Wow. Time sure does fly by when I'm having fun!
There is a lot that has been happening lately...
Last weeked, I went on a retreat. There, God graced me with His presence. It was awesome. Currently, I am working on a letter to explain some of my new learnings. I'll post it as soon as it's complete.
Last Tuesday, I participated in the InterCenter Run/Walk. This event is put on by NASA and includes 2mile, 5km, and 10km courses. I ran in the 10km race (a little more than 6 miles), which took me about 51 minutes to complete. The coolest thing about the race was that it was held on the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF)- aka LARGEST RUNWAY IN THE WORLD! The SLF is a 3-mile runway for the shuttle when it lands after its mission in space. It was definately an awesome event to participate in. Upon deciding whether to walk with some of my other co-op friends or run the race, I noticed a couple things. We drive cars on parkways. We also park cars on driveways. So, what should people do on runways? I considered walking the race just to follow this silly string of logic, but then decided that it would benefit me more to run. I ran the 10k race and was exhausted at the end. Not to mention that a 70 year old guy whooped me!
Now, 3 days later, I am still very much sore, just in both of my calves; the reason being that I make a concious effort to get in the habit of running on the balls of my feet so that I can play soccer better. In soccer, it's better to be on the balls of the feet instead of the heels so that one can change direction much quicker. So, since I was running on my toes, my calves got the work-out of their lives. (Try to stand up and tippie toe, feel the calves go to work?) That and I am very much out of shape. I haven't run in about a month and this was the first run in a while. I think that I over did it.
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Yesterday, I got a free Flu shot at the NASA health facility. I figured why not, it's free and it might help me not get the flu. I told him to do it in my left arm, which he did. Surprisingly, I didn't feel a thing. After removing the needle, he didn't even have to put a bandaid on because I didn't bleed. After a couple hours, some other people were whining about their arms being sore. Luckily, my shoulder wasn't sore at all. Today, my arm still doesn't hurt that much, but I can feel that I got a shot yesterday. No Flu for me!
Ohh...but wait...there is more soreness yet to come...
Today, I gave blood at NASA. I had them take it from the left arm, because I'm right-handed. This was the second time giving blood, my first being almost a year ago in December. I had been looking for a blood drive for quite some time, and one finally came up- right in front of my building. The blooddrive was actually put on to try to find a doner for a co-worker who has been diagnosed with leukemia. I wonder if I'm going to be a match. If so, I'll be asked to donate some of my bone marrow to try to help his disease. If asked, I think that I'd do it.
After they got a pint from me, it was time to head back to work. This time, I actually felt a little woozy getting up. I dismissed it and decided to head back inside the building to the 3rd floor of my office. I didn't walk outside very far until I felt my eyes starting to give out. I knew that at any moment that I was gonig to pass out in front of the blood mobile. I quickly sat down trying to eat the cookies that they provided. My stomach ached and I was extremely dizzy. I didn't know if I was going to make it back to work. After sitting in the Florida heat for about a minute, I decided that it would be good if I could get inside to the lobby, then rest there. I got up and felt so sluggish. My eyes were barely hanging on, and I probably looked like a dang zombie trudging toward the front of the building. I told myself that I could make it. I kept walking and walking and walking (mind you, this is only 10 yards worth of walking but it seemed like an eternity). I made it to the automatic glass sliding doors and saw the couches that I could use to rest. I stumbled over there, trying to hang on for dear life. I was going to faint at any moment, and I knew it. Sorry to disappoint you, but I did make it to the couch and assumed the "head between the knees" sitting technique to try to get what blood I had left to my head. (Don't I make it sound as if they took all my blood? :) ) I sat there wondering if I was ever going to feel better, so that I could go back to my desk (this is about 15:00). I then laid down and began to watch the extensive Hurricane Isabele coverage on CNN to get my mind off of things. I proped up my feet and just sat there and relaxed for a while. Minutes later, I was feeling a lot better. I hobbled to the elevator, pressed three, and hobbled to my cube where I finished the day.
My arm is definately sore from giving blood. Tomorrow, my limbs might fall off and I could become a semi-paraplegic; no legs and no left arm- just a body with a head and right arm.
Tonight, I went to the local community college to listen to a community band that they have. The concert featured famous works by John Williams. If you don't know John Williams, he composed the theme songs for movies such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, ET, Saving Private Ryan, and also composed the Olympic fanfares. The concert was free and was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, I really had my hopes up to hearing a professional band. I quickly learned that they weren't professionals and had some problems with timing and the trumpets had trouble hitting some of the high notes. Nevertheless, it was quite enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I'm going to head to the FedEx place to pick up my package. It's a replacement soundcard- the one that they sent me the first time didn't work properly. After that, I'm going to clean my room because it is a total mess. I might actually do some laundry. Today, I washed and vacuumed my car, so that's good. After doing some cleaning, I'm going to finish that letter so that I can mail it out to certain people and post it here.
Till next time...
Mr. Chuckles: "OO OO AH AH, EEK"
Translation: "Have a wonderful day!"