As long time readers are aware there are certain civic duties that I perform on a regular basis. I give blood, I vote, and I’ve recently begun to serve as an election judge for Baltimore County . Ever since I registered to vote I’ve been waiting to be called for jury duty. The call never came, until some months ago… from Connecticut . Obviously I couldn’t serve from Baltimore. Well this week I finally received my second call. I will be on jury duty in November for the circuit court of Baltimore County. I can’t wait!

With the delivery of such exciting news, some bad news had to arrive. I went to donate blood Thursday. I didn’t succeed, and I’ve been permanently banned from giving to the Medstar blood bank. It seems that juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, being an autoimmune disease is one that is on the do not accept list. I always expected that there would come a time that I couldn’t donate, especially with all the restrictions that have been adding up for situations like paying for gay sex with druggies while sharing their crack needles travelling too much. I didn’t think it would be because my knees sometimes hurt. The good news is that I can still give to the Red Cross. Of course that means finding them to give, and finding time when I'm not at school. Either of them.

Bibelot was the word of the day according to google. Its one I’d not heard before. Turns out it means trinket, curiosity, small decorative object without practical utility. Aka dust collector.

I took Friday off of work to bring the cars into the garage. A fun way to spend the day hua? On top of all that excitement, I brought my accounting homework with me to work on while I wait. It does not get any better then that ladies and gents! It went faster then I expected, and without any problems! Hallelujah!! Plus I mostly finished that chapters homework there.

I gave blood on Wednesday. It was an interesting experience this time. I’ve apparently developed a bit of scar tissue in my right arm from consistently giving from that side. Did you know that trying to stick a big needle through scar tissue hurts? I didn’t. There I was, waiting for the slight pinch, watching the Cosby show, when there was this piercing pain in my arm. It took quite a bit of self control to keep from moving my arm. The vampire tried again very briefly before we both decided it’d be easier to switch arms. So now I look like a junkie, although there isn’t much bruising this time.

In gaming news I picked up a game called Galactic Civilization from target for real cheap. It’s a PC game, similar to Civilization (although from a different maker) with an interesting morality aspect to it. I’ve only played a little bit of it, mostly just enough to make sure the disk worked, but it seems pretty cool. All these great games and no time to play them. Maybe I’ll get some time this fall. I may end up only taking one class, depending on how the schedule at ODTC works out.

1. What’s overdue for a good cleaning? Swar. Yesterday Tigs did a spot cleaning of both cars, but Swar really needs a good deep down cleaning.
2. What’s overdue for some kind of professional examination, service, maintenance, or upkeep? My teeth, and again Swar.
3. Who’s overdue for a phone call or letter to you? Eric
4. What’s overdue for an appearance in your neighborhood? A good rain. There have been several storms that have moved through the area, but the west side of Baltimore seems to keep missing it.
5. Who’s overdue for a good comeuppance? Bush

( Star Trek Personality Test )

It’s been a while since I last posted, and I actually have something worth posting about. And no, it’s not a painted mini. As you can imagine having a puppy that was just spayed can kinda take up a lot of time. So I haven’t touched a mini since I put away the Aragorns. Never fear though, there will be more soon-ish.

Onto the News! (This was written last week, and so is more back story then actual news)

I have a job! Exciting, hua? I’m going to be working at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore !! I’ve already filled out the paperwork and done the blood test, and yet another TB test. Monday is orientation, and then its on from there. The plan then is to take advantage of their educational benefits and get me my masters degree. Then I can get me a job that will pay me enough to get a house! Getting a house is the big life goal for the next 2-3 years. After that, I’m not sure what the big goal will be. Probably fixing the house up!!

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It is now a week into the job. Monday was orientation, and then I started actually working on Tuesday. It's been rather hectic as I come into the job with next to no hospital experience, and no experience with how an OR is run. I've spent a lot of time attending meetings and listening to people talk about things I don't know. I've also been going through what laughingly could be called their personnel files, and their payroll records, and trying to get those all updated. Both of these projects could take me well into the next several weeks. Lots to do, which keeps me from being bored.

Oh, and I have my own office. No window, but it's better then a cubical!! Oh, and I gave blood yesterday!

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We’ve been watching The Dog Whisperer from Netflix. The whole premise is that these people in LA who have dogs with issues call up Caesar to come and help them figure out what to do. The problems are usually aggression, nervousness, boredom, and lack of dominance in their lives. Basically the dogs are treated like rational humans, rather then as… well... dogs! It’s a great series, mostly because the owners are the ones with the problems, not the dogs! Watching the realization come over the owners is always the best part of the show. Well, that, and watching Caesar imitate dogs. He has this fantastic bond with his own pack, and just watching the show has shown Tigs and I a few things we could be doing better, so we’re working on that.

Happy Endings
I had higher hopes for this movie, and for the most part, they let me down. The most amusing thing about it was the written commentary that occasionally popped up during the various scenes. They made the movie interesting. Without it, it was mostly a bunch of people doing stupid things, and mostly I didn’t care.

( Five from a former Friday )

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I have a stack of books sitting next to me right now that I need to enter into 50bookchallenge before this years challenge ends!

Anyway, off to the library!

I gave blood yesterday! After work I drove back up to Worcester, and then Virginia escorted me to the blood drive. It went well. The nurse didn't butcher my arm or anything, and it's not too sore today. Also they changed the format of the questions, which caught me off guard.

Either way in another 2 months, after we get back from out next trip to Maryland, I'll be looking to give again... and then again at Balticon!