Thursday, April 30, 2009

Pansies and the swine flu

Alright ya'll, I am so freaking sick and tired of all this fear over the swine flu. First off, before you all think I'm just spouting off my own version of the facts, here's an article from the LA times (http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-swine-reality30-2009apr30,0,3606923.story) about how this strain, according to the WHO (World Health Org) and CDC, is possibly not even as deadly as your RUN OF THE MILL INFLUENZA VIRUS.

Sorry, the ridiculous panic at work has me really irritated. This one lady badgered my manager about buying our ENTIRE inventory of hand sanitizer. Are you fucking serious? Just wash your hands. Sure, I don't care, but I really don't want to be badgered by the next drove of crazy panicked people about why we have no hand sanitizer in stock. Trust me, crazy fear panicked people will just scream at you because the crazy person before them cleaned us out.

Then you have these GENIUS doctors giving out tamiflu Rx's like they're goddamn candy.

Listen, it's a waste of money IF YOU ARE NOT SICK. Leave the medication for people who are actually sick and NEED this medication. It's a waste of resources and money. It irritates me that people are hoarding all this medication when they don't even so much as have a sniffle.

Want to get through the swine flu scare? I am going to leave you with what I left on my facebook.

Wash your hands and don't fuck pigs. There's your PSA for the day.

But seriously, wash your hands. If you don't regularly, that's just nasty.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A-W-K-W-A-R-D

I have a deep love for the counter that separates me from my patients. It keeps them a safe distance away from my personal bubble and gives me some space from their germs haha.

I try to avoid going out to show people where things are and just direct them with directions, but sometimes... they really can't listen. "Aisle 8, halfway down the aisle, middle shelf, left hand side" Then when they walk to aisle 7 and look to the right... well.. you begin to wonder if they have x-ray vision or can't read signs. The reason I don't like going out there is because they always encroach on my space. This one lady stood shoulder to shoulder with me when looking at items I was showing her in the aspirin section. Her entire body, shoulder down, was pretty much squished up against the side of my body. After that, I really just didn't want to go show anyone anything.

Well today, this little old lady was asking about an item, and she couldn't find it in the aisle so I left my protective counter to show her where it was. She was a little old lady, how much harm could she do? Right? Right??

As she turns around to thank me for pointing out the three shelves of the brand she was looking for, she grabs my boob. I know, this was an accident, but after the lady scratching at me last week during Mamma Mia, I am still a wee bit traumatized. I mumble a 'no problem' because at this point my personal space has been violated, and shuffled back behind the counter.

I do have weird personal space issues when it comes to strangers. If I know the person I'm fine.. but for some reason strangers freak me out.

Moving on...

So I was helping this lady with a discount for her medications. She was very happy that I told her about the 'discount card', but at the same time was VERY angry at us for not telling her earlier? So she was half thanking me, and half yelling at my coworkers (none of whom were present since it was 8am haha) screaming and saying "I don't know how you work with some of these people! Ugh!"

Wow. Awkward. I managed a few mumbled words, awkward silence while she ranted, all the while my pharmacist was giggling in a corner. Thanks. Then she nearly reached over to grab my hands, in what I am guessing was a gesture of thanks, and of course I flinch. Very noticeably. I pretty much flinched, took a step back and gave her the "WTF don't touch me!" look. I felt really bad... but it was just my reaction at 8am on a Sunday. It's not often a patient reaches out to touch my hands.

For the record, most of my coworkers are nicer than I am. Which I found ironically funny.

I also find it awkward when people thank me and bow. I'm not really sure why. I'm sure they mean no offense by it, but it makes me feel super awkward. Especially when they look at me and expect me to bow back. I usually raise an eyebrow. Just cos I'm Asian doesn't mean I'm a super FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) Asian.

To top off this entry, I am awkwardly flirting via text while writing this entry. 200 loser points go to me! Sweet.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Honest Scrap

This post gives thanks to Ashley who is an awesome blogger.



The Honest Scrap award comes with a caveat or two. First, you must tell your readers 10 true things about yourself that they may not know. Second, you must tag 10 people with the award.

Here we go!

1) I am seriously accident prone. Sometimes they call me "The Walking Accident". I almost always get daily paper cuts from work, run into things, and drop things. I also manage to trip over my own feet.

