I try to go to one big veterinary conference a year. That’s over and above the hours I need for my CE requirements but I love them. They help me get reinvigorated and excited about my job again. My boss (who isn’t a doctor) is always confused by this.

He started asking me questions again recently. Out of nowhere he said, “You are going to Vegas and aren’t going to drink. I don’t get you.”

He knows I mostly don’t drink. I’ll have the occasional drink as long as it tastes nothing like alcohol. I’ve never been drunk or high. He finds me very strange.

I said, “Well, you know classes start at 8. I can even get some lectures at 6:30 if I want. I can’t stay up all night drinking and do that.”

He said, “You could drink until 7 and then go to lectures.”

“In the morning. Lectures start at 8 in the morning and go until 6 at night every day.”

He was gobsmacked. “You are going to go to 10 hours of lectures a day in Vegas?”

“Yes, unless I decide to hit a morning lecture and go for 12 hours.” I then explained that the program was really good this year. There are at least 10 different lectures going on at any given time and I’m having trouble picking which ones I want to see. Some hours I have narrowed down to a choice of 5 lectures.

He just shook his head. “I don’t understand you.”

Yeah, I’m a nerd.