Back from Chicago, yet again....

Yes, I was in Chicago for the last week on a training symposium. I had an altogether great time, attended some great classes and met some nice people. They have a beautiful facility there.. with a 600, an 800 and a 900 MHz instrument, all with cryoprobes, all Brukers. Although, our lab uses a Varian 800, I have always had a sneaking admiration for Brukers, which allow for more flexibility (I think). The most important thing I learned at the workshop was to stop butting my head out wondering about the physics and to just grab a ubiquitin sample and start recording spectra. They let us play with the 600 MHz spectrometer, and we had lots of fun.

After the workshop, I spent a very boozy weekend with my friend in Evanston. He works for a SSNMR lab at Northwestern... their magnets are not the super high res contraptions we use.. these are physicists' devices with fifty random wire leads and soldering wire all over the place. Extremely radical hardcore experimental physics.

We went to attend a Latin music festival at Grant Park.. that was a total disaster... remind me to maintain a safe distance from Latin music in the future. Chicago offers open air movie screenings at sunset every Tuesday in summer. Love that city.