I cut my finger. A long story.

So last night, I remember that the light bulb in the hallway needed to be changed. I begin to unscrew the lampshade, and I start feeling the shade getting wobbly. Before I have a chance to tighten the screw again, it begins to fall—I thrust my hand to cradle it into my hand but the balance is off—the shade flips over to the wall, and since I moved too fast, shatters, in my hand. I look down to see shattered glass all over the hallway floor, and some dull pain in my right index finger from bumping against the wall. I look up at the index finger, making sure that I didn’t get cut. I stare in bewilderment to see a 6-inch piece of glass sticking out of it. It doesn’t hurt like a scrape or cut usually would—it just kind of throbs a bit like a dull pain. I pull the shard of glass out, and apparently I’m Moses tapping a rock in the desert from which a geyser shoots out water. Except this time, it’s my own blood shooting out, dripping the faux-wood floorboards.
My initial reaction? “CRAP! The deposit!! I need to get this cleaned up! How much can I clean up until I pass out?!” Yes that’s how I know I’ve moved to California- all I care about is getting the deposit back for when I move, rather than my own safety. I quickly grab the first clean shirt I find (unfortunately it happens to be my favorite OU shirt ever) and wrap it around, then raise my hand above heart level.
In the meantime I call my mom and stay as calm as possible. Just a nice easygoing lax conversation, that’s what I’ll do. Easy breezy… that’s the style I’ll need to convey.
“Heeyyy, ma… how’s it goin? Yeah? Really? Oh cool! So listen, got a little bit of bad news- I cut myself on some glass here… yeah… oh nothing too much, just called 911 to be on the safe side though… uh huh. No it’s fine! I feel great! Just calling to let ya know. And actually the paramedics are here so I’m gonna go now. Great! Good talking to ya!”
It goes well; she seemed to take it well. I make sure to have my wallet, keys, and phone. The three critical things in going to the hospital- insurance, a way to get back in the house, and access to Twitter. I come out and greet them, and they take a look at my hand— one of them says, “Oh it’s not too bad, it’s actually really small.” Now I don’t know why but this kind of irked me. I’m not really the type to go to the doctor, much less a hospital, for minor things. And this guy has the nerve to say it’s really small? Alright then hotshot! Then fix it now! So I can go back inside and have my pot roast and lasagna!
So two paramedics start working on my hand, and a third rather portly fellow asks, “Do you really need an ambulance? Because if not, I can send it back. If you can take yourself to the hospital then no problem, I can send the ambulance back.” Wait— I’m losing blood by the quart and you want me to drive myself to the hospital? What kind of paramedics are these? I ask if they think I should, and he responds, “Hey no pressure—if there’s no one who can take you then we can take you. But I can send it back now if you’d like.” I stutter a bit, and he continues, “How about now? You want me to send ‘em back?”
So what exactly DOES count as a valid reason to go in an ambulance? I get it, if my finger’s sliced clean off then maaaybe I’ll get an ambulance. If I’m having a heart attack too—but apparently this doesn’t warrant it. Anyway I get to the hospital which happens to look like it’s something from the Dharma Initiative. All the equipment is from the early 70’s, and there’s a stench of non-chalance about the place. It’s disorganized, and the look of disdain is running rampant through all the employees’ eyes. When finally the ER doctor shows up, he’s as cold and non-personable as can be. Wonderful. I felt like I was in a 3rd World Country. By this point my roommate has arrived, and I’ve already told my parents what’s going on and how it’s completely fine—there’s not much to worry about. Of course if I actually believed what I said it might have had more weight, but you see—I have a fear of needles. And I knew that this would require stitches. So it was hard for me to convince them fully.
An hour after my initial consult Dr. Lee comes back in, and puts my arm on a rolling trolley so that he can start suturing it. He takes off about 3-4 yards of blood-stained cotton that the paramedics had put on there, and of course—I start gushing onto the trolley. He begins squeezing and probing the inside of the cut with his fingers with more force than was necessary. He tells me, “This may sting a bit—I’m gonna numb it up,” and proceeds to insert a needle into the wound. My finger is throbbing with pain as an acid burn courses through my veins. He asks the male nurse for rubber tubing, and he proceeds to make a tourniquet around the finger to cut off all blood flow. NICE. So that means that in a few minutes, if he’s not careful- and he certainly doesn’t seem like cares- my finger will be dead forever. He continues injecting the local anesthetic, and I’m writhing in pain.
“HOLD YOUR HAND STILL,” he yells. I can barely FEEL my hand, much less tell what I’m doing with it, especially because I’m not looking at it. “I’m…. trying….,” I manage to tell him through clenched teeth.
“HOW ABOUT THIS? YOU FEEL ANYTHING SHARP? YOU FEEL PAIN THAT’S SHARP?”
“NO it just HURTS when you squeeze it so hard!”
“Yeah yeah I know it hurts- but SHARP pain like glass. I’m trying to find if there’s any more glass in there—so can you feel anything?” I shake my head no, and he gives a final tenderizing blow to the finger like I’ve done many a time with a cold steak. He proceeds to start stitching it up, but by this time the tourniquet has already proved to be ultra-efficient: the pressure is building up and it’s killing me that I’m not getting any circulation. I start writhing again, and he yells at me yet again to stop moving.
I struggle, “The pressure—it’s getting too much… it hurts.”
“Yeah, yeah it hurts. Give me a couple of minutes I’m almost done stitching you up. Then I’ll release the blood back into your finger. Stop moving and talking.”
I want to kill the b****d. I resist doing so thankfully, and I can write this instead of being in prison for assaulting an ER doctor.
“There. We done.” And he releases the tourniquet and blood gushes into my finger—causing an overwhelming and delicious feeling of released pressure and tingling.
There’s some x-rays done to make sure that there’s no glass still stuck in the finger, and I’m released home. I don’t think I see the doctor for more than 30 seconds after—he doesn’t explain how to take care of my finger or what I need to do. Just scribbles a prescription for antibiotics and barks at me to go see my regular doctor to get my stitches taken out and if there’s further swelling or pain.
So that’s my finger story.

