It’s early on this Monday morning as I make my observations to start the day. A busy day it’s going to be, at least a busy morning. Wife Gator has already left for her workplace, but today she’s driving my car. And that’s why I’m beginning this day early.
My first stop is at a local blood testing center for my regular test to make sure the blood continues to flow correctly. I have to have this test at least monthly, sometimes every three weeks, and occasionally when I’ve been a bad boy and eaten some green stuff, every two weeks. Getting the test is really no big deal. After 7 years it’s safe to say my arm has gotten used to the poke.
Most of the time, I get a really good person, one who can get the required draw in a first try. In fact, my favorite poke person does it both painlessly and first time every time. One time a couple of years ago, I got an older person whose attitude instantly was, “I’m good. Don’t give me a hard time.” Whenever I get someone new, I do pass along what works for most of the phlebotomists and what doesn’t in my arm. The lady pulled out huge needle and I thought I was just being informative when I told her most people have the best success with what is called a butterfly.
She quickly informed me that she’s been doing blood draws for 25 years and didn’t need anyone to tell her what to do. She poked once. It hurt. She didn’t find a vein. She poked a second time with the same results. I informed her she just ran out of tries and I wanted someone who knew what she was doing. I didn’t make a friend as she stomped out of the room. A few minutes later, my favorite one came in, stifling a laugh, and informed me I just called out the manager. One very quick and painless poke got me out of there in less than a minute. I haven’t seen this “manager” since.
The place opens at 7 AM and there’s always a line there of people with regular draws that have to report to work. That means I’ll need to be there much earlier. It is necessary because I had failed to check my calendar when I made another appointment for this morning, and that brings me back to why my wife is using my car today. I have to take hers to the shop. It was almost a year ago when she last got an oil change. She hasn’t gone over the 5000 miles but we thought it might like a fresh drink. When I had mine done a few weeks ago, it dramatically increased my MPG.
She also has a very expensive sounding noise coming from the car, especially on acceleration. But it can also be detected at steady speed. I suspect her 7 year old muffler might be saying, “Enough, already.” I’m having that noise examined and fixed during this visit. I’m expecting to be at the fix place for quite a while this morning.
When I get home, I’ll be able to spend some time perusing today’s news and I’ll bet there will be stuff in the news that will get me excited. I might mention one or two of the items tomorrow. But now it’s time for me to begin my morning adventures.
GiM
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