On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week I was located in Las Vegas. The annual American Dental Association meeting was held at the south Mandalay Bay exhibit hall. The meeting was held during the week because the hotels forbid the ADA from having a weekend meeting because at the last one there weren’t many gambling dentists (hmm…could propensity for gambling be linked to intelligence somehow?…oh, but that wouldn’t be PC of me to say, so I better keep it quiet!). Las Vegas has a certain stench to it, and I’m not just saying that because it held so much value to a certain crazy person I used to know. That certain stench is the mix of sand in the dry desert air and copious amount of cigarette smoke in the recycled air.

Each hotel doubles as a casino. Each casino has thousands of slot machines and card tables. No casino has a clock anywhere on the ground floor. Exits are NOT clearly marked (save emergency ones). After eating dinner at Trattoria Del Lupo Wednesday night inside Mandalay Bay with Jenn (from Dental Marketers) and Chris (from Perio Protect) I wanted to see the Bodies exhibit in the Tropicana exhibit hall. The Tropicana is located diagonally across the street from the Luxor. The Luxor is adjacent to Mandalay bay and is interconnected on the interior (and also by tram on the exterior). Because of the “we don’t want you to leave” maze within the casinos it took me 45 minutes to get across the street. I tried to go outside at first, but was turned away when seeing that one could go several blocks before coming to a crosswalk to cross Las Vegas Blvd. The middle of the street features palm trees, sand, and a five foot high fence to prevent jaywalking.

45 minutes later I came to the Tropicana. After finding the box office I was instructed to “go straight down and up the escalator” to get to the exhibition hall. This turned into down the hall, up the escalator, a walk to the left, down the hall past the trinket kiosks (oooh, an Ohio State mug!), down the hall past the karaoke bar and buffet, down the stairs, through the stark looking access door with an arrow, down a long empty hallway, choosing the right elevator to the ground floor (which was not labeled with a “1”, “0”, or “G”, but only “pool and health club”), down another hallway, a set of stairs, through the line, and into the exhibit – which ironically was also laid out partly like a maze.

For those who don’t know, Bodies is a scientific exhibit about the human body – made up entirely of manipulated preserved cadavers. It was very interesting. As some of you know, I can be a bit squeamish at times so I figured this might be a good test for me. I was okay with the show until I got to the middle of the exhibit, which featured a full room of fetuses in various stages of development. Now, keep in mind everything in the show was a real human cadaver, and they were splayed out like the illustrations in textbooks (we are talking cross-sections, holes, whole bodies without skin, organs splayed outside the body, musculature cut and extended from tendons, etc.). When the fetuses appeared I started to feel a little light headed. The rest of the rooms I basically jogged through.

I capped the night in my room watching the question and answer series at the University of Nebraska with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. It was the most interesting thing I did all day.

Thursday was uneventful. After the show ended I high-tailed it to the airport via Dan’s SUV. I was able to get stand-by on an earlier flight. I made it on the 6pm out. My 60 pound metal cube of appliances did not. The southwest baggage claim at Burbank is located (oddly) outside the terminal. (i.e. where smoking is allowed). So, I had to wait outside (thought I’d be home in time for a late dinner, but now I was stranded outside the terminal) for a few hours waiting for my cube. We’ve all been there – waiting and waiting for the baggage mover to start up and then for our particular piece to plop out. Now imagine doing that and not even knowing if your luggage was on that flight. Oh –and imagine everyone around you is sucking down a cancer stick.

There is a silver lining to this cloud though. Waiting on my doorstep was a small box. Upon opening the box I discovered a cool (read: professional design aesthetics instead of “just slap the logo in the middle, Earl”) gray buckeyes sweatshirt/pullover and a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Thanks, mom, and happy birthday!