McCrone, Day....4? Yeah, 4

Welcome to Thursday! Class was good today, we started by looking at the rest of our natural fibers and using the PLM to characterize them. Then we got some unknowns. My slide had 4 unknowns on it, two fibers and two minerals. Fibers are cool. Minerals suck-ee. I finally figured out what they were, but it took me a while. Plus I had to find the dang things. And lots of minerals look alike, so if you try to compare them, you lose whichever rock you were looking at to compare! The coolest thing we did today was microchemistry. Basically it's chemical tests on a microscope slide. Very neat!

Tomorrow's the last day, but at least it's not a full day. That would truly suck, having to leave here the same time everyone else in the city is. And on a Friday. Hopefully by the time 5pm rolls around here, I'll be in Kentucky. Headed back to SC and ground that I'm comfortable on. Not that Chicago hasn't been fun. I've walked up and down the same streets for four days and I still see things that I didn't see the day before. Shops, restaurants and alleys. There's just so much to do.

Well, I said yesterday and the day before that I'd post some pictures, so here they are:



You can't see it, but my hotel is on the other side of the Starbucks. The awning is right under the American flag. Both streets in this picture (and most in the downtown area) are one way. Guess which way my car is? That's right, off to the left, down another one-way street and three floors up. Guess how many cars will be parked out in front of the hotel tomorrow morning waiting on people to check out and leave? Bunches.

If you turned around to face the other way and walked down a couple of blocks, this is what you'd see. It's the Chicago Institute of Art. I don't know any of those people.

I don't think they mean $300/month.

This is Donald Trump's new building. It's right on the river. You can't see it in the picture, but the top's not finished. Kinda like tha Donald's hairdo.

Chicago HD. I was pleasently surprised to see a good amount of bikes on the streets. Lots of riders not wearing helmets. It's your choice, but if I were riding in this city you can bet I'd be wearing one!

It's hard to see, but that says Chicago Police on the side of that boat. I thought about vaulting over the side of the bridge, but I had forgotten to wear my eye patch and puffy shirt. No pirate action for me.

This is the video I took on State Street, near Wacker (I think). Yeah, Wacker Blvd. I can't make this stuff up. I don't know who those girls whose voices you hear in the video are, but as soon as I was done shooting the video, I tossed them off the bridge. And there was no Police boat around to save them!