{"id":91,"date":"2010-12-13T07:23:13","date_gmt":"2010-12-13T15:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/?p=91"},"modified":"2019-11-06T09:58:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T17:58:20","slug":"chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/?p=91","title":{"rendered":"Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Exhibit<\/a>So, after Vancouver, work pulled me to Chicago, to attend RSNA – the radiology industries largest conference and trade show. I’ve never been before, attending the smaller SIIM show in the summer seemed to exclude me from attending RSNA – people didn’t generally seem to get to attend both. But this year, I didn’t go to SIIM, and Chicago was on the way home from Vancouver. Veronica being with me made it a perfect excuse to visit friends in Chicago, and then take a long route home via Boston, New Haven, and New York.<\/p>\n

Many of my colleagues were in Chicago – and a good few customer-colleagues too, so I was pretty sure it’d be a full-on week. I’d also been warned RSNA is pretty intense – it\u2019s a huge show, can be pretty disorienting, and there is very little downtime.<\/p>\n

\"Exhibit<\/a><\/div>\n

They certainly weren’t understating that. Three huge exhibit halls, 700+ companies exhibiting – some of who’s booths were larger than the entire trade exhibit at other shows, 60,000 attendees, nearly 3000 sessions. My programme and pass for the show were sent to Edinburgh, then forwarded on for me, so by the time I could book sessions I was interested in, most of them were already fully booked. Next year I’ll know better. I did manage to blag, stubborn, patience, or flirt my way into quite a few sessions though. There was a lot of medical content that was a bit over my head in some sessions, but I still felt like I was learning a huge amount. There were poster sessions covering some more basic topics too, as well as some with stunningly simple and brilliant ideas.<\/p>\n

\"Clinton<\/a><\/div>\n

On Tuesday, there was a talk by Bill Clinton. It was oversubscribed, of course, and even the overflow rooms showing the talk on video were full. The most interesting thing for me, though, was how polarised the reactions of doctors next day were. I sat down for coffee with a group of younger American radiologists who were discussing one thing he said.. That, as a doctor, if you don\u2019t devote some of your time to helping people who can’t afford to pay for healthcare, you’ll wake up one day and regret it. The reactions seemed to be about equally split between “well, of course, I became a doctor to help people!”, and “why the hell should I give my services, acquired at great personal expense, to people who can’t pay me for my time?”. I can’t imagine the latter sentiment being heard from a doctor anywhere else in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Wicked<\/a><\/div>\n

There was socialising with people from my customer too. We went up the Hancock Tower for cocktails one night – it\u2019s the same price to go there for one cocktail as it is to pay for the observation lounge one floor higher, and the cocktails are nice! (Peanut Butter Bourbon will have to be recreated as soon as I figure out how they made it.. Definitely peanuts and bourbon, but not actually peanut butter I suspect). On the way up in the lift we were pounced on by a friendly English girl, who turned out to be an actress from Doctor Who, who had been in town for the Doctor Who convention the weekend before. No-one you’ll have heard of, I suspect, she was in audio-book Dr.Who only.<\/p>\n

Then on Wednesday evening, Veronica and I went to see Wicked with another friend\/co-worker. It’s a fun show, and definitely a more credible development of wickedness than the book, I think. But then, I didn\u2019t like the book much after the first half, and I loved the show. If you get a chance, go see it – its fun, will make you laugh, and wish you were green.<\/p>\n

While I was working, Veronica had a chance to catch up with our friend Sandra. Sandra came to visit us in Edinburgh six years ago, after we got to know each other online – and we’ve stayed in touch ever since, although this was the first time Veronica had seen her since Edinburgh. I’m sure Veronica will share more about her explorations of Chicago, I didn’t really get to spend much time with Sandra till the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Still<\/a><\/div>\n

