Where I'm Calling From

I made an earlier flight, no prob, at 3:03PM Friday Sept. 23rd. I knew what was waiting for me at home...12 more occupants than when I left. It took my in-laws 15 or so hours to get to DFW and me sister-in-law 26 hours to make the same usual 4 hours drive due to the horrendous Houston evacuation. They were, to say the least, beat. My wife and son were waiting impatiently for me at DFW airport with my niece and father-in-law. I gave my wife a long hard kiss when I got to her and my son a big hug, is and was very happy to have me home. Now, I sit at home and check email, talk to my supervisor occasionally as this is my in-office week. In addition to that I tend to things at the homestead like: endorsing checks, taking the car to the auto parts store to see why the Check Engine Light(CEL) is on, call insurance for new quote, pick-up the boy from school because he has strep throat etc. This is so my wife can concentrate on her Physics and Chemistry classes. I'm also having LASI...

I can't even look at you guys anymore. Feeding me bullshit. Go home... I want to. Our final project is to plan an IMRT prostate and move it to treatment. Me? I'm not a dosimetrist. I won't ever plan a treatment in my life, mush less IMRT. Optimize. What? I drudge through it and get it to treatment, but stumble on the prescription and throw-in the towel. I gather my things, storm out of the classroom and arrive in the parking lot of 120 degree heat. I find a suitable car, break the driver's side window out, hot-wire the grey 2000 Mustang with custom exhaust and a hood scoop and tear the hell outta there. I get back to the hotel, ditch the car, eat a blueberry yogurt, call my wife because we're expecting more of her family to arrive as they attempt to flee Houston from yet another big-ass hurricane, this named Rita . If "W" screws this up I be up in his ugly-ass face. As much I say I hate Houston and would never live there again I would hate to s...

Those crazy Brits I met at the Big Apple bar in New York New York told a crazy story about how the mist mild-looking one of the bunch was harassed by a security guard at one of the hotels here in Vegas. Gerry was a little inebriated and a guard slapped the cuffs on him a reprimanded him banning him from The Excaliber , Luxor , Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Monte Carlo and Circus Circus and revoked his player's card points which is why they found themselves at New York New York. Man, that's harsh, watch yourself in Vegas because there are standards...yeah right. Another one of the guys, Mark, looks like Kato Kailen . I haven't trimmed my finger nails in 2 weeks. I have never had my finger nails get this long before and it bugs me. My last work-out I listened to Deftones ' Around the Fur. The pace and energy of the songs is perfect for a speed of 4 on the treadmill and since one of the instructors was hogging the elliptical trainer I got on the recumbent bike instead ...

I'm in the shower and it hits me...I really miss my wife and son. I wanna go home now. I quickly remind myself that this trip is the longest I'll be required to stay away from them. The classes, er, instructors I should say, are deteriorating rapidly. I'm getting angry at their ineptness and realize they're wasting our time and they really don't care enough to give a correct answer to our questions. And we're required to be here till 7PM tonight. Today dinner is provided, it's Memphis-style bbq and it sucks. The sauce was bland and transparent tasting. The coleslaw tasted like my mouth did this morning, like cat shat in it. A cat that drank a bottle of vinegar. The pulled pork was OK, but not much above that. We wrap-up at around 7:15PM. On the way home in the backseat staring out the window my body aches. My body aches because I think about my wife at home and how much I want to touch her body and be near her warmth. I've never missed her t...

Feeling a little rough from staying out late last night I crawl outta bed at 5:30AM and run through the routine. Get to class and the evidence is unbearably obvious our instructors are struggling. Students have revolted and cease the laser pointers. The right-half of the room grabs the female while the left-half wrestle the male to the ground and stuff his mouth with about 6 muffins (1 chocolate, 2 blueberry, 1 sesame seed and 2 almond) to shut up his crying. The Swiss guy giggles incessantly at the students triumph, he's clearly happy to take part in our coup. Now that the instructors are secured to the office chairs with CAT 5 cables and clear tape we force them to read and recite some equipment manuals while we all leave the facility to grab some breakfast. My shins are killing me today from all the exercise and rock climbing, so I nix the work-out today. Somehow a plan is hatched for tonight and I find myself in the lobby waiting for my ride. Damn, this alcohol sure cre...

This is our first day that our class starts at 7AM. I set the alarm for 5AM and get out of bed at like 5:30AM. Shower. Shave. This weeks classes are mostly about hands-on training on concerning hardware: Acuity , MLC , PortalVision etc. We meet 2 new instructors, that to our detriment will be handling the courses the rest of the week. Thus far I'm not impressed with this pair...read on. The male has trouble connecting his words into sentences and bolts back and forth across the front of the room for no apparent reason. He also has a thing for throwing his arms into the air at odd times puncuating non-essential points. And doesn't seem to know much about what he's teaching. The female is clearly unprepared for this and she too seems easily stumped. Over the past couple of days I've been working on getting a ticket for tonight's Interpol concert at The Joint located in the Hard Rock Cafe . So, my evening is planned. The seller is flying in from LA a...

I believe this would be Sunday. Yesterday I left Red Rock enchanted and determined to return, so today I do. I had to borrow a car which came with a companion. Today I see there many more people crawling all over the visitors area and there are people actually climbing the mountain. Yeah, you have free-reign on the mount and that's crazy because I don't think a lot of these people have mountain climbing experience. I'm shocked to see small children climbing around on the edges overlooking 20ft deep crevaces. I see a tiny figure atop the mountain and wonder how that figure got there. Well, I decide I want to join in the rock climbing fun and head down the trail for the base. Immediately you realize this mountain is larger than you think when standing at a distance. I find it's not that difficult to scale the large rocks becuse the surface is like coarse sandpaper, I had barely scraped my knee scaling a 200 ft vertical wall and that took the skin right off and I ...