Tags: California, Happenings, Health

Ahhh.. I kinda dig IKEA

Sure sure, IKEA has a reputation for having furniture that will be useless in 6 months. And that’s fine, really. All I know is that I actually went there on Friday and found a desk, a file cabinet, and a chair and had it delivered for under $300. That’s pretty good, in my book. The desk itself was actually the cheapest (and easiest to build) of all three– it came up to a whopping $50.

It’s an interesting phenomenon, and I’m surprised they don’t have one in Oklahoma City ($5 says Mathis Brothers paid someone off). Basically, picking a table top, then whichever legs you want, and then dependent on your configuration, it costs more or less. Intriguing. I think this has really been the only time I’ve ever wanted to have a pickup truck instead of my Civic, so I could bypass the delivery fee. And it’s true of anyplace you want to go that isn’t a full-time furniture store where delivery is included (as part of the well-inflated price). Plus, do I really want to drag all this stuff upstairs myself? Not so much.

Anyway, it helps to have these things, and I’m thankful for them. Now it’s Sunday night and I think it’s time to go to bed for another week at work.

Tags: California, Happenings

Ahhhhh… finally.

Okay so I can’t quite say that I’m ‘fully’ set-up yet, but ya gotta understand– in Vinoj World, being away from the internet is an eternity. The odd thing is at work I HAVE internet, but I’m always so reticent to use it for anything other than ‘work’ sites because I don’t think it’s appropriate to constantly check your Facebook status, or write a blog post, or whatever. I mean if it’s on your lunch break, I guess it’s a bit more understandable, but still, your usage history is still being tracked, and who needs the extra headache?

Hence why I haven’t blogged in a while.

And although I may have a total reader count of…. less than 10, I feel it’s my duty to inform you all of that.

Anyway now I’ve got internet and TV. Although I had to go and actually buy a 19″ LCD TV yesterday. Lemme tell ya, nothing beats portability. But it is a bit humorous considering that my TV monitor is actually smaller than my iMac’s screen size (22″). But whatever. All that matters to me right now is that I have the possibility of watching shows– or more importantly– OU football.

