Mmm, blood.

My job is so twisted.

I went to work today, and within my first 5 minutes of being there, I was asked to give up my non-pregnant female blood for one of my boss's studies. This is the second time in two months that I've been asked to give blood for one of her studies. Here's the thing; I hate giving blood. I have been so traumatized time and time again by nurses picking, poking and prodding at my skinny, little, deep veins that I hate, no, loathe, giving blood. I appreciate the Red Cross, but I cringe at and avoid every blood drive that crops up in my life. But when your boss asks you to give blood for one of her studies, what do you do? Suck it up.

Last time, I told her I had deep and difficult veins, so she refused to do it herself. We went to the clinic on the same floor of our hospital where a very nice nurse distracted me long enough to draw two vials. No biggy. She found blood and I hardly even noticed. She handed me the vials and sent me back to my lab. I walked back through the corridors of the hospital carrying two warm vials of my very own fresh blood. Twisted.

Today, one of our new Korean fellows volunteered to draw my blood. He's a doctor. I watched him draw three vials from one of my female coworkers. Three vials?! Two was pushing it. How was I ever going to give three vials without passing out??? I explained to him that I have deep veins, blah blah blah. I then sat there as he fumbled around feeling my arm up until he found what he thought might have been a vein. I then proceeded to watch him drive a needle deeper and deeper into my arm until I was convinced it was going to pop out the other side. No blood. Not even a drop. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he pulled the needle out and apologized. He was embarrassed, "I used to be an expert."

A funny thing happened. 10 whole minutes later, not 1 minute, not 2 minutes, I thought I was going to pass out. I didn't even lose a drop of blood, but that whole scenario was enough to induce a physiological effect on me 10 minutes after the fact. Why? I'm not afraid of needles, necessarily. I have no problem getting a vaccine, and the actual poking part of having my blood drawn doesn't normally affect me. But for some reason, watching him drive the needle in really freaked me out. And I want to be a doctor, ha!

We're supposed to try again tomorrow. I think I'll pass. Maybe next week we can go back to the clinic and have the nice nurse distract me again. Doctors aren't such hot shots after all.

Twisted.

Hidden Talents You Never Knew You Had

I recently discovered a new talent of mine.

I spent a few nights last week teenagersitting for a family friend. It was kind of an emergency situation, which meant that I threw enough random articles of clothing in a bag to get me by for a few days. I realized that I didn't pack any socks, which is a common mistake of mine, and given that it was near 40 degrees F, I really felt that I wouldn't be comfortable working on my feet all day long without a foot to shoe barrier. This being the situation, I decided to stop by the drugstore on my way to work to pick up a cheapo pair of socks. Roadwork on the street outside my place of employment was causing me to be even more late for work, so I decided to save time by attempting to put on my socks while driving - a stupid idea, really, since driving involves careful control of your feet. I expertly managed to put on a pair of knee-high socks from underneath the steering-wheel while switching feet to manage the gas/break pedals. I was impressed. All day long, however, I felt an odd pinching pressure on my right ankle, almost as if my sock was falling down. The pinch faded in and out of my awareness throughout the course of my day, but it was never uncomfortable enough to actually take a look at my leg to see what was going on. Later that night, as I was undressing, I found a hair-tie on my ankle, underneath my sock. What? I was so confused, I almost started to panic. How was this possible? I then realized that everyday, without even thinking about it anymore, I wear a hair-tie around my wrist in case I desire to pull my hair back during the day. I've done it for so many years that I don't even think about it anymore. I just always have one on me. Somehow, without even noticing it, I managed to displace my hair-tie from my wrist to my ankle while struggling to put my socks on underneath the steering-wheel that morning. That, my friends, is pure talent. I was impressed, aren't you??