Here we go, here we go, here we go
Imagine me singing that.
Anyway, it's obvious I haven't updated for a while so might be time to. My course at uni is going quite well, I think. No problems and not too shabby. At the moment things have slowed down because for some reason in every subject we're doing stuff I've already done somewhere else ... That's the benefit of taking similar subjects.
Today I gave plasma. It was an intersting experience, and rates much higher than all the other blood donations I've ever done. Part of the reason for that might be that I did it at Ringwood Centre, where (by the way you need an appointment - I made the mistake of just turning up one day) they serve milkshakes and stuff afterwards. It was pretty good, but next time I'll stick to orange juice. Another reason is that the apheresis machine was a new and interesting target to grill the nurse about. It has some pretty heavy duty tech in it. It actually sucks the blood out of your arm so there is a sensor to make sure the pump is not sucking your vein flat. Then there are FOUR sensors to make sure no air can get into the pipes and back into you. Then there's a centrifuge, which spins your blood really fast so that the red blood cells and the plasma separate, then it drains off the plasma and puts the red cells back in. Now, I should explain that the centrifuge container isn't huge, so it usually takes several cycles to get the full 600ml that they want. I took 3 to get to 595ml. I was so disappointed. Anyway, that's cool. And my haemoglobin is up from before my last donation so that's good as well.
Another thing happened today which was I chipped a tooth. I've never had braces so the teeth in the bottom jaw are under some compression. Two teeth were opposed and the corner therefore chipped off one. For quite a while I thought it was a particularly stubborn piece of raisin or possibly a rock, and I wore my finger nails down quite a bit trying to remove it. In the end I found a mirror and had a look and the aweful truth became real. I'm not worried, except the surface is extremely rough and I'm having difficulty not running my tongue over it ALL THE TIME. You know how it is.
Yesterday I was at a funeral for an old lady who lived up my street. I liked her. The Mount Evelyn Christian School has a community service element to most senior years and as a result I've usually found myself visiting old ladies. Both those I visited are now dead. Thankfully they were both children of God so I'm not too cut up about them dying. All people do. One was ninety something (not a bad effort - I hope I live to that age with that strength) and the lady up the road had cancer and all sorts of unpleasent things happening with her body, so death must be a peaceful oblivion. Anyway, it was the first funeral I've been to. More or less what I expected. The undertaker was very good. No one was overcome with grief, but everyone loved her. It was a lovely day.
And I drove the car to uni, for the first time ever. So I parked at the free parking area. I can understand why most people don't though. It's a three day trek from there to the science section, for instance, and fraught with danger of being run over by buses, trucks and cars, and of being eaten by pigeons. Luckily I managed to escape them.
I'm writing rather a lot but then I have been very lazy. I hope it's interesting, because it's mostly for you, my avid readers, and not much for me.
Anyway, it's obvious I haven't updated for a while so might be time to. My course at uni is going quite well, I think. No problems and not too shabby. At the moment things have slowed down because for some reason in every subject we're doing stuff I've already done somewhere else ... That's the benefit of taking similar subjects.
Today I gave plasma. It was an intersting experience, and rates much higher than all the other blood donations I've ever done. Part of the reason for that might be that I did it at Ringwood Centre, where (by the way you need an appointment - I made the mistake of just turning up one day) they serve milkshakes and stuff afterwards. It was pretty good, but next time I'll stick to orange juice. Another reason is that the apheresis machine was a new and interesting target to grill the nurse about. It has some pretty heavy duty tech in it. It actually sucks the blood out of your arm so there is a sensor to make sure the pump is not sucking your vein flat. Then there are FOUR sensors to make sure no air can get into the pipes and back into you. Then there's a centrifuge, which spins your blood really fast so that the red blood cells and the plasma separate, then it drains off the plasma and puts the red cells back in. Now, I should explain that the centrifuge container isn't huge, so it usually takes several cycles to get the full 600ml that they want. I took 3 to get to 595ml. I was so disappointed. Anyway, that's cool. And my haemoglobin is up from before my last donation so that's good as well.
Another thing happened today which was I chipped a tooth. I've never had braces so the teeth in the bottom jaw are under some compression. Two teeth were opposed and the corner therefore chipped off one. For quite a while I thought it was a particularly stubborn piece of raisin or possibly a rock, and I wore my finger nails down quite a bit trying to remove it. In the end I found a mirror and had a look and the aweful truth became real. I'm not worried, except the surface is extremely rough and I'm having difficulty not running my tongue over it ALL THE TIME. You know how it is.
Yesterday I was at a funeral for an old lady who lived up my street. I liked her. The Mount Evelyn Christian School has a community service element to most senior years and as a result I've usually found myself visiting old ladies. Both those I visited are now dead. Thankfully they were both children of God so I'm not too cut up about them dying. All people do. One was ninety something (not a bad effort - I hope I live to that age with that strength) and the lady up the road had cancer and all sorts of unpleasent things happening with her body, so death must be a peaceful oblivion. Anyway, it was the first funeral I've been to. More or less what I expected. The undertaker was very good. No one was overcome with grief, but everyone loved her. It was a lovely day.
And I drove the car to uni, for the first time ever. So I parked at the free parking area. I can understand why most people don't though. It's a three day trek from there to the science section, for instance, and fraught with danger of being run over by buses, trucks and cars, and of being eaten by pigeons. Luckily I managed to escape them.
I'm writing rather a lot but then I have been very lazy. I hope it's interesting, because it's mostly for you, my avid readers, and not much for me.
posted by Reinhard at 1:44 AM
1 Comments:
hey
sounds like you have been busy!
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