Yowzah!

It's a deliciously dark and gloomy day here in SoCal. My computer is still out of commission -- I forced my brother to stick his head inside my computer and smell the nasty smell coming from within. He pretended to look and said that it's probably my power supply. Then he went back to watching Love Hina or Naruto or whatevers it is that he is watching now. I'm assuming he'll order a new power supply within the next month or so!

So due to unforseen technical difficulties, I am coming to you from my mother's computer. We're one dorky family -- there's three of us, and we have three computers and three phones. And we live in a really small place, a two bedroom apartment barely big enough to hold all of our stuff. I am having an unpleasant time because my mom's computer is just not my computer. Even my work comp feels better, because I have either tweaked the settings to suit me, or I have gotten used to the setting. My mom's comp is set to 800x600 resolution. Her chair doesn't feel right. Her mouse is wireless and sometimes does strange things (like the cursor jumping from one corner of the screen to another) and her wireless keyboard is also one of those natural keyboards where the board is curved to fit the hands ergonomically (which wreaks havoc, because I use my left hand to type the letter "y"). Kinda weird, considering I bought her the keyboard and the mouse for mother's day. I would have expected better from Microsoft though -- this keyboard does not have an indicator light, so there is no way to tell if the NUM LOCK or CAP LOCK are on unless you start typing. Also, the translucent grey wheel on the mouse looks like a grey caterpillar. Gross.

It's a bit chilly out. I have been doing some research to see what I would need to do to prepare for my transition into my new school. Looks like I'll finally have to get that Hepatitis B shot, as well as another chest X-Ray to prove that I don't have tuberculosis. Also, one of those annual physical exams -- which in my case won't be annual, because I haven't been to the doctor for a check-up since I was about 7 years of age.

I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere in my blog before, but I have a lot of phobias. It is a wonder how I can even go through a single day with all the phobias I have. I am deathly frightened of insects as well as spiders, or other "more-than-4-legged" creatures, such as centipedes and scorpions, as well as pseudopods, like worms (worms are pseudopods...?). I even fear the lady bug -- although they are exquisite works of the almighty, and quite beautiful to look at, I can't make myself get too physically close to it, even if it is just a photograph. I can catch a rat with my own two hands, but if there's a roach, I'll be leaving the building promptly and not return for a good deal of time.

I also have a deathly fear of heights. I made a big mistake going on a ferris wheel. You should have seen me. I was yelling at everyone in the same car, "STOP SHAKING!" and screaming downwards, "GET ME DOWN NOW!" I have also been known to cry on rollercoasters -- I wince on rides like Viper (see Magic Mountain/Six Flags webpage on details of the rides), but on something like Colossus, I simply cry my heart out as my life flashes before my eyes. Well, you may not know this, but when you're on a roller coaster ride, and you're crying and screaming, you often lose time to breathe. So when I got out of Colossus, I was out of breath and dizzy -- nearly fainted!

One of my other fears -- one that may significantly affect my life, is my fear of needles. I have actually passed out during an epidural, also called lumbar injection, and it wasn't even my own epidural -- I was shadowing a doctor and watching from afar! So needles, really freak me out. Although I have mustered up some immunity to seeing needles, it really envelopes me with fear. I also get pain from seeing needles -- a nurse told me that it was from "sympathy pains." One time I was helping to hold down a baby when he was being tested for meningitis (the fluid in the spinal cord is collected to run the test for the infection), which involved an extremely thick needle (you can't have a small needle when you're trying to puncture it through the spinal cord!), on a baby less than a year old, no less. You would not believe the amount of pain I had in the small of my back!

While I didn't pass out during my second encounter with an epidural, the thought of needles still makes me feel irksome. It was also many years ago since I saw something like an epidural -- 7 years, actually, so I may not be as tolerant as before. It is the most difficult challenge I will face during my academic training as a nurse. Splashes of blood here and there, guts getting strewn about, those things don't bother me at all. I've seen cadavers (one of the proud few of my classmates (during a field trip to a cadaver lab) who didn't run out and vomit) and they're interesting to me. Organs are lovely. Dissecting dead cats are fun! (And I am a cat-owner) Needles penetrating skin is just not cool at all. Ugh.

I still have some time to get used to the idea -- I'll be breaking the ice with the idea with my hepatitis shot, I suppose (which takes three shots on three different occassions). Until then, Richard the Third must be read, so here I go.

Did some reading of The Other Boleyn Girl last night (having an invalid computer gives me ample time to read) and found it not nearly as dull as I had imagined previously -- it is getting more and more interesting!