December 9, 2003
I decided today would be a good day to give blood again. I was eligible on November 7th but hadn't managed to make my way to the blood bank until this morning. I meant to go over the weekend but I'd also promised Jennie I'd help put her wall hangings up at the new apartment. So, I never made it over. Which brings us to this morning. I woke up at 7 and decided I'd just stop in on my way to work. It's a good time to go because there aren't generally a lot of other people there at 8 in the morning.
So, I got there, signed up, answered the million-and-one questions, and proceeded to the donation room. I was the first donor of the day for a girl who, clearly, hadn't been at the job too long. She was nervous but doing well enough. I warned her that I have "difficult" veins and that the technicians usually use a blood pressure cuff rather than the tourniquet strap when actually drawing the blood. She asked a supervisor for advice and set about getting everything ready. The supervisor was, frankly, rather brusque with the girl as she gave quick instruction on how to use the blood pressure cuff so I decided to just grin and bear whatever was in store. When it came time to make the puncture, the girl looked around and the supervisor was gone so she asked another technician for help. He stood by and she went in. Alas...she didn't quite connect. So, he stepped in and tried to readjust the needle. I commented that I was probably going to have a bruise today and he said it looked that way but it might not be too bad. Things looked good momentarily and then he admitted that they'd gone through the vein, that a (an?) hematoma was forming, and we'd have to abandon the cause for today. The girl was crushed and went to get a cold compress for my arm while he removed the needle. He pointed out the hematoma (eeewww) and had me hold the compress over the area for a few minutes. He told the girl what to write on the report and then wrapped my arm. He walked me back to the canteen for my juice and cookies and advised that I just ask for a supervisor in similar circumstances in the future. The thing is...I would've done that today but I felt bad for the girl because the supervisor had already been rather snippy with her. I didn't want to make things worse. But, I guess I actually did. Ah well. Live and learn.
I asked if I should come back and try again in a week or two but was told that since they did get some blood in the bag, I'd have to wait another 8 weeks. So, I went on in to work.
They're giving away some very cute squeeze toys in honor of the holiday season. I got to keep mine despite the lack of an actual usable donation!
I got a phone call at work at about 10:30 or 11 from Kristen at the blood center. The conversation went something like this:
J: Hello, this is joann2.
K: Hi, this is Kristen from the Blood and Tissue Center.
J (thinking she's calling about today's mishap): Ah! Hello.
K: So, you probably know why I'm calling?
J: I imagine so.
K: Well, our supply is about 90 units short and I was wondering if you could stop in today or sometime this week and make a donation.
J: Oops! Sorry. I tried this morning. I thought you were making a follow-up call since I had problems.
K: No, I didn't know about that. Is there anything I can do?
J: No. I just felt bad for the technician because she seemed new at the job and felt bad about going through the vein.
K: Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?
J: I'm fine. I'm just sorry I wasn't able to give a full unit.
K: Well, I guess we'll see you in February, then?
J: Sure.
And, that's the end of that. Well. Except for the bruise. It's not pretty. But, I've had much worse with other blood-donation mishaps. I have these "difficult" veins, you see. Heh. I'll survive. Always an adventure 'round these parts, eh?
December 4, 2003
Item-of-the-week from the Campus Watch crime report:
Theft
A 2-pound bag of Hershey's Kiss chocolates was stolen from an unsecured desk drawer
in a first floor office in the Main Building. Loss value: $3.00. Occurred between
11-25-03 and 12-3-03 at 8:40 am.
Tsk tsk tsk. Stealing someone's chocolate stash oughta be a crime! Oh, wait. I guess it is. Heh.
December 1, 2003
Happy December! So, the shopping season is upon us, eh? Woman knocked unconscious by trampling shoppers (from CNN). The folks at Wal-Mart offered to put a player on hold for the lady? Too funny.
So...Carolyn and Jennie were out in the melee bright and early on Friday. I guess we're lucky they escaped unscathed. Whew.
