Long Days and Days Off
Sep. 17th, 2011 10:10 amYesterday was a particularly long day as my boss at the Pauquette Center had invited me to attend a 9-hour conference on Opiate addiction management that he was a co-presenter for. It was primarily aimed at psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and primary care providers but I was able to walk out of there feeling a bit more knowledgeable so that was cool.
As a way of making up for the fact that I got to go for free, I worked at the Registration table and witnessed just how cool an iPad can be. There were some books that they were selling and it turns out you can buy little credit card readers that just plug into your iPad. It was fascinating to watch that transaction happen.
Lunch was also fascinating given that I only knew my boss and he was tied up with many other people. I inevitably sat down with the physician's assistant who was in line behind me because we'd both been excited about having soup for lunch. We were then joined by a psychiatrist and both of them told me stories about their practice and their lives (as they were both in their 60's and 70's and had done their fair share of living.) It was really cool to learn that the psychiatrist had spent a year living in Denmark with his daughter and he talked about this boat trip he took where they were unfamiliar with the surroundings and often had to go in circles until they could find someone familiar with the territory who could send them on their way. To this day, he doesn't see going in circles as a bad thing. :)
The real intriguing part of this hour was when the other woman left and I kept talking to the psychiatrist. He asked where my interests lie and I mentioned LGBT issues. This prompted him to tell me he had been a cross dresser for the last 10 years. As we talked more, I commented on how our encounter came to be and he paid me a unique compliment. He said and I quote: "I knew you were different. You don't have smoke in your eyes." I asked him what he meant by that and he said that unlike other conference goers, I had the look of curiosity and not the look of someone who would shut others out.
That made me smile. :)
I'm happy to say that I don't have to work today and I only have to work 2 hours tomorrow so I feel like I have a real weekend for once where I can enjoy myself. To celebrate, Nick and I are using a Groupon I got for a Light Dinner for 2 at a place we've never been to in the Dells.
I'm also plotting to watch The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries. Yay for Fall TV being back!
As a way of making up for the fact that I got to go for free, I worked at the Registration table and witnessed just how cool an iPad can be. There were some books that they were selling and it turns out you can buy little credit card readers that just plug into your iPad. It was fascinating to watch that transaction happen.
Lunch was also fascinating given that I only knew my boss and he was tied up with many other people. I inevitably sat down with the physician's assistant who was in line behind me because we'd both been excited about having soup for lunch. We were then joined by a psychiatrist and both of them told me stories about their practice and their lives (as they were both in their 60's and 70's and had done their fair share of living.) It was really cool to learn that the psychiatrist had spent a year living in Denmark with his daughter and he talked about this boat trip he took where they were unfamiliar with the surroundings and often had to go in circles until they could find someone familiar with the territory who could send them on their way. To this day, he doesn't see going in circles as a bad thing. :)
The real intriguing part of this hour was when the other woman left and I kept talking to the psychiatrist. He asked where my interests lie and I mentioned LGBT issues. This prompted him to tell me he had been a cross dresser for the last 10 years. As we talked more, I commented on how our encounter came to be and he paid me a unique compliment. He said and I quote: "I knew you were different. You don't have smoke in your eyes." I asked him what he meant by that and he said that unlike other conference goers, I had the look of curiosity and not the look of someone who would shut others out.
That made me smile. :)
I'm happy to say that I don't have to work today and I only have to work 2 hours tomorrow so I feel like I have a real weekend for once where I can enjoy myself. To celebrate, Nick and I are using a Groupon I got for a Light Dinner for 2 at a place we've never been to in the Dells.
I'm also plotting to watch The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries. Yay for Fall TV being back!
no subject
on 2011-09-17 06:00 pm (UTC)And yay for going for free to this presentation and I think you can never know too much :)
no subject
on 2011-09-17 07:16 pm (UTC)