Funny Hats and Nightshifts

As requested by Elyse, I shall dedicate this entry to this season's headwear in Chicago, among other topics. The winter in Chicago is colder than in Germany, and this time it is cold even for local standards. As a matter of fact, we had the coldest day in the past decade just recently. No wonder people use all kinds of fashionable and not-so-fashionable-but-hey-at-least-it's-warm kind of hats to protect themselves against the bitter cold. As for myself, I try to blend in ... and I'm not afraid of being ugly!
In the third row from the top you see sundown in Chicago. As I was playing around with the features of my camera, I discovered it has a setting particularly for sunrises and sundowns. It does add a lot of red, but that does not make this shot less scenic. Now you might think that I would be on my way home from work when I took this picture, but I was actually going there. In mid-january I had one week in which I started only in the afternoon, but finished in the early morning hours. I felt quite comfortable with that schedule; apart from my first experience at BESSY (the synchrotron light source in Berlin) this just might have been my most intense week ever, and also a very efficient one. Fortunately there is a 7-eleven within walking distance from my lab, which is open 24/7. A basic level of supplies is granted even at the strangest hours. - I am very happy with the outcome of this work, and so are the two professors involved in this - they are very keen to publish these results. What more can you ask for as a scientist?
Well, you could ask for warmer temperatures. As you can see in the lower half of this image, there was one entire day below zero. In Fahrenheit, that is, which means below -18°C. The incredible -17°F, which correspond to -27°C, have been my personal all-time low so far. Along with the temperatures you see the time - I came home at 3:39 am, went back to work at 12:44 pm and returned home again at 4:06 am. The latter was particularly painful; not due to the early hour, but because of the cold. My train was supposed to arrive at 3:25 am at the station close to the university, and I was there five minutes early. I even waited in the lab, as not to stay outside in the cold for too long. Unfortunately the train was late by 20 min, and that can be a long time at those harsh conditions. Yet I made it home, even without a frostbite, and I was rewarded with a physical proof that I had just experienced my record low temperature as of now. But honestly, I feel no need to have a reprise.
But there is more to tell. After the week of the extreme cold, I have been assigned to train a new graduate student. I feel very honored by the trust my boss puts in me by this. The student is actually from the group of our collaborator, himself being also ultimately responsible for my staying in Chicago. She is from Iran - I must admit that I was surprised that despite the notoriously bad relationship between the U.S. and Iran academic exchange is taking place. Well, within certain limitations, that is, as she was originally supposed to work at Argonne National Laboratory, but there is no way for Iranians to work there. Hence, instead of working with X-ray light, she has to put up with me. I wonder which yields the better vibes - the alternating E/B field of the X-rays or me ... Her name is Homa, by the way, which is also the name of a bird in Persian mythology. This bird designated the new king by landing on his shoulder. It seems Homa will provide me a noble time - in turn I will of course do my best to train her, so as to make her stick with her choice ...