November 17, 2003
Two new classics from the campus crime report:
Disorderly Conduct-Fighting (2 Counts)
Two UT students began to argue on the west exterior plaza of the Engineering
Science Building as one of the students thought the other student was "looking
at him strangely." The student who thought he was being looked at strangely
poured a soft-drink on the other student and attempted to remove the other
student's eyeglasses. The two students then began to exchange punches and
wrestled until the altercation was broken up by an unidentified subject.
Occurred on 11-13-03 at 3:26 pm.
Public Intoxication/Disorderly Conduct-Fighting in a Public
Place
After being ejected from Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for alcohol
violations, a non-UT subject became irate and began to fist-fight with a second
non-UT subject who had been attempting to help him. The subject was found to be
under the influence of an alcoholic beverage to the point he was a physical
endangerment to himself. Occurred on 11-15-03 at 7:30 pm.
November 12, 2003
Mystery visitor. Maybe.
One of our grad students asked me yesterday or the day before if the woman who'd been looking for me on Saturday had found me. Huh? A woman was looking for me at work on Saturday? How odd. He was going one way and I another so I didn't pursue the matter.
I ran into the student again today and asked for more information. He said she was probably about 50, with "yellow" hair (he's South American so I'm guessing that actually means blonde...but does it mean blonde from a bottle?), very pretty, very well dressed, and very American. He said she was holding a printout of an email message from me but he did not see what was in the message. She asked if this was the Petroleum Engineering building. He said it was and asked who she was looking for. She gave him my name and showed him the email message. He confirmed that she was in the right place and that was the last he saw of her. I have no idea who this could be. None. And, why would she be looking for me at work on a Saturday? Heck, just about anyone should know the chances of catching me in my office on a Saturday are slim to none. Over the nearly 18 years I've worked here, I'd guess I've only worked a handful of Saturdays.
The only thing I can think of is that she must've been someone from the old Usenet days who was in town for some sort of conference. She could've been on campus and thought to stop by on the off-chance that I might be around. She didn't leave a note, though, and I haven't heard a word from anyone via email about a trip to Austin. My phone number is unlisted so if she hadn't looked it up on UT's web site ahead of time and didn't have prior phone contact with me, she would've had a tough time finding it.
All very mysterious, eh?
So...hey. If you're the mysterious visitor, please drop me a line. I'm very curious about this whole thing. Hello? Anybody out there? Heh.
November 11, 2003
It's Veterens Day. The New York Times posted some excerpts from letters home written by soldiers who died in Iraq. I salute all who've served over the years.
November 7, 2003
Sadly, I haven't had much to say lately. I've been a bit under the weather for the last couple of weeks but am finally starting to feel more like my usual self again. So, a couple of things...
I just got caught up on my day by day habit which inspired me to update my favorite comics page. That Chris Muir is a funny guy.
I went to the Lady Horns game last night with Mary Ethel. It's always fun going out with her. It's like I've got a third set of grandparents or something. Anyway, the gals stomped all over a travelling pro team from The Netherlands in a pre-season exhibition game. The visitors had three or four players with odd basketball jersey numbers. I saw a #6, a #8, and a #9. There may have been others. Those jersey numbers just looked so funny. Ah well...
October 20, 2003
From today's campus crime report:
Theft
A black Palm Pilot, model 5810 was stolen from an attaché that was left in
a front row chair of a 1st floor classroom while the owner provided a guest lecture
to the class concerning Business Ethics. Loss value: $400.00. Occurred on
10-14-03 between 8:00 pm and 9:30 pm.
Oh, the irony of it all.
October 8, 2003
I listened to John Aielli on Eklektikos this morning on my way to work. John was playing songs in honor (I suppose) of the recall election in California. An orchestral piece was playing as I turned the radio on. As it ended, he said something along the lines of:
In case you don't recognize that, it's the main title from "Predator" and comes off The Greatest Themes from the Films of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Um? Excuse me? The Greatest Themes from the Films of Arnold Schwarzenegger???? Heh. Then he said something like, "I'm sure you'll recognize this one." And, another instrumental piece started up.
