My schedule for the 2nd week was a little different than my first. The week started (on Wednesday) at MFL. I was able to review the information I learned last week as well as start to go over more specifics for our medical records system. I have a big binder of information that can be overwhelming at times, so I made myself a “cheat sheet” with shortcuts to where certain documents are or how to fill out commonly used forms, etc. I feel like this will come in handy for a while until I get the hang of all 742 different types of forms, etc I will have to use 😉 I also feel “official” with my MFL t-shirts. Being that this is a theatrical production and I have to wear black when covering the show, it’s good to have a couple more shirts to throw into the rotation. Sometimes I feel like a ninja walking around in all black..in the dark. Ok maybe a blind ninja. Yes there are some rope lights that help guide the way on stage left or right, but its pretty black up there. People can sneak up on you (or the other way around) because everyone is trying not to be seen. However, i’m getting pretty good at recognizing people’s silhouettes.
If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas you know that you are so overstimulated by all the lights, sounds, and people that it’s pretty easy to be wide awake at all hours of the night. Well, when I’m at work in the basement of the theatre this isn’t the case, so sometimes by the time 2nd show is starting (930pm) I’m ready for a nap. One night after work, I met some co-workers for midnight special bowling after work. I think it was around 1:45am when we left and I wasn’t the slightest bit tired. Then when I got home, of course I couldn’t fall asleep until after 3am. My body is more on Vegas time now. Typically this wouldn’t be a big deal since most of my days don’t start until 3pm, but I just so happened to be attending an emergency medical responder course at 9am the following day. This was the first time that I’ve really had to deal with “traffic”. I decided to take side roads to get there and attempted the freeway to get home. Lesson learned, next time just take the side roads both ways. It will end up being faster, even with stoplights. Generally speaking Las Vegas drivers are pretty tame compared to Chicago. I guess its all a matter of perspective though as I’ve heard a couple people mention that Las Vegas drivers are horrible. I then proceed to ask if they’ve ever driven in Chicago; the answer is always no.
One of the days this past week (don’t ask me which one because I really never know 
what day it is) I got a taste of the second show I’ll be working on. We had some emergency training skill sessions and document review at the “O” theatre in the Bellagio. Emergency action plans are a big part of my job. With there being such a high level of skill and performance in all of the shows, there needs to be an equally high level of prep incase something goes wrong. After the training, I stayed to check out their treatments, meet some of the artists, and watch the show. I had never seen “O” before, and watching it for the first time from the stage was pretty cool.
I was back over at MFL for the rest of the week. I’ve gotten the routine of things down. Treatments are going well, the artists are great to work with, and I’m getting better with remembering everyone’s names/departments. I’m excited to be on my own very soon!
After some more training, I was able to play “tourist” for an afternoon and wandered around the Bellagio Conservatory. They change out the scenery 4 times per year based on the season. I’ve seen 2 different scenes on previous trips to Vegas, but this one was probably my favorite. The current theme is “tour of Italy.” If you know me at all, I don’t need to explain why this was my favorite.
All week I’ve been making it a point to organize at least one thing in my apartment each day. Its getting closer to looking like someone actually lives here. As I was unpacking all of my wine, I realized that I think I left a couple bottles back home by accident. That or I drank them and forgot. Either way, my wine corner is almost complete. Next up is getting stuff on my walls. If I’m able to get it done within the next 2 weeks it will be a record. I’ve never gotten everything up in under a month before. Stay tuned…
Soleil State of Mind 