beware of falling trees

Mom and I got hit by a tree on the way home from work today. We were driving down the freeway in my Camaro, with the T-tops out and the windows down. Suddenly we both gasped when we saw an alder tree falling out from the woods and onto us! I swerved into the other lane, but the tree still came in through the open T-tops. I kept driving and looked in the rear-view mirror to see the car behind me driving through the tree. Then I asked mom if she was hurt. She said she wasn't, but wasn't sure about the car. We pulled over and checked the car...no damage. Then we both started laughing. Of course that would happen to us.

summer

Summer means very few posts. Working + slow Internet makes it quite difficult. I'll be back.

Rocky

Rocky was my dog. He died this morning. I feel like I need to write him an ode or something to honor the time I shared with him. He was my best friend for around 14 years. He loved the beach as much as I did and was always my guard dog. He loved to dig holes, play softball, and travel. He always asked to go outside and he never ran away. He was perfect. They say a dog is a man's best friend, but I think it goes both ways.
This photo was taking while camping a couple years ago. I was down at the beach skim boarding and he was whining because he couldn't see me. So, Ali put him up on the table so he could keep an eye on me.

I'm sorry he's gone but I know it was his time. I feel terrible for being glad that I wasn't there, but seeing him would have made me fall apart. I also know that my mom and dad are probably very sad too and I hate to see them cry. Is it bad that I don't want to be there for them? Death is such a strange thing, even the non-human kind. What an empty feeling it leaves with one.

I have a feeling I will be particularly lonely this summer minus two best friends. I'm sure I will be fine, but for now I am sad.

tip of the day

Don't eat popcorn or chips in the library. It's annoying and rude.

blood money

For the past couple of weeks I've been donating my plasma. Well, I don't know if I should call it donating because I get paid for it...Anyway, I've attempted to "donate" three times now and none have been successful.

Trip #1:
I'm sitting with my nurse, Rick, going over all of the possible things that could happen to me. After each one I jokingly say "that'll happen to me." Rick laughs. I go into the room and they hook me up to the machine. Worst part over. The way the process works is that they pump out a certian amount of your blood, spin it around to separate the plasma from the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, pump the plasma into a little baggy, then give the rbc, wbc and platelets back to you. They do this through about eight cycles. I had gotten to my fifth cycle when all of a sudden my arm (the one with the big honking needle in it) started to get really sore. Then I got nauseous. I called my helper Cassie to come over because I thought I was going to faint. I wasn't scared. I knew exactly what was happening, but as I looked at Cassie my vision got darker and my hearing became muted. I remember Cassie asking me a question and start fanning me with my chart then...I was flying. The person I was flying with asked me "can you hear me? Can you hear me?" "Yes," I said. Then I startled awake and there were three or four people standing around me. "Woah," I said. Then I got uncomfortably warm and my hearing and vision returned to normal. Then Rick walked in shaking his head. "I told you," I said to him. "Yes. You called it."
It turns out I was only out for about 2 seconds, but it felt much longer to me. Then I had to eat my second pack of the cracker sandwiches with the cheese in the center and I drank about a gallon of water. Everything was fine and I laughed on the way out. Mainly because it wasn't like I had a room to myself. No, there were literally 8 people across from me and a person on each side of me. It was not subtle. Everyone saw. I thought it was funny. I was paid $30.

Trip #2:
After trip #1 Rick suggested that we try the left arm to see if it's not directly over the nerve that caused me to black out. The problem this time was that they couldn't find the vein in my left arm! I had about three different women feeling up my arm and none of them could find it. So, my girl Cassie decided to go to my right arm...again. So, she's putting the needle in and it hurt really bad. Then I hear "uh oh." That happens to be the worst thing to hear in a medical office. She had scraped the side of my vein and caused it to bleed leaving a hematoma. "Well, good news is you're done for the day," she told me. I was paid $20.

