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