My poor sister. She had the misfortune of having to actually describe OU plays to me over the phone. “Umm.. so like, Bradford’s doing well… he’s got 3 touchdowns–” “Yeah but how’s our secondary? The defense? And the offensive line? “Uhh… pretty good I think….”

And so forth.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time– this weekend is– you guessed it– OU v. Texas #1 vs. #5. Wow. I have to say that the Longhorns, even AT #5, seem to be rather under-appreciated, and this is said from a total Sooner fan. I want OU to win of course, but I certainly don’t want a blowout. (That would just mean that Texas was too highly ranked/the Big 12 doesn’t have any defenses/SEC is better/blah blah blah) No, I want a good, really tight game. A game where both coaches pull out all the stops as best they can. And whoever wins– yes, even Texas– I hope they get to the BCS National Championship game.

Dang. I’ve already written 360 words in just about 7 minutes after not blogging for so long. So let’s not do this again, shall we? Now… if I could only get a couch, a desk to put my computer on, and a TV stand, I think I’d be set… heheh

Tags: California, Happenings, Work

Thank you God.

I was offered and had accepted a job last Friday, which I was very excited about, but there were some steps to get through– namely, a background check and some other paperwork. I was getting worried though, because today is Friday and I’m supposed to start on Monday and I still hadn’t heard anything.

Waiting is quite difficult.

And then today, I got the call. I’m all set for Monday at 9 am with Kaiser Permanente. I’ll be a web developer for them, which I’m very excited about. The people that I met seemed really cool and chill, and I’m looking forward to really getting my hands dirty working on different projects.

I guess it’s something you realize– when you want something SO BAD.. SO BAD… and you just are told, “Wait,” it’s the hardest thing. Then on top of that I’ve run into a bunch of other bad luck over the course of this week (a fender bender, hospital bills from an ER visit, etc.), I was really starting to get shaken in my faith. But I tried my best to stay strong. Today, I read the Bible and I read a book by Max Lucado that my mom had given me before I left Oklahoma. Both passages matched up (and I just pick verses and pages randomly)– they both told me God was telling me to be patient.

And once you do, once you realize that there’s nothing that is truly in your hands, but only in His…

things get better.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Tags: Bible, Happenings, Work

On the road. And still posting?

So I’ve stopped at a Travelodge in Flagstaff, Arizona because my friend Aaron told me it’s an pretty nice place to stay as a mid-trip layover.

Except on weekends.

There was only one room available (the ‘Snow Bowl Suite’, whatever that means), and it is $149 for the night. I was sorta hoping $50-70. Damn. Apparently I’m at the south entrance of the Grand Canyon, so it’s a huge tourist mecca, and the Arizona Cardinals play here on the weekends. Just…. peachy. So what does that mean for me? Jacked up weekend rates at all the nearby motels. Awesome. Mad props, Aaron. Mad props.

But that’s been the only negative so far. The drive is, suffice it to say, pretty arduous. I started at approximately 7 pm from Oklahoma and ran into a surprising amount of traffic, and since my goal for the entire trip was not to get a ticket (successful so far), I had to follow that stupid 65 mph nighttime speed limit throughout Texas. That definitely slowed me down a good deal, even though I cheated at going 74 mph.

Once I hit New Mexico, salvation! The speed limit is 75! Which means what? That’s right, say it with me– 85! Okay fine I didn’t book it at 85 throughout NM but I was around 80-83 the entire way. And then 5 am hit. And boy howdy did I get drowsy. I kept Twittering messages to keep myself occupied throughout the night, but at this point I was so exhausted I just couldn’t continue. So just outside of Albuquerque, there was a pretty big gas station/rv camper rest area that was well lit. I pulled over and took a nap for a few hours, and left for Flagstaff, Arizona. I got here a little while ago I checked in and plugged my iMac in. (Seriously folks, it took two minutes since they have wireless here.)

