Hawaii

I thought I would post some pictures from Hawaii. We had a wonderful time, the weather was good and the medical conference was informative, at least the sessions I attended. It was hard to balance the pull of the meeting and the attraction of the beach.

Here is the view from our hotel room. We stayed in a one bedroom suite which had a full kitchen. It was probably one the best accommodations that we have ever enjoyed. HBO comes in handy when you are having trouble adjusting to the time change.

Here is a view inside the Hawaiian convention Centre.

We watched the annual "Battle of the Paddle" competition.

I was inspired to try it my self. I definitely could have done well in my age group!

We kayaked, snorkelled, and even hiked to Manoa Falls.

All in all another good time was had.

Vancouver

As most of you know, I was invited to a meeting in Vancouver last Friday. It was put on by Shire pharmaceuticals.

They brought in 11 doctors from Western Canada to get feedback on their product (Vyvanse). Vyvanse is a new ADHD medication which can last up to 14 hours.

They wanted to know what they could do better to promote their product and how they as a company could help us as physicians in our practices. I have been to a few of these meetings over the years for Shire and other companies. I really enjoy them, especially getting to know other doctors from around Alberta and the country. The meeting was held at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel.

This meant I didn't have to get any ground transportation once I got off the plane. Shire offered to not only pay the airfare, but to put me up in the hotel on Thursday night. When I looked at my schedule and flight options, the only way I could make it to Vancouver Thursday evening was to take the 9 pm flight out of Lethbridge, which would get me into Vancouver at midnight Vancouver time. Too long a day I thought after working in my office until 6 pm.

Instead, I thought of a different plan. What if I flew out of Lethbridge Friday morning? If I left on the 5:30 am flight, I could connect in Calgary and would arrive in Vancouver in time for the 8 am meeting. Then I could fly home after the meeting and I wouldn't need to stay over night or pack a suitcase. Perfect!

Well...I should have thought this through. It meant getting up at 3:45 am to get to the airport, travel to Calgary, transfer to a flight to Vancouver, attend the meeting, sit in the airport for 4 hours, get back on a plane back to Calgary, sit for another 2 1/2 hours, get on a plane to Lethbridge, arrive at midnight, drive home (20.5 hour day).

view from the meeting room

the new canada train linking the airport with downtown

Maybe next time, I will stay overnight in the hotel.

The bonus to this adventure was that I got to see the Royal Wedding live on T.V., cause it was playing in the airports in Lethbridge and Calgary Friday morning.

I also had the unique experience of flying into the same city twice on the same day. How many of you have done that?