Sandra doesn’t much like having her picture taken – but she does like boats. \ud83d\ude42 On Friday, she took us to see where she keeps her boat – although being Chicago, the boat was out of the water, the water was frozen, and the yacht club abandoned. There was also various yummy food, playing of games (including Chrononauts and Dominion) with Sandra and her daughters, sharing of beer and studious avoiding of talking about work with Sandra’s husband, construction and decoration of a magic Christmas Tree, and a fairly constant low level of sarcasm not usually understood outside the UK. I had, oddly, been feeling homesick for Vancouver before spending time with Sandra and her family, but we felt very much welcomed and at home (thank you all!).<\/p>\n

The snow started falling on Friday evening, and there were a good few inches lying on Saturday morning. But Chicago knows how to deal with snow, so the main roads were already cleared by when Sandra drove us over to Michael’s, and generally people seem to have clue about snow driving. So unlike the UK!<\/p>\n

Staying with Michael, Angie and family felt in some ways like being back in the Highlands. Maybe it was the European features of their house (it was built by Germans), or maybe the extended family popping in and out, or sharing of childcare across generations, or just the genuinely wonderful warm welcome from everyone in the house – but it felt like Highland hospitality in the most simple and wonderful way. Coffee, doughnuts and cheese danish for breakfast though, that felt quite American!<\/p>\n

\"Warming<\/a>On Sunday, there was a Toys for Tots motorcycle run, and Michael was riding in it. It’s an annual thing, often with thousands of bikes (I think the record is 20,000), and I had a loose plan to hire a Harley and go ride with him. I’ve long had a dream to ride a Harley in America, and it would have been perfect to ride with a buddy, and do something special like this at the same time. But alas, 30th November is the last day anyone will hire a Harley out in Chicago, and the ride was on Dec 5th. It was just as well I didn\u2019t hire one, though, because snow and motorcycles don’t mix. I got to sit on Michael’s bike as he turned it over, but the bike wasn’t leaving the garage that day.<\/p>\n

For those who follow Michael’s journal, I also got to see some of his NASCAR momentos and videos.. And listen to his evil chuckle as he planned further taunting of his Nigerian scammer.<\/p>\n

Sunday evening was the start of our trip to Boston. We planned this section by Amtrak, to give us some downtime together, and a chance to relax. Since getting a nice bedroom on the train was still (a little) cheaper than flying, and this was likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, we’d booked the bedroom. I did worry, as we turned up in the snow, that the train wouldn’t run, or would be terribly delayed. Walking out to the train, and seeing how snow-encrusted it was, I worried even more. But I didn\u2019t need to. Snow wasn’t going to slow down the train.<\/p>\n

As we were sleeper passengers, we were invited for cheese and wine on the train. It felt like the old university cheese and wine parties for students, you felt like the best wine was being hidden in the back for the staff, and the cheese was on paper plates with grapes, but.. It was very welcoming. Then our bedroom was made up when we got back, and it was time for sleep. The bedroom was pretty nice, really – the lower bunk is just barely big enough for a very snuggly double, so we didn\u2019t use the top one at all, and having your own toilet and shower is great too.<\/p>\n

\"Buffalo<\/a><\/div>\n

Waking up Monday morning, watching the train rolling through the snow on schedule, was impressive after experience of British trains being stopped for the slightest hint of white. In Buffalo, the snow was eight or nine feet deep, so they only cleared one end of the platform, and stopped the train twice to let people on and off. But the train was on schedule.<\/p>\n

By lunchtime on Monday, though I was feeling pretty ill, and looking at pretty snow out of the window was no longer appealing – I slept through most of the rest of the trip, feeling more and more ill as the day went on. I suspect the French toast I had for breakfast may have been undercooked\/reheated – everything else I ate, Veronica ate too. By the time we got off the train in Boston, I was grey in colour, and barely able to keep my eyes open – so seeing Lori, Jonathon, and Scott.. being driven to Scott’s house, and going straight to bed, was the best thing ever.<\/p>\n

Boston, however, is for another post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, after Vancouver, work pulled me to Chicago, to attend RSNA – the radiology industries largest conference and trade show. I’ve never been before, attending the smaller SIIM show in the summer seemed to exclude me from attending RSNA – … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vancouver2010.skirnir.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}