Needless to say, I did not recognize it but correctly guessed that it must be from the "Terminator" series of movies. Since he was sure we'd recognize it and all. I sat there wondering about the preposterousnous (that's not actually a word, is it?) of someone sitting down and collecting the greatest themes from Ahh-nuld's films. Too funny.
When that song ended, he launched into a couple of "I'll Be Back" songs...one by the Beatles and another by Gene Autry. Then, I got to work. And, that was the end of that.
I did look it up on Amazon just to make sure I hadn't imagined the whole thing. And, sure enough, such an album was released in 1996. It's out of print but if you're really...and I mean reeeeaaaaaally...desperate, you can buy your very own used (but supposedly in mint condition) copy for $999. Apparently, that is not a joke.
September 29, 2003
I love the daily campus crime report. It seems like I can count on getting a good chuckle out of something some doofus has done at least two times a week. This appeared in today's report:
Leaving the Scene Collision
A UT student lost control of his red 1997 GMC Yukon and ran over a fire hydrant
and a stone retaining wall on the northeast side of the Arno Nowotny Building,
709 East Martin Luther King Blvd. He then left the scene without leaving notice.
The front license plate of the vehicle was left at the scene. Repair cost:
$8,000.00. Occurred on 9-26-03 at 10:50 am.
Oh me, oh my. He left his front license plate at the scene. Heh heh heh.
September 26, 2003
Sign update. I drove past the old Bevos restaurant last night and saw that an update is in order. We have a new name. And, an updated sign:
I like how it's not re-centered. And, how the "s" isn't really in line with the rest of the text. By the by...beso is the Spanish word for kiss. Isn't that nice?
UPDATE on my update. I've been told that the owners have commissioned a set of pursed lips to balance out the sign. So...nevermind 'bout my comment on the centering issue.
September 19, 2003
Two or three months ago I was driving home along I-35 and noticed a sign for a new restaurant. It looked something like this:
I was rather surprised to see such a thing and wondered how they were getting away with using the name and longhorn logo. After all, UT is awfully picky about that logo. And, frankly, I couldn't imagine them giving someone permission to use it...along with the name of the UT mascot...on a restaurant that clearly wasn't affiliated with The University. I really wondered about it. And, every time I drove past it, I wondered anew.
Until about three weeks ago when I read in the student paper that UT had, in fact, come down on the owners with some sort of cease-and-desist letter. The quotes from the owners were very entertaining. They talked about how this is just a little family restaurant and they'd tried to find out if it would infringe on UT's copyright but they couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone at UT. (On that note, I'll just say that I went to Google and searched for the term "longhorn logo" and guess what's the first entry?...that page I've linked above...so I guess they didn't try all that hard.) There was also some amusing justification for the name...that it was sort of like the way you'd say "drink" in Italian. They claimed that, initially, they were going to open an Italian restaurant but ended up going with a more traditional and "home style" menu but they'd already decided on the name and didn't want to have to find something else. Oh, and, by the way, since the longhorn logo was in blue, rather than burnt orange, they really didn't see a problem. They weren't sure what was going to happen but they'd spent $20,000 on the sign and menus and what not and really couldn't fight the big bad mean university and [insert hand-wringing here]. Too funny.
I haven't heard anything else about it. But, I was driving home along I-35 again a couple of days ago (I usually only drive that route two or three times a month so this was my first "drive by" since I'd read the article) and saw that the sign had been changed. Now, it looks something like this:
So, now the question is, of course: does the new name infringe on the BeOS trademark? Heh heh.
Oh. And...argggghhhhh!!! Ahoy, matey. Etc. Etc.
joanna@joanna.org
URL: http://www.joanna.org/archive/Sep2003-Dec2003.html
Last updated: December 9, 2003