Random Thursday
Category: Random Thursday...
Posted Thursday, March 08, 2007 at 06:33 AM [GMT-6]

Some random observations while reflecting on how weird it feels to actually be caring about March Madness, given that A&M's men's and women's basketball teams are legitimate contenders for the first time in memory.

• I had a check-up at my internist's office a few years back, and the doctor asked me if it would be alright if someone besides him drew my blood for the usual tests. I said fine, expecting his nurse to do the job. Instead, the receptionist came in, sat down, and -- under his guidance -- stuck me. Fast forward to today when, according to this column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, hospitals are implementing new initiatives to reduce the stress on patients due to awkward needle sticks. In addition to creating IV teams for patients with hard-to-access veins or fear of needles, hospitals are beefing up training programs for the medical technicians known as phlebotomists and other staffers who regularly draw blood, and developing stricter protocols for monitoring patients during and after procedures to avoid complications.


• The article also cites the use of a new gadget called the VeinViewer which, in addition to being an obvious boon for myopic vampires, helps technicians locate veins using "near-infrared light."


• In the same vein (ha! I crack myself up), the fear of needles is referred to as blenophobia. I haven't been back to see that internist. I don't suffer from blenophobia, but I am a bit worried that he might ask to bring in some outside help for my next prostate exam.


• Someday, I hope to attend South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, which seems to be a really cool mashup of technology, film, and weird cultural things. This year's film festival includes the March 13th premier of what is likely the world's first and only movie about a font, Helvetica. If you can't get excited about a film about a font, there's simply no hope for you. I just hope the movie's performers don't get, you know, typecast.


• I caught Abbye chewing on a hoof in our backyard this morning. Just thought you ought to know.


• I received a summons for jury duty in a couple of weeks. At first I was disappointed, because as a self-employed, um, employee, if I'm not working, I'm not getting paid. But then I realized, hey, I'll make more as a jurist than I do as a web designer, so now I've got that going for me. Maybe I'll get a government leak case.

In closing, if you're still tossing and turning at night, wondering about this, you'll be relieved to know that they exhumed the body of the Big Bopper 48 years after his death and confirmed that he died immediately in the same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.