The (Semi) Real World
August 29, 2011
I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything here, not that I have a clamoring amount of people waiting eagerly to read the going-ons in my life. I’m not even sure when the last post I made was. Either way, let’s start fresh.
I am a proud owner of a Marine Blue 2011 Subaru Forester 2.5X Limited ‘Rugged Package’ complete with new car door paint chip. I drove my new car from Chicago to Las Vegas, roughly 1800 miles (~2900km) partly with two friends on their way to Colorado. It was a long drive but I honestly can’t imagine not having a car for externships, especially in Las Vegas!
The Las Vegas VA is my first rotation and although it is part of the Veteran Affairs it’s not a hospital but rather a smaller specialty clinic. Coming from the school’s clinic it’s a big change, not only how we do exams, but patient demographics, stuff you see, etc. But the biggest change is how many patients you see! Going from 3-8 patients in 12 hours to 12-20ish in roughly 7 hours. I’m starting to really enjoy it as I’m beginning to get used to it. Luckily I also had some of the more easy going attendings first.
As for Las Vegas, this is a crazy city that really isn’t me. As much as I love the opulence of many of the hotels and how everyone is dressed up super fancy for no reason, it’s all so fake. 95% of these people are here for the weekend and don’t live their lives dropping money like they have it. Don’t get me wrong though, you don’t have to spend a penny to be entertained in this city just people watching. From the regular tourists, the high-rollers, the pretending to be high-rollers, the bachelorette parties, the throngs of drunken cocky 21 year olds, the rich old people re-living their youth, everyone trying to get you to go to their strip club, and of course all the stumbly drunk girls… many who aren’t all that half bad to look at. I could spent hours just people watching and in fact, I have.
As for gambling: I told myself I’d try a little bit but now that I’m here, it’s really not that appealing to drop your money on the table and lose it. Also, gambling is confusing haha. I’m sure some people do pretty well when they know what they’re doing, but as someone who has no idea, I’m not going to spend my time trying to figure out or pretend how. I like to guarantee my earnings, although winning money isn’t something I’m opposed to.
So anyway, instead of spending my money gambling, I’m spending my money on food and shows. Although the food I’ve cut back on as that spending tends to skyrocket fast! I went to see Love last night and Mystere tonight both by Cirque-du-Soleil. Instead of paying the full $123 and $180 respectively I got some sweet deals for some really awesome seats for both; paying just under 50% for both total.
There’s a whole bunch of other shows I want to watch here and a whole lot more hunting for discounts! The one show I have to see before I leave is Phantom which is an abbreviated/modernized version of the original, but nonetheless the closest I will come to seeing The Phantom of the Opera besides traveling to London, although I suppose I will be close enough to New York to catch the original Broadway production. If I’m ever in London though I’ll be sure to see the original original!
