The most enjoyable yet scariest series in any playoffs are those games/series between rivals. Why do I bring this up? I am a huge supporter of the Detroit Red Wings, who happen to be playing their biggest rival, the Colorado Evilanche.
Quick story before I go on. I was planning on watching Game 1 on Fox Sports (since they showed the first round games that were supposed to be on Versus) my friends John and Paul. The three of us are excited; we know it's going to be a good night. So we go to the local 7-11, get some Slurpees (ice, slurpees, yeah we were stretching it. Deal with it), get back to John's room, and turn on Fox Sports. It is literally right at 7:30. Of course, Fox Sports doesn't have the rights to second round games. Instead, they are showing a REPLAY of the Tigers-Rangers baseball game. A REPLAY! I wasn't happy, neither were my friends. Ultimately, we end up going to our local Buffalo Wild Wings, watch most of the game there, and cheer our Red Wings to a 4-3 victory. Red Wings to the Stanley Cup (please?)!
Anyways, I am more anxious about hockey than usual. I've grown to like hockey over the past couple of years, and now I get to experience, as a big Red Wings fan, the greatness of a Red Wings-Evilanche series. Colorado, although nowhere near as good as those teams in the past those two teams were trading Stanley Cups, is still a solid team. And it is still hockey, anything can happen. The Red Wings didn't win the President's Cup for nothing. That hasn't meant much recently, but we'll see for this year. All I know is, this will be good.
And because it's still Sports day here,
5 predictions about the NFL Draft (guaranteed to be at least as accurate as Jake Long falling to the Bears at 14).
1) Matt Ryan will fall to the Baltimore Ravens at 8, avoiding the newly renamed "Brady Quinn Private Crying Room" (Note: The Ravens will end up regretting this pick).
2) The Chicago Bears will NOT take a quarterback in the first two rounds (and they will NOT regret this).
3) Chad Johnson will not be a Cincinnati Bengal by the end of the weekend (yeah, it's not directly related, but they'll need draft picks).
4) The Patriots are not going to find anyone to trade down with, and their pick will surprise people. They will make a pick that seems like a reach, but isn't (Don't know who, but it will surprise).
5) For humor's sake, the Lions will draft Devin Thomas. I will start laughing very hard, and Detroit fans will pummel me for it.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Beakers, Blood and Band-Aids (A true story)
Every Monday, I have my Organic Chemistry lab. This past Monday's was a little more eventful than past labs. Let me start at the beginning.
At the beginning of lab, I take out all of the glassware that I need, and if something needs to be cleaned, I must clean it (don't want to mix the new lab stuff with the previous lab stuff). I try to clean at the end of lab, but sometimes you just need to do a little bit more. For this lab, I had to clean a 250 mL beaker. No big deal, so I clean that, and bring it back to my lab station. Then I drop it and it breaks. Whoops, but not the first time I've done something like that. Not a big deal, until after I start cleaning up, because all of a sudden, my thumb is a little bit of pain. Not much, but still worth looki...OH MY GOSH MY THUMB IS COVERED IN BLOOD (okay, I didn't shout this, but I was thinking it). Well, that sucks.
I finish cleaning up the glass, being extra careful. Then, I do enough until I can get a band-aid to stop the bleeding and not get an infection. Wash my hands, wrap it in a paper towel, yada yada yada. I figure that there are band-aids upstairs in the stock room, and I have to go up there anyway to get a new beaker. So I do. The people upstairs are pretty friendly, and they gave me quite a few band-aids. I put one on, they gave me a few more just in case, and it should be no big deal. Right?
Well, I put my beaker on the table, and decide to wash off my hands again (because although my thumb is bandaged up, I still had some extra blood where the band-aid couldn't cover, once again, no big deal). I look inside my band-aid, and realize that it is covered in blood. And I mean, covered (see also, useless). Well, got to replace it. Of course, this becomes difficult, because as soon as I try to place another one on there, it quickly becomes covered in blood like the first. Now this is a big problem.
