I had forgotten what having a 15+ hour day was like. It's long. And you feel tired at the end of it. Seriously, though, I don't think I have gotten up at roughly 6 AM for pretty much anything other than catching airplanes since high school. And even in airplanes, I am able to catch up some of the sleep. No, other than my work last summer, I haven't had an honest-to-god, straight-through-from 0-dark-hundred-until late-at-night day since high school -- even when I had my job in Manhattan last summer, I didn't get up that early. And I sure as hell haven't ever gotten up that early for any school-related thing since high school. Ah, the life of a college+ student.
Anyway, it is tiring. I had to get up at the crack of dawn this morning due to an 8AM cardiology appointment at Stanford. Once upon a time I had heart defects corrected in infancy by pediatric cardiology doctors at Stanford. As a kid I used to go in for check-ups fairly regularly, although as I got older they became more spaced out. Now I am pretty much on the ten-year-check-in plan, and this year the ten years was up (actually, turned out to be more like 11. When I went in today they called over the pediatric cardiology department to try to get the records from my last echocardiogram, but apparently since it was more than ten years ago --2002-- they didn't have them, or something... 'K). For a variety of reasons, I got the first appointment of the day. Since I had never been to this department before (at least that I can remember), I left myself plenty of time to get lost (which, kind of on accident, I actually didn't get lost). Plus rush hour traffic from where my parents live up to Stanford is a bitch, so I wanted to leave plenty of time to get there. It all worked out, I was right on time. So I went, and had the test done, and was done in an hour. Incidentally I have to go back for my other test and actual appointment with a cardiologist next week, again at 8AM. So another early day for me!
I think I may have been a bit loopy when I was at the echo lab. If you have never had one, basically a technician rubs a bunch of gel stuff on the chest, and waves over it with some kind of rolly probe thing, that somehow produces an image of the heart. If you've ever seen a pregnant woman go through an ultrasound, it's basically that. But the tech has to kind of be quiet and concentrate on getting all the needed images, so not much chit-chat happens (although this tech was actually a very nice Southern woman who called me "kiddo."). But for the most part I was left to my own thoughts. For context: I had gotten up early, after not getting a good night's sleep at all due to a pounding headache (headaches: seriously, fuck those guys). So I was probably a bit sleep deprived, and one thing that commonly happens when I am sleep deprived, is I get a bit loopy. Namely, I start thinking really random (and sometimes inappropriate) things are the funniest shit ever. That kind of happened today. I don't know how it popped into my head --maybe because I was sitting in a cardiology office in a hospital-- but I started thinking about heart transplants (no, I never had any of those). And then I thought about, what if the obligatory hospital gift shop sold t-shirts to transplant patients that said "I left my heart in Stanford, CA." I thought this was clever, and it didn't immediately occur to me that no, no in fact that would be a very bad idea (n.b.: I might actually be a horrible person). So lesson: sleep deprivation does not agree with me, because no sleep = no filters. At least I didn't say any of this out-loud.
Hopefully earning back some extra karma points after the really bad t-shirt idea, the next (and significantly less awful) idea to pop into my head was that "hey! So I used a lot of blood 'n stuff for my surgery, maybe I should pay back my debt, and go donate blood!" I used to donate blood fairly frequently to Stanford while I was still living full-time in California, and then in college was actively involved in blood donation organization. But in the last year I haven't really donated much, mostly due to the fact that I was sick all the time last year. In fact, when I went to the donation center, their records indicated I hadn't donated there since 2010. Incidentally though, the next time I donate to Stanford, whenever that will be, I will have donated 1 gallon or something. So apparently they track these things. To be honest, I don't really enjoy the process of donating blood -- the whole blood drawing thing honestly really freaks me out. But it's the right thing to do, and I have a particular debt in this regard. Luckily, I think my blood flows fast or something, because I am usually done with the actual blood drawing in like 10 minutes. Today I think it was under 10. And this is where my PSA comes in: If you at all can, please donate blood. There is always a need, and always a shortage. Your 15 minutes could help people like me not die. I will post links to a few of the blood centers I have donated to at the end of this post, for your information.
And finally, I ended the day by doing something that I have been meaning to do for literally years. Namely, I hauled my butt to the California DMV to get an updated license photo (my license expires in September, and since I may or may not be back in CA before then, I figured now was as good a time as any). I have been needing to do this since at least the latter half of college. My license photo was taken for my permit when I was barely 15; I look like I am 12 in it. It was getting to the point that the photo was so old that the license was really starting to look like a fake (I had made the DMV appointment before leaving Chicago, but coincidentally when I was at the Phoenix airport, the guy that checks licenses at the security checkpoint commented on the outdated nature of my license. I took this as a sign from the universe that I was doing the right thing. N.B.: If you ever have to go to California DMV, making an appointment ahead of time is the way to go-- my wait time versus those without an appointment was significantly less. You can make an appointment here.) So, getting a license that actually looks like me: cool. Not cool? Pop written drivers test. I don't know why, because they never required this when I just have had my license automatically renewed via mail, but when I went to get my picture taken, I was told I would have to take the written portion of the drivers test! Holy shit. I was not prepared for this. I took the exam in my hand and stared at it in fear. I think it was partially the shock and panic of having the thing sprung on me, but except for the BAC content question, I blanked when looking at the questions as to the right answers. Luckily, they let you read the DMV Drivers Handbook at the center before taking the test; all I had to do was turn my test back in without taking it, grab a copy of the handbook, and sit for 40 minutes flipping through it to refresh my recollection as to the rules. After I did that, they gave me the test back and I took it, passing. In all actuality, once I had calmed down from my freak-out and looked at the questions, all but a few were pretty straight-forward, and could have been answered from both common sense and experience. So that was fun. But I do get a new license. Huzzah!
That's about it for today. In all honesty, I am pretty freaking tired, and will be retiring to bed now. But, as today reminded me, it's amazing how much you can get done in a day when it starts early.
Blood Donation Centers I have used:
California (Northern):
Illinois (Chicagoland):
Nationwide:
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