abigail414's diaryland diary
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Vegas
I�m writing from the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas. I�ve spent time in seminars on emergency care, ear problems, and cats who pee outside the box. I tried to get into the snake bite and poisoning lectures, but the room was too small. I met Kevin Fitzgerald from ER Animal Planet and he is cuter in person than he is on TV. Seriously. I also had a famous pharmacologist sign his book while I was buying it, and spent an afternoon listening to lectures by the guy who wrote my neurology textbook. I got information on new drugs, new books, new stuff, as well as hit a few behavior seminars that continued to unimpress me - it is an area I'm interested in, but the vets seem pretty flaky.
It was hell getting here. The 4 hour drive was fine, except for the rain � I didn�t know how to use the wipers on my car (yes, I live in a desert). However, it took an hour to get from the hotel to my room because parking was awful, check-in was worse, and I needed a bathroom which made it even longer. Plus, it is lonely to be in a crowd of 14,000 strangers - I�ve been surprised at how unattractive and unfriendly my fellow veterinarians are. I�ve had two meals with real estate developers instead � they have a concurrent convention and are much more personable. I went to the MSU alumni reception and saw a few people I knew, but the only �close� friend I had in vet school registered and didn�t show up. Overall, it hasn�t been profoundly inspirational, but I need to spend some time digesting all the information I�ve obtained - to do so, I spent $250 on a DVD of all 900 lectures (audio, powerpoint, and notes), so in truth I could spend the next year on this stuff.
Last night I learned a little about how to play Baccarat. I met a short Lebanese-American millionaire in Wolfgang Puck�s bar and he bought me a drink, then bought $1k of chips at a table. I�ve only seen it played in James Bond movies. You can bet on either the banker or the player to win, which seems better than blackjack or poker. I watched him play for about 45 minutes then left while he was winning. Weird thing is that his mother and my mother are both from the same very small town in South Dakota. He lives in Riverside and was seriously looking to be my sugar daddy � interesting idea, but I just couldn�t quite fathom it.
Spoke with a drugged HB in the hospital. He called when he got out of recovery, and was so drugged he fell asleep while trying to leave a message. I know he cares for me, but wonder if perhaps he can�t bear to be alone so calls people to keep him company. If we get honest, is that the basis for all relationships? For me, I want to feel cherished and cherish someone back - I don�t mind being alone, except in a crowd. I did send him flowers today, and may stop by tomorrow if I get home in time for visiting hours � but am working very hard not to fall for him. After 22 years of marriage, I suspect he needs to spend time as a player for awhile, and most likely so do I.
However, tonight is a bath, room service, a DVD lent by HB, and early bedtime. There is a Styx concert for us veterinarians at 8 pm, but unless I get a second wind I don�t think I�ll go stand around alone in a crowd anymore. If I have insomnia, I'll go watch some Baccarat.
6:46 p.m. - 2007-02-21
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