2) I am very bad with relationships. I have a habit of running away from relationships, or feeling smothered when things get a little too intense. I think this mostly has to do with things moving way too fast for me.

3) Sometimes I laugh out loud at things and scare my dog JackJack. He jumps and stares at me wondering why I am laughing so hard.

4) I am very scared about one day coming out to my family. I am out to a few of my cousins, but I fear losing my family the most. I think about it all the time and it's something that I push to the back of my mind, but I am constantly thinking about it.

5) I blog mostly for myself because I like having a timeline of sorts of my life and events. And keeping one online is easier to hide than somewhere in my room. That and to write more often. I am a terrible writer, so I'm working on it.

6) I have a weird love for compounding medication. I am good at it, and it makes me feel like I am in a lab again.

7) On days that I question my career, I playfully think about getting a PhD in biochemistry and continuing the research I started on malignant brain tumors.

8) On days that I feel #7 is equally crazy, I think about becoming a forensic scientist.

9) I play in a softball league and my teammates work in forensics, and one is an old coworker from Disneyland. It's so much fun!

10) I go to the shooting range on occasion for fun. I am a pretty good shot. I also teach a lot of my friends about gun safety and teach them how to shoot their very first gun. I feel better knowing that they do it safetly with me. It's weird.

Wow that was harder than I thought heh.

The ten bloggers I tag are... (Ya'll don't have to do it, just thought it'd be fun)
Brahmin
Shea
TSD
Christin
And... my LJ friends that know and read this blog. I am not going to link since they are mostly friend's only blogs.

I guess I am not a very social blogger... Should change that...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Late night BBQs

Good friends are really hard to come by, and I am so very lucky to have the ones I do. Even though most of us are scattered across the country, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly and easily we fall back into easy conversations like no time has passed at all. Granted, it makes me realize how much I miss them because they have been a part of my life for so long. We've been through it all and we've grown up and are still close.

One of the things that I've missed the most are their hugs. I remember when I came out to them years ago how terrified I was. These were some of my best friends and I knew it wouldn't matter to them whether I was gay or straight it still scared the hell out of me. They are like family to me and how immediately accepting and loving they were gave me a lot more confidence in myself.

Seeing a few of them today was amazing. We had a welcome home BBQ for one of my friends that's here on a short break from professional school. We shared stories, caught up, and laughed the night away, just like we used to. I still have a silly grin on my face. I even made plans to spend a few days with them in the near future. I am so excited for that.

I really want to visit them more often, there's some good diving down there hehe.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Mamma Mia, here we go again...

Ok, so once again I was off to LA to see another musical. I can't believe all the great things I've been able to experience and do this year. One of the highlights is being able to see so many musicals. If you don't know me, I am a huge theatre/musical theatre nerd.

The weirdest thing happened though in the middle of act I. I was just sitting there minding my own business when suddenly the lady next to me reaches over and scratched my arm. I nearly jumped out of my seat in shock. I am the type of person that needs personal space from strangers. If we're close than I don't mind my bubble being invaded, but I don't like being touched by strangers.

Of course my first reaction is to look over and stare at the culprit. Weird. She didn't even acknowledged that she creepily scratched my arm, accident or not. It's a dark theatre, I understand. I guess.

It was a pretty good production! It's hard to live up to after seeing Wicked, Phantom, and Rent, but it was still very enjoyable. They had some mic problems (I only notice because I used to play around as a theatre tech in high school), but otherwise the show was hilarious. People hopping about in snorkeling gear, making funny sexual gestures at each other and just the overall light-heartedness and silliness of of all was wonderful!

Donna and Sophie were ah-may-zing. It makes me feel awkward that I now have a slight crush on both of them (since they play a mother/daughter). What can I say? Women that can sing get me every time. We got to take our picture with Donna and Sam for donating money to charity. How awesome is that? In brightly colored spandex too. haha.

The best part of it all was taking my little cousin. She's a teenager, but we have a shared love for musicals (along with my other cousin that came with us) and we got to take her to her first musical! She had the biggest smile plastered to her face. It makes me wish I took her to see Rent.

