Those who have known me for any length of time are going to be shocked at what I'm
about to confess.
My plan today was to have lunch with a good friend I hadn't seen in four years, and I made sure I packed my camera to record the lunch...or at least the food (which was beautiful). But in the end, I never took the camera out of my purse and didn't even think about it until I'd said goodbye to her and was getting back into my car.
So the Photo of the Day is from the first part of this very weird day, which definitely did not go according to plan.
The PLAN was to go to Bloodsource for my usual blood donation, then go to the store to get just a couple of things, stop by Verizon, which is near the supermarket, and if there was nobody in there ask the guy about a couple of niggling problems I'm having with my phone, maybe stop and get my hair cut, come home, take a shower, and get on the road for the drive to Dixon, where I was meeting Lisa.
What could go wrong?
Well, first of all, there was a new phlebotomist and that almost always spells trouble. She inserted the needle and sprayed me with blood in the process (but had covered me up, first, so it didn't get on my clothes) but then the blood did not flow. She poked and moved the needle around and could get the blood started, but it was going VERY slowly. She called for help and a woman who usually does it without problem came to help, said my vein was "tricky" and she managed to get the blood flowing but still slowly. Finally I had reached "the point of no return" (not quite sure what that means) and the blood was starting to clot in my arm and they had to give it up. I'm now not able to donate again for 8 weeks because of the computer system recording that I actually gave blood today.
I was kind of disappointed. This would have been my 40th donation and I'm not sure but I think on the books I get credit for donating today. We'll see when I go back in December.
So then I went down to the supermarket, checked Verizon and found the shop empty. Whew. That NEVER happens. I explained my problems, which have to do with the phone not consistently connecting to wifi, even here in the house, and the phone not turning off when I turn it off which runs the battery down. The battery went from fully charged to fully empty in a matter of about 4 hours the other day. Other times it will stay fully charged for a whole day.
Well, first of all, he told me he was removing this app from my phone because it was a real energy suck. Now, I never knew what that app did because the OTHER guy who works in the store put it on for me last time I had a problem and told me it would help keep my phone from using so much battery so quickly. Go figure.
But the guy couldn't figure out my other problems, so he called tech. Turns out I couldn't talk with tech because the account is in Walt's name and I'm not listed as a valid user on the account. Sheesh. Damn male chauvenists! But they agreed that the only possible solution, before considering giving me a replacement phone, was to completely reinstall the operating system. That meant losing all of my apps and all of the information stored on those apps. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have come home, copied down all the information I needed and taken the phone back tomorrow, but he told me the whole process would only take about 10 minutes, so I just went ahead and did it. Figured it might be a nice way to clear out all the superfluous apps I had.
Nearly an hour later, he was still trying to finish it, but I had to leave, so he just gave me back the phone to let it continue updating. By the time I got home, there was no time for a shower, and barely enough time to change clothes. My hair (as you can see from the Photo of the Day) was pretty much a lost cause. While changing clothes, I removed the bandage they put on at Bloodsource and blood started spurting out all over the place. Scared Walt, for sure! But I managed to get it stopped and a bandaid took care of it. I figured heck, I was having lunch with a nurse. If I started to bleed again, it would be no big deal.
I actually got to the tea room about 10 minutes early, and Lisa was already there. Oh, man, was it good to see her! She was always one of my favorite people when I worked for Women's Health. We had such a close-knit family there until Sutter Medical Foundation came along and ruined everything. Now we are scattered to the four winds and I almost never see anybody and I miss them all!
As we were settling in, we were doing the "what's new with you?" game and I said "how are the kids?" I remembered the last time I saw her two boys they were very young...the oldest was maybe 7...? I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach when she told me her oldest son, age 19, was killed in an accident a year and a half ago. Oh I felt so bad I hadn't known. She uses her family name professionally, and I didn't remember her husband's last name, so even if I'd seen the obituary, it wouldn't have struck me. But I should have been there. Those of us who belong to that club that nobody wants to join are a comfort when something like this happens. I remember the couple that we relied on right after David died. Their daughter had been gone many years, but I remember clearly the day she died...the first (of far too many) children from Davis that I knew who died.
So we chatted as only two grieving mothers can about the grieving process, about our kids, about their deaths, and about "how we are doing." I think it was helpful because I could say the things that people who have not gone through this wouldn't think to say and know that she understood.
The lunch wasn't all sadness. I had purchased a Groupon for the Linde Lane Tea Room (the link takes you to someone's blog with great photos of the place), where I had been for a birthday party a year or so ago. When I bought the Groupon it was with the idea of having a nice high tea with Jeri when she was here in August, but her schedule was so fulll, there was never any time, so then I had to find someone to invite to join me. Since I have no close friends in Davis, it really took me a long time to think of someone, but I'm so glad that I asked Lisa. I hope it won't be another 4 years before we do this again!
I spent the afternoon starting to reinstall all the apps that I want to keep on my phone. It's going to take awhile before I get it back to what it was before, but I have Word with Friends and Instagram back anyway, and those are the most important ones!