Now I’m gonna go out, get some food, come back and sleep until whenever. I’ll probably hit the road again and maybe midnight or a little after so that I can get to Los Angeles on Sunday morning when the traffic should be a little lighter.

Talk…… later.

Tags: America, Happenings, Travel

Okay. No really, this time.

It’s now the night before I’m to leave for Los Angeles. Yep, there’s a truckload of fear that is coursing through my veins, and yet…. excitement as well. I’ve lived in Oklahoma a grand total of 9 years (if my mental math is right), and I think it’s time for me to explore another area.

If I could put it into a more familiar situation I guess it’d be like the day before your first day of junior high school. You knew that the kids were meaner, the classes were harder, and gasp!– they wouldn’t have RECESS anymore. But, try as you may, you just couldn’t go back to the comforts of homeroom and the teachers that had guided you along the way. Even the bullies of elementary school now seemed like amateurs compared to the horrors that lay ahead. It was rushing at you, full speed, and the only hope of salvation was that you somehow didn’t drown as the waves of newness crashed hard on your helpless, frigid body.

Did I go a little far with the metaphor? Probably. But you get the general gist of it.

But I’m ready. At least, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. In exactly 24 hours, I should be about 3-4 hours into my trip. My plan is to leave home at around 7pm (just as the sun is setting), and drive the approximately 13 hours to Flagstaff, Arizona. There I’ll crash at some cheap motel, and after resting for a good while, get driving again the rest of the 6.5 hours to Los Angeles. I’ll have to time it out so that I can reach LA at around 9 or 10 in the morning on Sunday, which means I may have to leave around 3 am Sunday morning- a dicey proposition. But we’ll see when I get around to it. Oh yeah– I’m THAT spontaneous.

Why drive at night? A couple of reasons, the main being that for whatever reason, I get very sleepy driving during the daytime, whereas driving at night I end up more alert. Make sense? Yeah, it doesn’t to me either. Second, the entire southwest is going through a heatwave, and the less I can leave my air conditioning on, the better for fuel economy. Of course considering I’ll be dragging all my immediate belongings with me the weight of my Civic will be heavier than usual, but hey– if I can save gas at least in one way, may as well do it.

I guess right now is just a time where I’m trying to put aside all emotional baggage so that I can focus solely on the details. Driving time, gas, lodging, how many cans of Monster I’ll need to buy to stay alert, etc. I suppose it’s avoidance, but if it gets me through this, I’ll work with it.

As a separate note, I’ll probably be updating either my Brightkite and/or my Twitter throughout the trip so that you can see where I am. If you’re interested, have a blast.

Finally, I also finished up my updates to my olllllld portfolio site, The Designs Bakery. Take a look if you get a chance, and let me know your thoughts.

Tags: America, Happenings, Travel, Work

It’s here. Sort of.

So I’ve finally moved out of Oklahoma City, in my venture to move out to California. Um… for those of you unaware, I’ll be moving to the Los Angeles area in August. When exactly, I’m not sure, but it might be as soon as next Friday.

As I moved all my furniture, junk, and let’s face it– life — from my apartment back down to Norman, where my parents are, I could feel the past slipping away. Did I really live in this apartment for the past seven months? Did I really work at a company in OKC for a year? What shirt was I wearing yesterday? Do I like Superman or Batman better? It’s really interesting how memories can be so important and stir deep emotions in one moment and then be fleeting and ethereal in the next.

I miss a lot of people at work. Really. I hadn’t realized how much they’d become a part of my life until after my last day of work (yesterday), I came home and was reading some funny articles online and I caught myself thinking, “Ha! I’ve gotta tell the guys at work about this site—oh. Right.” I talked to Natalie from work today and she was really down. Talking to her actually made me miss the people even more– and then Chris got on the site and wrote that he missed me and I got all choked up. Saccharine and sappy? Yes. But did it happen? Yeah that too.

But I suppose that’s all part of maturing and growing up. Leaving the familiar behind in order to embrace the new for the hope that life will be better in one way or another. It’s frightening, panic-attack inducing, and yet….

I have to do it.

Tags: Happenings, los angeles, moving, Work