Trip #3 (yesterday):
After my last trip I asked my mom (a nurse) if there was anything I could do to make the vein in my left arm bigger. "Put some heat on it." So I did. I decided to put my washcloth in the microwave to warm it up. It would have worked if I would have remembered to wet it down first. I think I opened the door right before it caught on fire. It was smokin'. I used it anyway...then tossed it. I got to the plasma place, did the usual prick of the finger thing then chose a left handed seat/bed. I warned the guy, Mark, that they couldn't find my vein last time. Well, he found it and inserted the needle (no pain). Then he said "hmmm." Another thing I don't like to hear at a medical place. "It's not...going," he said. I sighed. "I'm going to move the needle a little bit to see if I can get it to flow better." I wasn't really likin' the idea so much, but kept my mouth shut. Let me just tell you that yeah, it wasn't comfortable. Mark gave up after several unsuccessful attempts. Then a new girl walked over and tried. "Ouch," I said. Then I looked down at my left arm and saw what was the beginning of another hematoma. She had poked the side of that vein. "I'm going to try the other side," she said. I told her that I still had a bruise on my right arm, but she wanted to do it anyway. I was gritting my teeth the whole time. It hurt. We had to stop. I was paid $30.

Trip #4:
This Tuesday. Expect an update. I will be successful. I will be paid $20.

my friends

Are really funny. Here are some examples.

Kyndra: "That was one good piece of grass. And not in the druggie way."

Jacquie: "Oh no! I lost my rocket!"

Kyndra: "Shit! Why do I have to be such a good person? I hate it when I do that!"

*phone rings*
Me: Hello?
Unknown Caller: *BEEEELCH*
Me: "Oh that was...great..."
Unknown Caller: "Good one right?"
Me: *click*

things from my brain

I'm an obsessive note taker when it comes to life. I like to write down things as they happen. I like to make lists too. It's more like I have to make lists actually. If I don't then my brain thinks I need to remember all of these things and it wastes space in my brain's hard-drive. My notes and lists usually consist of quotes I like, thoughts I have, real life stories, etc. Right now I have to wait 10 more minutes before I can finish my online chemistry homework, so I thought I'd post my first set of life notes.

From Chemistry:

Professor: "Iron is my favorite element...is iron anyone else's favorite? OH COME ON! It's in your blood! It's like everywhere!"

Professor: "This[homework problem] is kind of an easy little plug and chug."

From Anthropology:

Professor: "We'll have a lecture about chimpanzees. Everything you ever wanted to know about chimpanzees. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll have to leave to go to the bathroom...I guarantee at least one but probably all three of those things will happen to you."

Professor: "...Canadians speak another language than us. It's very difficult to communicate with them."

Student [about exam]: "How heavy will the terminology be?"
Professor: "Very heavy. It's all written in words. Does that help?"

Professor: "We know this is the mother. How do we know? It came out of her! There's potential of a hospital switch...happens all the time."

Professor: "It's hard to text message with a hoof. I'm learning about that sort of thing."

Professor: "Well I've raced a jaguar..." I'm pretty sure he was talking about an actual jaguar.

Professor: "Hopefully there will be no other slides...nope two more. Damn."

Professor: "We are an ape...I'd hate to break it to...some of us..."

Professor: "It's pretty boring just reading the test questions to you...probably something ethically wrong with that. I dunno I'll have to check the handbook. I should probably do that more often."

Professor: "You're supposed to be anxious before a test right? That's good for learning."

Professor: "I can't tell you all the answers because then no one would get any wrong."

Professor: "I'm retarded."

From Biology:

Professor: "Enough fun right?"
Me: "That's what I always say."

Professor: "Let's turn on the lights so I can kinda see the whites of your eyes."
Me: "Well my whites are kinda red today so..."

Professor: "Males aren't really equipped to do anything by themselves."

Professor: "I don't mean to shut you down, but I am."

Thoughts:

My new softball mantra is "don't swing at crap."

During cell biology I'm am constantly suffering from information overload.

Serendipity is a beautiful word.

The zygomatic bone is my favorite bone, closely followed by the acetabulum.

Crepuscular. Who knew?

Extant is a funny word.

Further and farther are tricky.

Ahoy

Welcome. This is where I will be putting all my thoughts and ideas from "off the port bow." The name was the product of brainstorming while watching the Little Mermaid. I like it because it is a good way to describe where my mind is most of the time. My thoughts are rarely strait off the bow in the "normal" direction nor are they off the port side in the crazy direction. They are halfway in between.

I'll try to keep my posts a frequent as possible. Summer is usually a little slow because Internet speed at home is as slow as it can be. Finals are also happening right now. I hope I am able to entertain you as much as I entertain myself. Enjoy.