit the
48 AmericanMuseumOfNaturalHistory. Pretty impressive!
50 http://www.iesny.org/images/OCEANLIFE.jpg
54 http://www.rdominis.net/newyork/dinasaur01.jpg
58 === Fri 9th to Sun 11th ===
60 ==== An old friend ====
62 A few days ago, my old friend DaSnake appeared on IRC and told me he's
63 was an intern at FermiLab National Accelerator, near ChicagoCity.
64 I told him I was at OneLaptopPerChild, in CambridgeCity.
66 So we decided we were "close enough" to visit each other's workplace
67 and do some tourism together. So, on Friday morning, I took a cheap
68 UsAirways plane to ChicagoOHare through Philadelphia.
70 ==== Trip To Fermilab ====
72 Refer to the [[http://www.fnal.gov/pub/visiting/map/site.html | Fermilab map]].
73 My friend lives in a coed apartment in the Fermilab village, which is
74 surrounded by several little lakes with gooses, buffalo and various other
75 animals. Indeed, a very pretty natural park.
77 http://www-bd.fnal.gov/wao/fermipics/94-0470-09.jpg
81 On Saturday, I took a bike and rode on the bike path to the main
82 laboratory buildings. I took a guided site tour, starting from the
83 museum. They have lots of real-scale models of the accelerator parts
84 and really working equipment such as scintillators and Geiger's counters.
86 Then we visited the Wilson Hall, a 16 floors building shaped like Goldrake's
87 and Mazinger's atomic base.
89 http://www-bd.fnal.gov/wao/fermipics/99-0005-04.jpg
93 Q: ma cos'è tutta questa neve:è una cartolina? E tutti questi uccelli?
95 A: e' una foto presa a caso dagli archivi del FNAL :-)
97 Then... WAH! They guided us **inside** the [[http://linac.fnal.gov/ | Linac]]!
98 The Linac is the LINear ACcelerator facility, the first stage of acceleration
99 that produces protons for the MainInjector. It was like entering an old
100 science fiction movie. You know, like Frankenstein or Buck Rogers: with giant
101 Tesla generators, panels with flashing lights and indicators...Buck Rogers
102 The continuous buzz reminded us that the proton beam was shooting through
103 this long corridor next to me.
105 http://www-bd.fnal.gov/wao/fermipics/93-0073.jpg
109 Finally, we visited the MainControlRoom, from which they run the whole thing.
110 The room looks like the bridge of an old starship, surrounded by monitors,
111 with a bigger chair in the middle for the captain.
114 FermiLab is no doubt the most amazing place in the world:
116 * http://www-bdnew.fnal.gov/tevatron/
117 * http://www-bd.fnal.gov/wao/fermipics/fermipics.html
118 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tevatron
120 To beat this place, next time I shall visit the NCC-1701A!
123 ==== Chicago By Night ====
125 Yesterday we went to ChicagoCity's downtown. Wow... I was told the skyline was really
126 magnificent, but the real thing exceeded all my expectations.
128 http://allthingsgo.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/images-chicago-2005-chicago-by-night-2-700x700.jpg
132 We walked around a little, then went up the
133 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hancock_Center | John Hancock Center]],
134 the third tallest skyscraper, for a breathtaking view of the whole city by night.