You would think that being a surgery resident is as easy showing up at the hospital on July 1st and grabbing the nearest scalpel. Well, you would be wrong. Setting aside all the usual adminstrative nonsense of starting a new job there is still the hassle of the car, the computer, the phone, the apartment all of which have to be sorted out well before your first paycheck. A few days ago I tackled the furniture for my new apartment. Today I took a two and a half hour road trip from my hometown to the University town where I'll be doing my residency and looked at about 6 different apartment complexes.
Now, as a resident I need some place that takes less than 10 minutes to commute, including parking. Not to mention, it should be quiet, have a rent drop box and things that deliver and a number of other little variables that become necessities when you work the hours I'll be working. So, I had to explain to each property manager why I was asking seemingly irrelevant questions. Well, it seems I forgot to mention this to one lady. So, when she said that dividing my renter's insurance out over 12 months made it a nominal fee and I said that I don't need to do math because "I cut people open" I caused her a brief moment terror. In fact, she took a step back, the color drained from her face and she stared at me open-mouthed while I floundered for a rational explanation. The best I could come up with was "don't worry, I'm not a serial killer" and "I don't cut people up for fun, I swear." After a few more minutes of this I eventually got her to understand the whole surgeon thing.
I think living there for the next couple of years should prove entertaining.