Now, if you've ever taken a lab class at Michigan State, you'd know that it would be grade suicide to miss one. So, I've got a bloody thumb that won't stop bleeding, a lab to do that I'm already falling behind on because of all of this, and only a small glimmer of hope that maybe the stock room would have some gauze tape (also, a very likely trip to Olin Medical Center, and I hate going to the doctor's if it is at all avoidable). Luckily, when I went up there, they managed to have some, and gave me a hand taping it on. That managed to stop the bleeding, and I finally felt okay about completing my lab and maybe, maybe not going to Olin. After I signed a few forms (so I can't sue the Chem department, I guess), I went and finished my lab. It ended up being uneventful.
The end of lab arrives. I'm anxious to head home, take off my gauze pad, and figure out what to do with it. The cut did look deep at first, but when I took off the gauze (to my surprise) there was no blood. None at all! Maybe this would be okay after all. That is, until I started to move my thumb. Some blood came out, and I decided (with help from my roommate Josh) to go to Olin after all.
I don't like to go to the doctor. I guess I kind of have too much of a god complex to admit that something is wrong with me that I need to see a doctor for. This should give you an idea how concerned I was. Anyways, I get to Olin, and the lady at the front desk is not really that helpful. After finally getting an answer I was looking for, I went over to Urgent Care. That went better. The person at the desk was more helpful. After waiting for a few minutes, a nurse comes to take a look at things. Of course, they ask me questions about allergies, medical conditions, etc. and take my height, weight and blood pressure. Finally, she looks at my finger and says "Well, a doctor needs to look at this". Great.... I have a quick chance to eat, and then get back so a doctor can look at it and hopefully stitch it up. When the doctor comes by, she asks me the EXACT SAME QUESTIONS the nurse asked me. Apparently, they thought that I could develop an allergy over 15 minutes and know about it or something. Finally, the doctor decides that I need stitches and injects some lidocaine in my thumb. And everything appears fine.
Since I had a lab report due the next day, I ask the doctor how long the lidocaine lasts, and she says about a half hour. Cool. I can take a small break, my thumb will be fine, and I can do everything I need to do. Of course, an hour passes and my thumb is still completely numb. Normally this wouldn't concern me, but my mother has an allergy to many medicines/numbing agents. I wasn't showing her symptoms like shortness of breath, but my thumb being numb for longer than I expected makes me concerned. My roommate, who's dad is a doctor, kindly calls his dad and asks him how long lidocaine takes to wear off. He said a couple of hours. Great job Olin! You ended up only being off by 4 hours! Well, everything seems to be going fine since then.
This is my story, and I'm sticking to it.
At the beginning of lab, I take out all of the glassware that I need, and if something needs to be cleaned, I must clean it (don't want to mix the new lab stuff with the previous lab stuff). I try to clean at the end of lab, but sometimes you just need to do a little bit more. For this lab, I had to clean a 250 mL beaker. No big deal, so I clean that, and bring it back to my lab station. Then I drop it and it breaks. Whoops, but not the first time I've done something like that. Not a big deal, until after I start cleaning up, because all of a sudden, my thumb is a little bit of pain. Not much, but still worth looki...OH MY GOSH MY THUMB IS COVERED IN BLOOD (okay, I didn't shout this, but I was thinking it). Well, that sucks.
I finish cleaning up the glass, being extra careful. Then, I do enough until I can get a band-aid to stop the bleeding and not get an infection. Wash my hands, wrap it in a paper towel, yada yada yada. I figure that there are band-aids upstairs in the stock room, and I have to go up there anyway to get a new beaker. So I do. The people upstairs are pretty friendly, and they gave me quite a few band-aids. I put one on, they gave me a few more just in case, and it should be no big deal. Right?