My plan today was to have lunch with a good friend I hadn't seen in four years, and I made sure I packed my camera to record the lunch...or at least the food (which was beautiful). But in the end, I never took the camera out of my purse and didn't even think about it until I'd said goodbye to her and was getting back into my car.
So the Photo of the Day is from the first part of this very weird day, which definitely did not go according to plan.
The PLAN was to go to Bloodsource for my usual blood donation, then go to the store to get just a couple of things, stop by Verizon, which is near the supermarket, and if there was nobody in there ask the guy about a couple of niggling problems I'm having with my phone, maybe stop and get my hair cut, come home, take a shower, and get on the road for the drive to Dixon, where I was meeting Lisa.
What could go wrong?
Well, first of all, there was a new phlebotomist and that almost always spells trouble. She inserted the needle and sprayed me with blood in the process (but had covered me up, first, so it didn't get on my clothes) but then the blood did not flow. She poked and moved the needle around and could get the blood started, but it was going VERY slowly. She called for help and a woman who usually does it without problem came to help, said my vein was "tricky" and she managed to get the blood flowing but still slowly. Finally I had reached "the point of no return" (not quite sure what that means) and the blood was starting to clot in my arm and they had to give it up. I'm now not able to donate again for 8 weeks because of the computer system recording that I actually gave blood today.
I was kind of disappointed. This would have been my 40th donation and I'm not sure but I think on the books I get credit for donating today. We'll see when I go back in December.
So then I went down to the supermarket, checked Verizon and found the shop empty. Whew. That NEVER happens. I explained my problems, which have to do with the phone not consistently connecting to wifi, even here in the house, and the phone not turning off when I turn it off which runs the battery down. The battery went from fully charged to fully empty in a matter of about 4 hours the other day. Other times it will stay fully charged for a whole day.
Well, first of all, he told me he was removing this app from my phone because it was a real energy suck. Now, I never knew what that app did because the OTHER guy who works in the store put it on for me last time I had a problem and told me it would help keep my phone from using so much battery so quickly. Go figure.
But the guy couldn't figure out my other problems, so he called tech. Turns out I couldn't talk with tech because the account is in Walt's name and I'm not listed as a valid user on the account. Sheesh. Damn male chauvenists! But they agreed that the only possible solution, before considering giving me a replacement phone, was to completely reinstall the operating system. That meant losing all of my apps and all of the information stored on those apps. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have come home, copied down all the information I needed and taken the phone back tomorrow, but he told me the whole process would only take about 10 minutes, so I just went ahead and did it. Figured it might be a nice way to clear out all the superfluous apps I had.
Nearly an hour later, he was still trying to finish it, but I had to leave, so he just gave me back the phone to let it continue updating. By the time I got home, there was no time for a shower, and barely enough time to change clothes. My hair (as you can see from the Photo of the Day) was pretty much a lost cause. While changing clothes, I removed the bandage they put on at Bloodsource and blood started spurting out all over the place. Scared Walt, for sure! But I managed to get it stopped and a bandaid took care of it. I figured heck, I was having lunch with a nurse. If I started to bleed again, it would be no big deal.
I actually got to the tea room about 10 minutes early, and Lisa was already there. Oh, man, was it good to see her! She was always one of my favorite people when I worked for Women's Health. We had such a close-knit family there until Sutter Medical Foundation came along and ruined everything. Now we are scattered to the four winds and I almost never see anybody and I miss them all!
As we were settling in, we were doing the "what's new with you?" game and I said "how are the kids?" I remembered the last time I saw her two boys they were very young...the oldest was maybe 7...? I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach when she told me her oldest son, age 19, was killed in an accident a year and a half ago. Oh I felt so bad I hadn't known. She uses her family name professionally, and I didn't remember her husband's last name, so even if I'd seen the obituary, it wouldn't have struck me. But I should have been there. Those of us who belong to that club that nobody wants to join are a comfort when something like this happens. I remember the couple that we relied on right after David died. Their daughter had been gone many years, but I remember clearly the day she died...the first (of far too many) children from Davis that I knew who died.
So we chatted as only two grieving mothers can about the grieving process, about our kids, about their deaths, and about "how we are doing." I think it was helpful because I could say the things that people who have not gone through this wouldn't think to say and know that she understood.
The lunch wasn't all sadness. I had purchased a Groupon for the Linde Lane Tea Room (the link takes you to someone's blog with great photos of the place), where I had been for a birthday party a year or so ago. When I bought the Groupon it was with the idea of having a nice high tea with Jeri when she was here in August, but her schedule was so fulll, there was never any time, so then I had to find someone to invite to join me. Since I have no close friends in Davis, it really took me a long time to think of someone, but I'm so glad that I asked Lisa. I hope it won't be another 4 years before we do this again!
I spent the afternoon starting to reinstall all the apps that I want to keep on my phone. It's going to take awhile before I get it back to what it was before, but I have Word with Friends and Instagram back anyway, and those are the most important ones!
1 comment:
Congratulations on your 5th gallon! You are what we used to call QNS, and we always gave people credit for that donation, even if no blood had come out at all.
If a phlebotomist messed up and couldn't hit the vein, the donor wasn't responsible.
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