Please Don't Poke Me

I was going through some old email messages and found something interesting. First of I have a habit of thinking something funny and thinking it would be good to write about. So I send an email to myself so I don't forget it. That only works if you check the email account on a regular basis. Apparently I don't check it very often... I will also write text messages to myself and leave them in the Drafts folder on my phone. I will also put random stuff that I think I may need to remember in my phone.

For the fun of it, here are some of the messages in my phone's Drafts folder. Some of these messages could have been on the phone for multiple years...

1. "Gravy fountain" - I don't have any idea where this came from. Maybe I was looking at a chocolate fountain and thought that might be a good idea. 
2. "Eating cake with Chopsticks... having fried rice after cake" - both are things I did when I was in China. It was a going away party for the head of the company I was working with. It was very nice that I was invited to attend. They had cake at the end of the meal, which we ate with chopsticks. Then they served fried rice as the last course. Really, fried rice after cake... yes, of course. 
3. "Room 77, Accept, last- Balls to the Wall, Runaway Train, E Highway, Salute" - I forgot what this was for a while, then I realized it is the opening band (Room 77) and the second opener (Accept) for the AC/DC show I saw in Stuttgart, Germany. It is also the last song played by Accept (BTTW), the opening song and the two songs played in the encore. 
4. "Saw two guys leading a goat across the street on a leash" - yep, I saw this. 
5. "Rafael grandma's shrimp casserole and strawberry custard pie and carrot cake with chocolate icing" -  I had the good fortune to visit with some of Rafael's extended family during one trip when I visited Brazil. Rafael's grandmother is a tiny old lady but she is the best cook. That is a list of some of the very, very, very good things I had the good fortune to eat at her house. 

Here is a picture taken at the AC/DC concert.

That's all that is interesting on my phone... now onto the better story... maybe.

We had our annual health screening for our company a few weeks ago. The day before my health screening appointment, I was talking to a coworker. She sometimes has problems with the phlebotomist finding a vein to take blood samples.

I have been known to pass out when getting stuck with needles so I can relate somewhat.

After talking to the Chief, I learned there is a phrase that describes when a nurse, doctor or phlebotomist has already stuck the needle in your arm, but has yet to find the elusive vein. It is called Krogering. I'm not sure where the phrase came from. It might have had something to do with the commercials in this montage... "Let's go Krogering, a better way to shop..."

I hate that...

So, back to the needles, when I get stuck with needles, I have a tendency to pass out. I don't know what causes it or I would fix it. It is something to do with the puncture.  I have been picked up off the floor many times by many different doctors and nurses after getting shots, or having blood samples taken.

The first instance I remember was a visit to the doctor when I was a kid, maybe 4 or 5. I remember this because mom took me to the doctor. I was sick and needed to get a shot. I don't remember being afraid of the shot or putting up a fuss about it. The doctor sat me on the paper covered table and gave me a shot in the butt cheek. Then we proceeded to go to the window to pay for the visit. The next thing I know, I am laying on the ground and the doctor stuck his fingers in my mouth to get the gum I was chewing so I didn't choke. I sat in a chair for a while with mom seeming a bit agitated, then we went home.

Then next time that I remember I passed out from a puncture wound. I was in elementary school and I had a new sweatshirt. It was the kind with the hood and the single pocket in front that you can put both hands into and reach all the way through. It was new to me and I thought it was cool. There were limitless possibilities as to what I could keep in this new pocket. The first thing I put in the pocket was my pencil. It was a standard number two pencil.

Next we go to lunch at the school cafeteria. On the way down to the cafeteria, there was a little horseplay. I don't know if I caused it or if I was the victim. I was probably the victim. My mother was a teacher at the same school, and she would know if I had a toe out of line before it even touched the line...

A group of students, including me got pushed into the wall while waiting in line. The pencil in my pocket, gets jammed into my forearm. It hurts some. The pencil broke in the process. I had a mark on my arm for many years, but it is no longer there. I get my lunch from the kitchen and go to sit down. Things start getting black and the next thing I remember is hearing a crash. After that, I came too with a bunch of teachers down at me. Then I had a nice time waiting in the school nurses office.

There have been quite a few other instances where I have passed out because of shots or puncture wounds. I was telling my coworker about the pencil in the arm incident and then we have this conversation:

TurkeyToad: "I have a tendency to pass out when I get stuck with sharp objects."

Co-worker: "It's a good thing you are not gay." 

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