It's gonna be a crazy musical month for me. Next up I have Dirty Dancing, Grease, and Shen Yun. I bought Dirty Dancing tickets for my sister as a birthday present, we are watching Grease the very next day haha. My sister bought Shen Yun tickets as a birthday/mother's day present for my mom. More about it here.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Nashville Highlights

I love the south. It may be too conservative for me, but it is amazing. People are actually... Nice. I nearly fell over with shock. Nahsville had such a unique... vibe to it everywher I went. The houses were all cute and unique, not cloned from one house on the entire block. And there was so much to do! This started out in order, but then just went all over the place. Scattered like my mind.

I was instantly happy when I saw my best friend at the airport. I was so excited I pretty much jumped on top of her when I saw her and almost knocked her over. She drove my bum ass around all weekend and I felt horrible at cutting into her research time. Meeting her friends was also super amazing. I <3 nerds. They were a riot.

My first full day was spent observing research for a few hours(which to me is super awesome). Then we went for a walk in the park. Nashville has a replica of the Parthenon. I laughed my butt off when she told me that. Seeing was believing. Then I tripped on the stairs. Go me! Then we drove to a drive-in to watch Monsters vs Aliens. It was cold and I was freezing, but it was fun. Then we went drinking in Nashvegas where I rode my first ever mechanical bull. I fell on my head... in style. Then got another drink to nurse my ego. We also saw a live band with a very cute fiddle player. They were really good.

The live music in Nashville was beyond expectations. Really talented musicians with a lot of character.

Saturday night I got a wee bit drunk and actually danced at some club for two hours. I don't dance people. This is one Asian with no rhythm and two left feet. So I must have been feeling pretty good. I wasn't feeling so good the next day haha.

We also drove around Natchez Trace. My favorite thing was the wall of trees. Just driving around surrounded by a wall of trees on either side was just so pretty. The two random turkeys running in a field was also pretty awesome. We took a hike off a trail and ended up jumping in a creek just for kicks.

We were having pizza and beer one night with friends and they talked about how M always complained about being single. Somehow they thought it'd be funny if I made out with him to shut him up. I was at a loss for words and before I could reply my friend rescued with me and said "HAHAHA I don't think he's her 'type'." I just giggled and agreed very enthusiastically. I don't think they quite got it.

Really the best part of the trip was just spending time with her. I missed our pizza and beer nights, and just hanging out with her. Maybe I should move to Nashville haha.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

No more vacation? =(

Clearly I was too drunk in my last post to realize why I was even online.

I am back from my amazing trip. After a really long boring 3 hour delayed layover, I made it to my destination and it was nothing but good times from there. Although the drunk couple, or should I say drunk wife (her husband seemed sober and was quite nice), on their honeymoon were quite entertaining. I envied her inebriation as I was sober and really just wanting to get out of that damn airport.

Despite the rough start to my vacation, everything from there was wonderful. My liver and stomach are cursing me as we spent many nights drinking and dancing. Something I am not used to. Well, the drinking yes, but clearly had more than I should have if I was dancing. Spending the weekend with one of my best friends was so amazing! It made me realize how much I missed her and how wonderful she is. It seems odd sleeping alone now. My bed feels super empty.

I can't even begin to summarize the trip. We packed so much into three and a half days it amazed me. I even tried mechanical bull riding. I saw amazing sites. I listened to amazing live music. I met some really amazing people. I really spent a lot of time taking in the culture and gorgeous city as well as the really weird confusing highways. If I had to drive for the weekend we would have ended up in Mississippi. I was confused just sitting in the passenger seat.

All in all, it really made me want to move there and get out of here. On my first flight home that put me on a layover in Texas, someone wore a lot of cheap cologne and gave me my first experience with nausea on a plane. On the second half of my flight I sat in front of a 4 year old that spent the entire 3 hours from Texas to California kicking the back of my chair. Two more reason I was unhappy about going home.

Back to a life of responsibilities and general boredom. Haha. At least I have an awesome photo of me on a bull with my hair eating my face. If I were ever to become famous the paparazzi would never get a photo of me. My hair will always eat my face, it is awesome like that. Sometimes I resemble Cousin It from the Adam's Family. Well that's what I'm told at least.