Yesterday was interesting... And yes, it involved everything mentioned in the title, and my Uncle too! I shall expound.
I had a Red Cross blood donation appointment at 12:15, no big deal, get there, read the paper, get pricked (in the finger), get blood pressure tested, get a drink (of orange juice), sit in a chair, rest your arm on one side and hold your drink in the other, and you're ready to go! Well, then there's everything leading up to the needle stick, and the pumping and squeezing of my hand, and then it's all over (in 6 minutes! Hurrah!). Then they take the needle out, put gauze over the puncture wound, have you hold it high for a minute, and bandage you up. Here lies a problem, at least on this particular day. My arm didn't want to stop bleeding! I had to hold my arm up with pressure on it for 30 seconds or more, at least three times. And then she did it for me once or twice until it finally clotted and she could wrap my elbow with no fear of me spilling any of my life force upon the street. Wouldn't want any leaky humans out there... bad rep for the Red Cross. How do they get away with poking people full of holes (ok, it's only one) and then sending them off, seemingly unscathed. Oh, right, the amazing human body. Where was I? Oh, right. Blood. Mmm...
Luckily for me, this nurse knew some tricks, one of which was a bag of ice, which she promptly wrapped on my arm on top of the gauze pad and told me to leave it on there for ten minutes. I did so, and gorged myself on cookies and pretzels while I waited. Fun times. I had a nice chat with one of the volunteers who was working there. She said she'd been doing it for the past 16 years or so... After having retired, and apparently still married. A sweet old lady... had a lazy eye, minorly unnerving, but still nice to listen to and quite friendly. Then I took the ice bag off and left the building, taking my papers, a sticker for my shirt and a calendar reminder (I'm eligible again on 1/1/08! Woot!), as well as two bags of cookies and a bag of pretzels. Yay munchies. What can I say? They had chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and wheel pretzles, I couldn't resist.
Ah yes, then came the wart. This one also involved ice, but in a different sense. I had a dermatology appointment at 2:15, for the removal of one itty bitty wart on my palm. It's been bugging me for a while and I finally told my mom about it. The appointment consisted of me signing in at the front desk, sitting in the office, sitting in the patient room, chatting with the doctor, and getting an area about 4 times the size of the wart frozen by liquid nitrogen from a can. Unpleasant at best. Though I can say that the most pain was felt as all the cells being frozen screamed in horror as they gave up their last... breath?.. of life. Now I've got a nice blister (which of course the doctor warned me about) the size of a pencil eraser on my hand, and an appointment in 7 weeks for a follow-up. She also looked at some moles on my back and scars from moles removed, as well as a few pimples on my head, and said I was a-ok. End of appointment, pay the front desk and be on my way. The co-pay was only $35, so I am very glad for insurance. (Must needs get some o' dat before, or shortly following, marriage.)
So, that's it for the title credits, now for some bonus material. That evening, I went out with my Uncle to chat about life and school and women (one in particular to me), and see how things are going. He gave me a few pointers and tips on how to take better notes in school, edited one of my programs, and encouraged me to have some backup plans if my original plan doesn't work out. I pray that it doesn't, because even though my school schedule is pretty packed from here on out, it looks like I won't be graduated until Fall of '09. Not a bad thing in itself, but, considering other plans I and one other have in mind, it might push things back a little. That will certainly be a point of discussion shortly.
Speaking of which, he gave me several things to consider and focus on in my pursuit of my current relationship and the progression thereof. In short, he said waiting is better, but every situation is unique, so counseling is best no matter what. We need to consider many things and bring them to light before they might become points of division. And yes I'm being vague, because at the current time, those who understand this paragraph are the only ones it matters to. More will be revealed at a later date.
And now that I have reached the end of this post, I shall sign off without further ado.
Thank you all,
Gilligan
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