My Business Class

Last Wednesday marked a momentous occasion for me: my first business trip! Strictly "work-related," I was flown out to sunny San Antonio to sit through a conference for drug company sponsoring research on a new medication to treat insomnia. I was surrounded by the créme-de-la-créme of sleep scientists, many of whom were essentially the founders of the field. Now I know what you're thinking--the drug companies are evil, he's turned to their side....In fact, I was a bit worried that I was commiting treason upon myself because of the negative image I've long held of the drug industry, but having sat through the proceedings, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the researchers take painstaking measures to ensure quality control and have as their foremost concern to ease people's pain. It is a shame that virtually every drug manufacturer inflates their budget by about 100% just by reporting numbers from R&D, even though every year they are able to write those costs off as tax deductions, dollar for dollar. And there is something to be said for the fact that they shacked us up at a spa/resort and practically force fed us gourmet food any time we weren't in session, but I figured hey, I've been stuck in the dreary ol' Chicago winter for a couple of months now and I deserve a vacation.

Aside from the drudgery of sitting in closed-door sessions on Thursday and Friday morning, I was able to take advantage of the finer aspects of the environs. Like the jacuzzis, king-size down beds, Lone Star beer, and the Alamo. By the way, the Alamo is totally NOT what I was expecting it to be. I had this mental image of it being out in BFE, kind of like the wedding chapel in Kill Bill, complete with tumbleweeds blowing by, but no, it's right in the middle of downtown San Antonio. Literally, you turn a corner from the main artery through downtown and it's right there. I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to see it, but it turned out that the dinner function held for us on Friday was only about a block away. Not only did I get to see the Alamo, but I was able to rub elbows with the higher-ups, namely Phyllis (my boss/PI) and some esteemed PhDs.

Some other highlights from my trip: open-bars, the 65-year-old Panthers-loving woman who knows more about football than I ever will, fresh air, the world's largest collection of antlers and trophy heads, 20 million pillows, and 12F. God bless 12F.


Currently, I am nursing my poor hip back from a nasty spill I took while cycling with Scott last weekend. When attemping the turn on the LSD path near the Drake, Scott and I hit a patch of black ice. Yes, that's right, I was outside cycling when it was cold enough to freeze water. I saw a fellow cyclist carefully tip-toeing off to the side (actually, he wasn't much of a "fellow" since he didn't even try to warn us) only before it was too late--with my narrow roadie tires, my bike slid out from under me, and Scott, merely from trying to avoid me, went down as well. Ow. I shouldn't have even gone for the damn ride in the first place; it was far too cold, and I wasn't wearing nearly enough layers. I had to take a break at Scott's place to warm up, since frostbite was most definitely settling into my poor toesies, and to borrow some extra layers in order to actually make it back home alive and still slightly thawed. Despite my now-black-and blue hip, Sus luckily suffered no injuries.

Oh, and 24 totally kicked ass, by the way. I don't care what anyone says, Jack Bauer is da man. I don't know how they keep doing it. Scrubs is also back on the air, which I am also very excited about. This season is out of control. So many memorable lines. And FYI, if any of you ever wondered why all my blog entry titles begin with "my," it's from Scrubs. All the episodes are My-something ("My New God," "My Myocardial Infarction," etc.). Those of you who actually knew that, you just earned 5,000 points in my book.

P.S. - My dog thinks the wood chairs are his new bone. We discovered he's been knawing at the bottom rungs at night. Anyone who knows of a completely indestructible, soft chew toy, I will be indebted to you forever.