My recent trip
Well, Jessy and I just went to California where I took a major written Board examination test to become certified as an ophthalmologist. Suffice it to say it was a dreadful experience.
Okay, first of all, I was one day past their application deadline and instead of $1500 they charged me $1800 to get me registered. I can't believe how much they charge for registration! I suppose it's just because they know they can, and they are greedy. Sure it costs money to hire people to write and administer the test, but I suspect they charge more than just enough to cover costs.
Second of all, there are only three testing centers and everyone has to fly to one of them to take the written test. There is one in St. Louis, driving distance from me, but naturally they sent me (and everyone west of the Mississippi, including Missourians!) to Los Angeles, reserving The St. Louis test site for people from (mostly) Florida and Illinois.
Third, they put it at an extremely expensive airport hotel starting so early in the morning that a person almost felt obliged to stay there, but then the test runs until after checkout time, so you almost HAVE to stay two nights.
Naturally, we stayed at a nearby, cheaper hotel. Unfortunately, it turned out to be two MILES away rather than the 3 blocks that Orbitz promised. And, thinking it'd be three blocks, we walked. It was a ghetto, as it turns out, and we saw two homeless, 4 prostitutes, and 5 porn stores and 3-4 liquor stores on the way to our hotel. I was carrying a laptop case and Jessy was carrying a leather purse. Great! Luckily, we were NOT mugged. *whew*
I got sick to my stomach, and throughout the walk needed to find restrooms. I could barely get to sleep that night and then ended up waking up so often I was pretty much up all night.
So, on top of the fact that I had the flu for the six weeks prior to the test and couldn't study, the fact I didn't stay awake during the test likely didn't help my score any. I guess I will be taking the test again...
Argh!!!
Anyway, hit the back arrow in your browser now, to go back to the main post again.
We ended up realizing we'd miss our return flight, and we had to change our tickets home to the next day, at $400 cost to us, and then we needed to find a way to entertain ourselves in a city we don't know. Well, anyway, it ended up working out okay. I got a car, and we went to the La Brea tar pits and the Petersen Auto Museum in Hollywood. Afterward, we went to Redondo Beach where Jessy picked her own pearl, straight from the oyster, and had it set in a nice ring. We had dinner at Souplantation (which is also known as Sweet Tomatoes), one of our favorite restaurants. And as luck would have it, we had a fun flight home, too. The details are extremely racy (don't say I didn't warn you) but if you're REALLY interested,
If you took the first livejournal cut and just kept reading, be warned that the next paragraph qualifies as TMI (Too Much Information) and you should hit the back arrow now if you might be bothered or offended by sexual details.
I almost made us late for the flight because I couldn't help molesting Jessy. Luckily, from the sounds she made, I don't think she minded much. We did make it to our flight, and after fondling her on the first flight, and kissing her wetly while waiting for our connection, we couldn't restrain ourselves at all on the second flight. Underneath a blanket, our hands wandered and she came twice as we took off. Once in Omaha, we made a trip to the store for some toys and then went to my work to try them out, eventually getting Jessy off three more times in various rooms and positions, before going home to finish the deed. Seven times in one day! Not bad.... I know I enjoyed it!
Anyway, it's good that we were able to make good come out of a bad trip.
Okay, first of all, I was one day past their application deadline and instead of $1500 they charged me $1800 to get me registered. I can't believe how much they charge for registration! I suppose it's just because they know they can, and they are greedy. Sure it costs money to hire people to write and administer the test, but I suspect they charge more than just enough to cover costs.
Second of all, there are only three testing centers and everyone has to fly to one of them to take the written test. There is one in St. Louis, driving distance from me, but naturally they sent me (and everyone west of the Mississippi, including Missourians!) to Los Angeles, reserving The St. Louis test site for people from (mostly) Florida and Illinois.
Third, they put it at an extremely expensive airport hotel starting so early in the morning that a person almost felt obliged to stay there, but then the test runs until after checkout time, so you almost HAVE to stay two nights.
Naturally, we stayed at a nearby, cheaper hotel. Unfortunately, it turned out to be two MILES away rather than the 3 blocks that Orbitz promised. And, thinking it'd be three blocks, we walked. It was a ghetto, as it turns out, and we saw two homeless, 4 prostitutes, and 5 porn stores and 3-4 liquor stores on the way to our hotel. I was carrying a laptop case and Jessy was carrying a leather purse. Great! Luckily, we were NOT mugged. *whew*
I got sick to my stomach, and throughout the walk needed to find restrooms. I could barely get to sleep that night and then ended up waking up so often I was pretty much up all night.
So, on top of the fact that I had the flu for the six weeks prior to the test and couldn't study, the fact I didn't stay awake during the test likely didn't help my score any. I guess I will be taking the test again...
Argh!!!
Anyway, hit the back arrow in your browser now, to go back to the main post again.
We ended up realizing we'd miss our return flight, and we had to change our tickets home to the next day, at $400 cost to us, and then we needed to find a way to entertain ourselves in a city we don't know. Well, anyway, it ended up working out okay. I got a car, and we went to the La Brea tar pits and the Petersen Auto Museum in Hollywood. Afterward, we went to Redondo Beach where Jessy picked her own pearl, straight from the oyster, and had it set in a nice ring. We had dinner at Souplantation (which is also known as Sweet Tomatoes), one of our favorite restaurants. And as luck would have it, we had a fun flight home, too. The details are extremely racy (don't say I didn't warn you) but if you're REALLY interested,
If you took the first livejournal cut and just kept reading, be warned that the next paragraph qualifies as TMI (Too Much Information) and you should hit the back arrow now if you might be bothered or offended by sexual details.
I almost made us late for the flight because I couldn't help molesting Jessy. Luckily, from the sounds she made, I don't think she minded much. We did make it to our flight, and after fondling her on the first flight, and kissing her wetly while waiting for our connection, we couldn't restrain ourselves at all on the second flight. Underneath a blanket, our hands wandered and she came twice as we took off. Once in Omaha, we made a trip to the store for some toys and then went to my work to try them out, eventually getting Jessy off three more times in various rooms and positions, before going home to finish the deed. Seven times in one day! Not bad.... I know I enjoyed it!
Anyway, it's good that we were able to make good come out of a bad trip.