On the Other Side of the Dark Cavern

The above is really the best representation of how I felt during 2 weeks away from home. Says it all, really. Somewhat sad that one of the few pics I post of myself has to be one so unflattering, but, you know...
By the time the above was taken (by myself, case you didn't ctach that from the familiar angle) I was spent. Down to the 3rd to last day in a dreary town outside of Baltimore called Timonium. Now, Timonium, aside from sounding like a rejected element for the periodoc table, is far from the worst place I'd seen. Go to Raytown, MO sometime. Or Jeffersonville, GA. No offense to readers who may live there of course.
Timonium was just your typical commercially laden suburb, with rows of strip shopping centers and industrial parks. I was there for a rather extensive training session for intraoperative monitoring. Such a career involves the electrophysiological monitoring of nerves during surgery; I'll save a comprehensive explanation for a future installment of Your Audiology Tutorial. Eight hours of lecture daily, with some hands-on. Quizzes or tests, daily (even Sat.). Accomodations at an Extended Stay, the sight of which I couldn't stand even after 2 days. I know, wah wah wah.
But everything was just wrong. I had "shadowed" in the OR for a few weeks before this trip. It was all fascinating but uneasy just the same. Not sure why. Still not sure. All the discussion and stories during the training did not help. Actually, it did; this was not for me. I decided this early on, so the remainder of the trip was that much more deadly. My classmmates were great, though. Most were disgruntled chiropracters frustrated by lack of reimbursement from insurance and slow trickle of patients (tell me about it, bud). Others were MDs from overseas, OR techs, engineers, and a few newly out of undergrad.
Highlights:
-watching the chiropracters give adjustments in class to anyone who desired
-laughing as the instructor looked on cluelessly as she kept using the phrase "crossing swords"
-trips to Baltimore to visit a friend's record store, see RASHOMON at the lovely theater, The Senator (sep. entry to follow), and watch all the attendees of the Otakon (apprec. for Asian pop culture) convention.
-great Indian buffet in Hunt Valley
-running/jogging with classmmates through a variety of hilly terrain.
-2 nights of BBQ in the Extended Stay parking lot, with every form of meat being grilled. Copious amounts of Guinness, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams were also on hand.
Otherwise, a bad, depressing trip. I missed my wife. The hotel reeked of locker room. The McCormick factory down the street belched pepper and garlic into the air daily (kept waiting for cinnamon). Wah wah. Yes, but it was all so enlightening. Time to be an audiologist again.....

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