I am awoken by my wife, Patsy, calling to remind me that I need to call MetLife to get a quote for our home insurance. My employer offers group insurance rates and I'm trying to find out if I can save money by going with them for auto and home insurance. So I tell her about my previous nights activities and we chat a little about other stuff. My son went to a dance at his school the night and I'm told he "shook it". Whatta boy! I finally get outta bed, eat a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch http://www.kashi.com/index.aspx with Silk Soy Milk and take a shower. I have to do laundry today. I gather all my dirty laundry in a platic bag. Go down to the little store in the lobby and charge a small box of Tide to my room and start my load of clothes. Meanwhile I'll sweat out the toxins in the Fitness Center. Do the usual 1 mile walk-15 minute elliptical-1 mile walk routine and transfer the clothes to the dryer and finish up the work-out. I fold my clothes and take up to my...

Okay, this is sad. I sit down to write this blog about day #5 and I can't remember what I did. So, I 'll skip to Friday. I think if I call my wife she can tell me what I did on Thursday. The brain cells are a-dyin' a slow death. BTW I think it was Tuesday we had lunch at a place called Baja Fresh go there, eat there it's fabulous. I had the Tres Tacos fish. Very good, with cabbage, pico de gallo on a corn tortilla with a side of chips. They also have a salsa "bar" (really, only 3 kinds of salsa, cilantro and limes). They also have this thing called an Enchilado where they smother a burrito in sauce and cheese like an enchilada. OK, so back to Friday. Well it's our first Friday and everyone is excited and we got outta class early to boot. I go out that night for dinner at the MGM Grand . We go to a Sushi bar and it's pretty damn good. I had 2 pieces of smoked salmon, an Alaska Roll and Las Vegas roll, cause you gotta have a Las Vegas roll...

4 hours later. Wake-up. Starbucks. Class. Learn. Now we're learning the treatment planning system which I will never train, but it's knowledge I need to know none-the-less. We have lunch at In-n-Out Burger . This place is very cool and operates on a very neat principle: 3 items on the menu (Double burger, single and single w/ cheese), fresh cut french fries, and cash only. The greasy double burger that fits perfectly in my hand soaks up the remaining alcohol nicely and the fries are crisp and extremely fresh. Return to class in the instructors rented convertible 2005 Mustang. It's hot, dry and nice outside and the convertible let's you enjoy all that at 55mph. After class I get back to the hotel, check email, talk to my lady in Arlington and then head to the fitness center to work-out. I get a text message from my colleague saying we're meeting in the lobby with the Australians and going to New York New York for dinner and what else? Drinking. Ma lady...

Back to class to join the rest of the inductess. All is well, we're trucking along learning new and different things. The newest and most different for most of us is the change of environment and routine. Most of us are of a clinical background either outpatient clinic or hospital-based setting. This new environment being "corporate" or business field is a little unsettling and exciting...some of us are defnintely having a hard time with it. Me? I'm doing good withh it all. To be honest and I have always held a secret respect for "businessmen", they seem to be men on the move, got things going on things to do people to impress and organize, seemed like something I wouldn't mind doing one day. At the same time I felt kinda relieved that I wasn't held to deadlines and cell phones. Now, I am. I carry a laptop, 2 cell phones, and a travel kit. I carry a corporate credit card balance, frequent flyer miles, hotel points and itineraries. The...

Wake up at 6:43AM because I set my alarm for 6:30Am and it didn't go off. Shower, shave etc. meet "the crew" ( my new term for the other trainees ). I have this tasty little Yogurt Whip I saw a sign for in the fitness center the night before for breakfast. It's a $6 serving of fruit and yogurt, it was good, but pricey... I need to do some shopping for breakfast food after class. We divide into 2 cars, get to the facility where we'll be lumps of clay ripe for molding over the next 2 weeks. We do the usual individual introductions...people from N. Carolina, New Jersey, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Vancouver, Canada. I introduce myself, but before I do I stand-up in my chair (this is an office chair with 5 legs on wheels and full 360 swivel capabilities) I begin to do the Twist while saying, "Hi, I'm Tim White from DFW, Texas, I've been a therapist for 9-" Some people are looking at me like, "What the f-", some lady pisses her pan...

Well I got into Vegas yesterday w/o a hitch and waited in a line for a cab that was longer than any I've ever stood in for a concert. Got to the hotel http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=LVJF440AD0QOOCSGBIXM22QKIYFCVUUC?ctyhocn=LASGIGI , hooked-up with the other Varian trainees and worked-out going to dinner together. People from all over are here w/ me and it's pretty cool. Just me, 3 women, 2 male life-partners and others I would meet the next day at class. We decide to go eat at the Mandalay Bay since that's the only destination the shuttle goes. Some eat, some don't, I had iced tea (free). We all decide it's too soon to lose money and take the shuttle back to the hotel about a mile down the road. I go to the fitness center and begin my 2-week regimen of working-out regularly. The fitness center has all the good stuff like: 2 treadmills, ellyptical trainer, weight thingy and a recumbant bike. I do the treadmill and el...