Well, I put my beaker on the table, and decide to wash off my hands again (because although my thumb is bandaged up, I still had some extra blood where the band-aid couldn't cover, once again, no big deal). I look inside my band-aid, and realize that it is covered in blood. And I mean, covered (see also, useless). Well, got to replace it. Of course, this becomes difficult, because as soon as I try to place another one on there, it quickly becomes covered in blood like the first. Now this is a big problem.
Now, if you've ever taken a lab class at Michigan State, you'd know that it would be grade suicide to miss one. So, I've got a bloody thumb that won't stop bleeding, a lab to do that I'm already falling behind on because of all of this, and only a small glimmer of hope that maybe the stock room would have some gauze tape (also, a very likely trip to Olin Medical Center, and I hate going to the doctor's if it is at all avoidable). Luckily, when I went up there, they managed to have some, and gave me a hand taping it on. That managed to stop the bleeding, and I finally felt okay about completing my lab and maybe, maybe not going to Olin. After I signed a few forms (so I can't sue the Chem department, I guess), I went and finished my lab. It ended up being uneventful.
The end of lab arrives. I'm anxious to head home, take off my gauze pad, and figure out what to do with it. The cut did look deep at first, but when I took off the gauze (to my surprise) there was no blood. None at all! Maybe this would be okay after all. That is, until I started to move my thumb. Some blood came out, and I decided (with help from my roommate Josh) to go to Olin after all.
I don't like to go to the doctor. I guess I kind of have too much of a god complex to admit that something is wrong with me that I need to see a doctor for. This should give you an idea how concerned I was. Anyways, I get to Olin, and the lady at the front desk is not really that helpful. After finally getting an answer I was looking for, I went over to Urgent Care. That went better. The person at the desk was more helpful. After waiting for a few minutes, a nurse comes to take a look at things. Of course, they ask me questions about allergies, medical conditions, etc. and take my height, weight and blood pressure. Finally, she looks at my finger and says "Well, a doctor needs to look at this". Great.... I have a quick chance to eat, and then get back so a doctor can look at it and hopefully stitch it up. When the doctor comes by, she asks me the EXACT SAME QUESTIONS the nurse asked me. Apparently, they thought that I could develop an allergy over 15 minutes and know about it or something. Finally, the doctor decides that I need stitches and injects some lidocaine in my thumb. And everything appears fine.
Since I had a lab report due the next day, I ask the doctor how long the lidocaine lasts, and she says about a half hour. Cool. I can take a small break, my thumb will be fine, and I can do everything I need to do. Of course, an hour passes and my thumb is still completely numb. Normally this wouldn't concern me, but my mother has an allergy to many medicines/numbing agents. I wasn't showing her symptoms like shortness of breath, but my thumb being numb for longer than I expected makes me concerned. My roommate, who's dad is a doctor, kindly calls his dad and asks him how long lidocaine takes to wear off. He said a couple of hours. Great job Olin! You ended up only being off by 4 hours! Well, everything seems to be going fine since then.
This is my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
The True Friend
What I'm about to post is just some random thoughts I had this week. They are not meant to represent society as a whole, since not everyone is like me. That being said, I think there is some good advice in here (advice I need to listen to as much as anyone else).
Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For, it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Lean On Me, Bill Withers
How many people would you trust to lean on during your toughest times? For me, this is a hard question. When it comes to talking to people during my worst days, it's hard. I have a lot of trouble opening up to people. Growing up as a guy, you learn not to share your feelings. You deal with problems by keeping them inside you. The only thing you show on the outside is a smile, a grunt, etc. That'll work in good times, yes. But I know I like to brag in the good times. I'm excited to share those. But, the bad times... well... I don't know. There is value in venting about when life sucks. There is value in (gasp) crying when you are sad. But that's so hard for me to practice. I mean, I'm not going to share my life story with someone I only know a little bit. I always wonder "What would they think of me? What are they going to say/do?" I have a few friends I can talk to, but even those guys I won't talk to unless I'm pressured to (usually).
