Part 1 ended when I finished my classes, put my house on the market and left Houston. I’d planned my leaving Houston so that I could spend some quality time with the Mrs in Abilene. Then I had EMSWorld Expo in Las Vegas for a week.

The Plan was travel to Abilene on Saturday, hang out for the week. Spend time reading my stuff for the first week of school since I was going to be in Vegas. Also take a moment and do some deep thinking and planning for what I was going to do with myself now that I was unemployed.

Things looked good. Trip was uneventful on Saturday. The Mrs took me to a really cool high cuisine restaurant in of all places Clyde Texas Saturday night. Much wild monkey was done.

Sunday we moved the youngest into his dorm. Sunday afternoon we took the oldest back to Austin. Good quality time.

Monday I started getting some stuff done around the house in Abilene and started thinking about what I needed to get ready for Las Vegas. Really took it pretty easy that day, which was what I needed. I think I slept 24 hours in the first 48 I was in Abilene.

Tuesday my grandmother died. I wasn’t particularly sad, she’d been ready to go since my grandfather died a couple of years earlier and had had to move out of her home almost a year ago, which she’d hated.

What it did mean was my plans were out the window. Now I had to be in Arkansas on Thursday and still fly to Vegas on Saturday.

Thank goodness I was flying Southwest. Now how to get to Arkansas. One option was to drive to Dallas and fly to Tulsa. But looking at schedules, that would be complicated. Especially because the Mrs was in new employee orientation and pre-semester planning. They would let her leave, but that still might not be best.

So the plan changed.

I used Southwest’s website to change my flight from leaving from Lubbock – I not longer trust American out of Abilene to get me anywhere – to fly out of Tulsa. Then we drove to Dallas and I rented a car one way to Tulsa. Only one rental place will do a one way rental, Enterprise. And they will only do it if you are going one way to somewhere else in their region. Dallas to Tulsa was OK, but Abilene to Tulsa wouldn’t be.

The plan had been to get my new website How To Become A Paramedic HQ, ready before going to Vegas. Did I have time now?

Yes, and it even worked out well. I rented the car in Dallas on Wednesday evening, then drove till 9PM and just stopped at the first hotel and asked “Do you have Internet and a room?” They did. I was then able to focus on working on that site from 9PM to 1:30 AM in the hotel room. Actually got about everything done, and was able to finish it up in the morning. Drove into Arkansas the next morning and had plenty of time for the viewing. Funeral the next day. Up early Saturday, drive to Tulsa, fly to Vegas.

The plan was party with my best friend in Vegas for 2 days before the conference started.

By 3 PM on Saturday I was nauseous. Problem was I’d already agreed to pay $170 for a massage at 7PM (hey its Vegas, everything’s expensive). At 6:30 I puke for the first time. But I’ve already shelled out the money. So I go down to spa, get shown around, take a shower. But I’m getting sicker I can feel it. Finally my masseur comes to take me to the room and asks how I’m doing. Long story short she gets the manager to refund my money and I go back to my room.

Where I start puking every 45 minutes for the next 24 hours.

What a way to spend a weekend in Vegas. I felt really bad for my friend who had to hang out in the room and listen to me puke for all that time.

One good thing about travelling with a doctor is they can prescribe medicine. The next day he prescribes and then picks up some Zofran. I’d stopped puking by then, but it kept if from coming back.

The plan was to party, but I didn’t have that much energy, so it was a pretty tame weekend.

The plan was to go to some conference panels, since they let me in free and all. And to look as some exhibits and meet some people that I might partner with. Also live podcasts on Wednesday and Thursday. With kilts on Thursday.

I never made it to a single conference panel. Too much time spent in the social media/podcasting booth. It was fun though. The ProMed guru of podcasting and streaming, Jamie Davis, did some cool stuff and I learned a lot helping with that.

If you’ve read my Kilted To Kick Cancer post, you know we ended up with only one live podcast and it was a day before the kilting was to start. But I adapted and ended up kilted for 2 days instead of one.

And actually the rest of the trip went to plan. Flew back to Lubbock on Friday – wish I’d planned it better and could have stayed Friday. There was a party Friday night in Lubbock for the two of us coming back from Vegas. The Mrs came and got me, and we returned to Abilene.

Hung out and relaxed with the Mrs, spending quality time doing what ever, and wild monkey time Saturday.

Sunday I drove back to Houston. Found the lawn guys had messed up the watering stuff and the front yard was dead. Backyard they had done nothing to, so it was 5 inches tall. Realtor had no sheets on the sign in the front yard.

Mostly relaxed on Monday, and am now back in the groove. Still don’t know what I’m going to do with my life exactly for the near future. Maybe on Friday I can figure that out. Class on Wednesday, EMS photoshoot on Thursday.