Museum of Science and Industry

I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you all for your enthusiasm, encouragement, comments and suggestions. This has truly been an amazing experience and I owe it, in part, to your involvement.

I also want to thank the folks at MSI who have taken such good care of me. I never anticipated making such great friends during my time here.

Knowing that today would be a whirlwind, I did most of my looking back in my previous post called, appropriately enough, "

"Alright Mr. Byrne. Lay back on the couch and relax. Where would you like to start?"
"Well, it all goes back to my childhood..."

Nah - just kidding. It's not going to be like that. But this is the time where I reflect on my stay here and get a little deep. Not deep-sea-diving-deep but deep enough to jump in and make a decent cannonball splash. You with me? Good.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about why I'm here and my goals for the month. I could tell you all the background but how about I just...

Today I met an amazing group of scientists. Sure, their average height is 4-foot-something and they can't get a license for a few more years; but they are scientists nonetheless. The students I met show passion and intellect; they're curious and well-spoken. They have a real enthusiasm for learning. As middle schoolers, they may not fit your preconceived notion of a scientist but I argue they're scientists just the same.

One of the points I tried to make in

The Golden Girls theme is pretty iconic but if you don't recall how it goes, please Google it now. No really. Open up a new tab and get this 42 seconds of sweetness stuck in your brain. We'll wait.

<raps fingers on desk and checks the time>

Alright. So, you're back? You know the tune? Excellent. We'll get back to the song in a second, but for the moment, we can proceed.

Now that I just have a couple of days left of my month, I'm starting to be reflect on my time here. I'm thinking about the...

Bust out the cigars, everyone; it's time to celebrate! I'm a proud father to 17 Black Java chicks. There may be more to join the peep (yes, you can actually call a group of chicks a peep) but at last count I have 17 little ones calling me papa (watch out Jim Bob Duggar). Oh- and I speak chick, so don't question me on this. I've been eagerly awaiting their arrival throughout their 21 day incubation period. How eager was I? Check out where I slept the night before they finally shed their shells:

...