Tuesday, January 20, 2009

oh yes...

wow. conferences are not relaxing. there's nothing relaxing about driving back and forth to orlando (45 minutes one way) daily, sitting in lectures for 7-9 hours, and roaming the exhibit hall with an overstuffed bag weighing me down in the meantime.

so - what have i done?

today was my cytology lab. it was 8:30am-5pm. if you're me, you've suddenly developed an inability to do ANYTHING right, as far as planning is concerned. i thought the lab was at 8am. didn't realize it wasn't until i was almost to orlando. then i realized it wasn't at the world center marriot (to which i had google map instructions) but at the nearby (i hoped) caribe royale. thankfully, i had inadvertently given myself an extra half hour to figure this out. finally, i made it to the lab only to realize that i'd left my ever so important, can't have lunch without it, get stoned if i even TRY to get into the lab without it ID tag. it was hanging in my car, back at the gaylord palms hotel.

other than today's poorly planned expedition, i have attended several excellent lectures - especially those by dr lee - a criticalist, seen some interesting new technology in the exhibit hall, picked up some good swag, and gone out to dinner with 2 classmates (now engaged to one another).

let's do some FUN math, shall we?

registration for the event (intern/resident fee) $140
cytology wetlab $450 (yes, i said FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS)
airfare $100 *god bless allegiant air!*
car rental $280
parking at the gaylord palms/day $12
toll road (to orlando and back) $4.50
lunch daily $15 (thankfully comped by the conference)

Grand total (out of pocket): Approx $1010
Work pays? $1000

Swag I acquired:
1) New Muir anesthesia handbook (Value approx $80-100)
2) 1GB knock-off Ipod shuffle (Value ??)
3) Basic veterinary procedures book (Value approx $35)
4) Other assorted goodies to include some LaFeber Nutriberries for
the birdies (Value approx $50)

In the end, I think I win.

Someone remind me to tell you about my 2 side-by-side nightmare cases that I euthanized the day before coming to Florida. they were fascinating - though ultimately unrewarding - cases.

what's new, eh?

8 comments:

The Ethical Miss said...

Ooh, I love Dr. Lee! If I could have just one of her brain cells, I'd be 4x as smart as I am now. Really, she's the best thing about this internship.

Sleep-deprived working mom said...

oh wow - she works with you?? you're very lucky. she was a fantastic speaker, and i felt i learned SO much from her. you can tell her i said so. her talk on DKA was phenomenal. she also gave a clinical brief on the big 4 and all the info it gives you. i was really impressed with her.

The Ethical Miss said...

Wait, I'm thinking of Lee Herold. Who is Dr. Lee? (my brain capacity is shrinking in inverse relationship to the number of months I've put into the internship)

Sleep-deprived working mom said...

yeah, i didn't think this dr lee was at your place, for some reason. her name is justine lee. she's a criticalist. i want to say that she's at NCSU, but i'm not 100% sure.

The Ethical Miss said...

Oh, I do "know" her! She's a blogger, wrote 2 books and runs the alternative to the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline up in MN. She sent me a nice note once when I was whining on my blog.

Sleep-deprived working mom said...

what's her blog?

DrSteggy said...

Justine Lee was a classmate of mine...though we really did not run in the same circles

The Ethical Miss said...

http://questionsaboutdogs.blogspot.com/ is one of them