In the same token, how many people trust me to lean on during their toughest times? I know I haven't exactly been the greatest person in the world. I can even think of a couple of times where someone was talking about something serious, and I didn't take it seriously. I'm such a jerk sometimes. Back on the point, do I put myself out there for people to see that I can help them through there problems? Do people trust me? I hope that some do (I know that some do, in fact), but I know that there are many people that probably don't.
I guess here's some closing thoughts. I need to be more open and more approachable. Maybe we as a society need to as well, but I can't speak for everyone. Imagine if all your friends could help you carry your burdens. Imagine how much joy it can give you to help a true friend get through a tough time for him. I realize that it takes a lot of work, and to some extent, I fail a lot at this. But I hope we can try together.
Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For, it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Lean On Me, Bill Withers
How many people would you trust to lean on during your toughest times? For me, this is a hard question. When it comes to talking to people during my worst days, it's hard. I have a lot of trouble opening up to people. Growing up as a guy, you learn not to share your feelings. You deal with problems by keeping them inside you. The only thing you show on the outside is a smile, a grunt, etc. That'll work in good times, yes. But I know I like to brag in the good times. I'm excited to share those. But, the bad times... well... I don't know. There is value in venting about when life sucks. There is value in (gasp) crying when you are sad. But that's so hard for me to practice. I mean, I'm not going to share my life story with someone I only know a little bit. I always wonder "What would they think of me? What are they going to say/do?" I have a few friends I can talk to, but even those guys I won't talk to unless I'm pressured to (usually).
In the same token, how many people trust me to lean on during their toughest times? I know I haven't exactly been the greatest person in the world. I can even think of a couple of times where someone was talking about something serious, and I didn't take it seriously. I'm such a jerk sometimes. Back on the point, do I put myself out there for people to see that I can help them through there problems? Do people trust me? I hope that some do (I know that some do, in fact), but I know that there are many people that probably don't.
I guess here's some closing thoughts. I need to be more open and more approachable. Maybe we as a society need to as well, but I can't speak for everyone. Imagine if all your friends could help you carry your burdens. Imagine how much joy it can give you to help a true friend get through a tough time for him. I realize that it takes a lot of work, and to some extent, I fail a lot at this. But I hope we can try together.
Some quick sports predictions
Since I know that you care about what I think will happen in today's Final Four, it's time for some quick analysis.
Prediction 1
The most important game of the day involves two giant programs meeting at a storied stadium. Of course, I am referring to the WNIT championship between Michigan State and Marquette. The only thing I know about these teams is that they are playing today in the WNIT championship, so I will still make a bold (but extremely biased) prediction. MSU-60 Marquette-52.
Prediction 2
Kansas probably has the most talented team in college basketball, with a coach I still don't trust. North Carolina has the best player on the floor, and a much better coach. I'll take the best player and better coach. NC- 72 Kansas-66
Prediction 3
Memphis looks really good, but UCLA also looked pretty good in its Elite Eight game. I picked UCLA to make the national championship, and I won't change that pick at this point. Plus, I love Kevin Love. UCLA- 74 Memphis-73 (but it won't be because of free throws).
Other stuff to come later today, so be ready!
Prediction 1
The most important game of the day involves two giant programs meeting at a storied stadium. Of course, I am referring to the WNIT championship between Michigan State and Marquette. The only thing I know about these teams is that they are playing today in the WNIT championship, so I will still make a bold (but extremely biased) prediction. MSU-60 Marquette-52.
Prediction 2
Kansas probably has the most talented team in college basketball, with a coach I still don't trust. North Carolina has the best player on the floor, and a much better coach. I'll take the best player and better coach. NC- 72 Kansas-66
Prediction 3
Memphis looks really good, but UCLA also looked pretty good in its Elite Eight game. I picked UCLA to make the national championship, and I won't change that pick at this point. Plus, I love Kevin Love. UCLA- 74 Memphis-73 (but it won't be because of free throws).
Other stuff to come later today, so be ready!
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