So, let's just jump right back in to 2014:
Ajax, Ontario—Ahhhh, my first Canadian trip. It was super
snowy and the pharmacy was kind of a disaster. I also remember the food—it was
disgusting. (And I wrote this post. It's titled
"Fun Times In Canada". Oh, I was so naive.)
Buffalo, NY—I went to Niagara Falls in
the middle of winter and froze my fingers off. Also, I never ate real Buffalo
wings and I think I went to bed around 8:00pm each night. I was lame.
Strathmore, Alberta—It was FREEZING. I hated
traveling to Canada. I mean, I promise, Canadian border patrol, I do NOT want
to move here and steal one measly job from your population.
You didn't have to interrogate me like I was a criminal every
time I went through customs. (The WORST!)
Revelstoke, British Columbia—Probably my most favorite
trip I took with this job (even though it was in—GASP—Canada). Check it out here.
Perryton, TX—This one was Red’s Pharmacy, and the owner was
a straight up ginger, which I thought was kind of funny and clever. Nice folks.
Bethany, OK—These guys were super fun. The staff was young
and joked around a lot. They also tried to get me to drink beer with them at
lunch on the first day, because they were all so hungover from the night
before. (I did not partake, but I appreciated the gesture.)
Keller, TX/Livingston, TX—These two Texas trips were
CVS pharmacies outside of Dallas and Houston, back to back; a solid 12 days of living out of a suitcase in Texas. This was about the
time I had breakdowns to a handful of people back home (yes, multiple
breakdowns, while I sat in my car with the air conditioner on, because Lord
Have Mercy it was like 400 degrees outside) and I almost emailed my boss my
resignation letter from the CVS parking lot.
Lethbridge, Alberta—This place had a really
long bridge the city was named after. I went and saw it and was underwhelmed.
Also, I had a minor case of food poisoning after stopping at McD’s on the long-ass
drive out there. That was fun. Thank God there was a scary little gas station
along the way, or who knows what would have happened.
Yarmouth, ME/Topsham, ME—These two Maine trips were
back to back, and they were for a chain pharmacy called Hannaford's. People were
nice and Maine is gorgeous! I wrote about it here.
Brampton, Ontario— This one was literally in
the middle of nowhere, Alberta. Like, rolling fields of yellow canola forever and
ever. And the people were weird. It was Canada. We know how I feel about
this.
Broadview, Saskatoon—The pharmacy manager named
the robot Pippin (wtf?), and I had a migraine almost the entire time. There was
nowhere to eat, and I had to eat A&W three nights in a row (vom). This may
have been the cause of the ongoing migraine.
Damariscotta, ME—Another of the
Hannaford's. People were super nice and I ate lots of lobstah.
Sunnyside, WA—I got a freaking huge speeding ticket and I’m
fairly sure the state of Washington never cashed the check I sent in the mail
to pay it, so it is entirely possible that there is a warrant out for my arrest
in Washington state.
Ada, OK—People were nice. The land the pharmacy was on was part of an
Indian tribe's property, so technically it had different laws than normal...? (I didn't
really get the deets on this. Clearly.) The pharmacy sold Michael Kors
purses and Vera Bradley stuff, which is nice I guess, but I remember thinking
it was also kind of odd.
Soldotna, AK—So this trip was when I decided that this job
had slightly ruined my will to travel. Alaska was GORGEOUS. I mean, who gets to
go to freaking Alaska?? And I took maybe three pictures total, because I was
tired, I had rented a Tahoe and I knew I was going to get in trouble for going
over the rental car budget, and my cell hardly worked. And I decided that if I
got a free trip to Alaska and I was so grumpy that I didn't go do
anything or at the very least, take touristy pics of the park I drove through,
then it was probs time for me to find a new job.
Pine Falls, Manitoba—This one was a disaster. I
had to stay at a casino over an hour away and halfway through the first session
of training, the pharmacy manager came in and told me he was (and I quote,
because it’s so dramatic) “shutting this down” until some issues had been
resolved. It was a cluster, and I had to stay in the area for two more days,
“just in case” everything got worked out. It didn't. I came home and they
sent someone else out there a week later.
Santee, CA—Another CVS, but a California CVS in October is
much more manageable than my previous CVS nightmares in Texas. A couple other
trainers were also working at CVS's in Cali, so we met up for sush one night.
Taos, NM—Another of my favs, because I got to travel with my bestie Brad
(or BAMER). I wrote about it last
fall.
Reno, NV—Never even saw a casino…also an Indian Health Site, so that was
interesting. I was so over everything at this point. I was also traveling with
another trainer, and we ate at Whole Foods every day for lunch AND dinner at
his bequest.
Denver, CO—This was my first VA Hospital, and I really had
no business being there. The products I was supposed to “support”, I had not
learned yet. It was the week of Christmas. It was super cold and snowy. I was
hating life. Good times.
Which rolls us right into 2015 (are you still with me? Almost done!):
Orlando, FL—A VA Hospital site that had bought a ton of our
expensive equipment, yet refused to use it in the way it was intended. At the
very least, I was in Florida in January, and Ben was with me. However,
it wasn't really a productive trip, since
they didn't listen to any of our training.
Murfreesboro, TN—A VA Hospital, where half
of our equipment didn't work correctly and I got yelled at
on several occasions. Had a breakdown in the Detroit airport on my way
home, where I declared “I WAS DONE FOREVER” (and then I went to Nashville the
next week).
Nashville, TN—Sister site (another VA) of Murfreesboro…same issues, and to
add insult to injury, I didn't even make it down Music Row
because I was tired, I was mad, and it was cold. (Jeez...early 2015 was pretty bleak
for me, professionally.)
Somerset, PA—Super nice pharmacy manager. The staff
were…interesting. Let’s just say there was a 31 year old pharmacy tech who had
a 16 year old daughter and was SUPER proud of that. Yeeeeah.
Ronceverte, WV—I took Kayla, a new trainer, on this trip, and
she was sweet and fun to travel with. Highlights of the trip included us
literally sprinting through the airport to make a connection (after I had
bragged about never having to run to catch a flight) and then driving down
windy roads straight out of “The Hills Have Eyes” territory in backwoods, West
Virginia. (I think we bonded over the terror of the experience.)
Bremerton, WA—Okay, so this was my last site I traveled to,
and I knew it at the time, so I didn't have such a hellish time as I would have
if I knew I wasn't quitting. This was a Naval hospital on Fort Bremerton,
and the Commander in charge was pretty intense. Like, wasn’t happy with anything and wouldn’t sign off on anything until it was fixed, intense. Luckily, that was
not my issue (this trip required multiple people on site from SP) and I just got to
chat with the Navy cadets, who were quite interesting. Lt. Awa was the NICEST
guy I've ever met, and he gave me a Commander’s Coin, which is a big deal in
the Navy. I guess you give it to someone who you respect, and he told me that
the whole pharmacy appreciated the work I had done with them. In hindsight, I suppose this was not a bad
trip to go out on.
And I'm DONE! I gotta admit, it’s kind of cool to have all of these places
documented and to look back on where I've gotten to visit. While there were
plenty of things I disliked about the job, I did meet a lot of interesting and
cool people. But now, on to the next adventure of actually staying in town for more than a week at a time. I think it's going to be a solid summer. And who knows? Maybe I'll start blogging on the regular again. I gotta get my snarky comments out somewhere.
