Continuing education

So to keep a veterinary licence, you have to pay up each year to officially attend sanctioned continuing education sessions - at least 17 hours. Nevermind that the profession is learning so much so quickly that if you dream of staying relevant, you have to regularly pour over journals and message boards.

Last year my c.e. was a bit dull, so this last week Amanda and I headed out to San Francisco for the PacVet Conference. We figured that if all else fails, we can always go have fun in the city. Thankfully the speaker selection was fairly decent. I learned that as far as surgeons are concerned, there are two (that I know of so far) who do a really good job of keeping your attention and reassuring you that won't get in too deep. For the second time, I had the pleasure of seeing Howard Seim talk on a variety of techniques such as the urethral floss - perhaps I'll post photos if a good one arises. As far as how tight I should do my knots on small bowel, he recommends "like a kiss with just a little bit of passion." And who knew that someone would convince me to bring nursery items into the surgical room. More on that later...maybe.

So of the 18.5 hours that I logged at PacVet, I'd say that perhaps 75% was really engaging, and that's 75% better than what I experienced elsewhere in 2009. The icing on the cake was what happened on the final night, and it had nothing to do with PacVet. About 10 days prior, I began researching concerts that would be held in town during our stay, and my mouth hit the floor when I saw what was listed for July 18 at the Great American Music Hall.

The first tape that I ever bought was recommended to me by my close childhood buddy Peter. It was Pork Soda, by Primus. Now for a guy whose music knowledge was based on what my folks played in the house (country and 60's), Primus blew my mind. I must have analysed that album backwards and forwards. Pretty soon, I was delving into Frizzle Fry (my favorite), Seas of Cheese, and an early live album of theirs.

Now Peter and I grew up in the Catholic church, and frankly, our priests didn't really entrall us with their sermons. So we both figured it would be easier to stay awake by playing in the small choir that played at 9:30 am. Practice was on Wednesdays, and his folks would usually drive us home. If his sisters were in the car, they would usually torture us with Amy Grant cassettes. Finally having enough, we started rumors in the back seat of the minivan that Amy Grant was engaged in extramarital childbearing and other sins of the flesh - well, Peter's mom caught wind of the stories and promptly threw those in the trash.

What replaced Amy Grant? Primus. And what did I see was showing at the Great American Music Hall? Primus!!!

So Primus doesn't tour much anymore for whatever reason. It's a shame really, because they have a really solid catalogue. The side projects from Primus have been decent, but it's the original material that I love the most. The tickets were set to go on sale Friday at noon - if you wanted an appointment that day at that time, you didn't get one. I was on that page constantly hitting refresh until the gates opened. Depending what you read, the 600 tickets were gone in anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes. I dragged Amanda along (she enjoyed it btw), and she may have been the only one present who had no idea who they are. It was amazing. The fire marshall showed up...and stayed nodding his head to the music. I told Amanda that I cherished that day more than our wedding day, which isn't true of course, and she didn't slap me. She knew how much fun I had. If you have any interest, a much better review (with set list) can be found here... http://spinningplatters.com/2010/07/19/show-review-an-evening-with-primus-at-the-great-american-music-hall-7182010/