On Again ... Off Again
New Favorite Editor
I've updated my Console Text Editors page to reflect the fact that I've now switched to a new favorite editor.
Console Text Editors (/console-editors.gmi)
📅 c: 2026-07-26 11:47 ✏️ e:
🏷 tags: #editors
2026-07-26 11:47 📖 New Favorite Editor (2026-07-26T11-47.gmi)
12-20 51 = Déjà vu
Last evening after dinner my wife commented that the day had been an especially good one. The two previous days she had felt ill with cold or flu symptoms, but was now feeling better. We had gone out during the afternoon to her appointment with the chiropractor, then ran some errands including a frustrating visit to a very crowded supermarket where we successfully acquired the last of the supplies needed for our holiday preparations. In the evening she went out to dinner with our daughter, continuing their "girls night out" routine for Friday evenings.
Though the day was not a stay-at-home-and-be-bored day, neither could it be described as a day filled with memorable moments. Just another "oatmeal day" (don't know about oatmeal days? see the links below), and yet that evening we both agreed that it had been a very good day.
Oatmeal Days (https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2633199/1/Oatmeal-Days)
Oatmeal Days (https://journeyonline.org/oatmeal-days/)
The major reason it seemed a good day is that the past six or seven months have been times when she was so weak that she began to think she may not make it to Christmas, but now she is much stronger and it is wonderful just to be ABLE to go and do errands together.
As I was getting ready for bed I remembered that I had posted a while back about a similar experience. When I looked it up I was surprised that it was exactly one year ago! What a year it has been!
The Fiftieth December Twentieth (/blog/2023-12-22T12-16.gmi)
📅 c: 2024-12-21 20:12 ✏️ e:
🏷 tags: #oatmeal-days #joy #satifaction #hope #Christmas #memory #family
2024-12-21 20:12 📖 12-20 51 = Déjà vu (2024-12-21T20-12.gmi)
Phlebotomists' Rituals
Have you ever noticed the various rituals and incantations that phlebotomists use? Do they belong to different cults or denominations of the Sacred Society of Phlebotomists?
I went to a doctor's office today and had an encounter there with a pleasant and very kind young woman of the phlebotomist persuasion. Now a brief bit of my personal history will be needed here before we can continue our enquiry.
I have long had an irrational fear of being poked with needles. Injections were tolerated slightly better than extractions -- but either one of them induced a great deal of stress and on occasion was the cause of me fainting in the middle of the procedure.
My wife discovered a strategy to improve the success of these encounters: keep me distracted during the process so I am less aware of the great injustice that is being inflicted upon my body. This works well, and I've trained myself to look away and focus my attention elsewhere during the procedure.
Her medical history is much more voluminous than mine and she has survived certainly several hundred of these procedures, most with only slight and brief pain. She does not cower in fear at the merest hint that a blood sample may be required.
Now back to the rituals and incantations. A very common one is some variation of "is this a good spot?". I sometimes reply with something like "I don't have this done often enough to have enough data to answer that question". Today I was asked "where is a good place?" and my reply was "I've never done this myself so I have no idea." And the rituals: sometimes they apply a rubber strap around my upper arm, sometimes it is "make a tight fist" and other times "relax your arm", today it was "stretch your arm out as straight as you can". Sometimes it gets physical, with the technician slapping or massaging my arm in an attempt to find the best place for their needle. The needle has ended up in the back of my hand, sometimes in the middle of my forearm, sometimes in the crook of my elbow, and possibly even in my upper arm.
My wife, with her greater experience, confidently extends her arm and points to the exact spot that works best. I just want to blurt out "I don't know! You're the professional, why are you asking me?" Hmmm... perhaps I should pay more attention to what they're doing and why -- maybe someday I'll have better responses, and better results.
📅 c: 2024-04-19 09:55 ✏️ e:
🏷 tags: #medical #lessons #attention #avoidance
2024-04-19 09:55 📖 Phlebotomists' Rituals (2024-04-19T09-55.gmi)
Previous Posts
2023-12-22 12:16 📖 The Fiftieth December Twentieth (2023-12-22T12-16.gmi)
🏷 tags: #Christmas #memory #family
2023-12-12 12:26 📖 Just Don't Buy It! (2023-12-12T12-26.gmi)
🏷 tags: #COP28 #StopBuyingGas #DrivingIsSociallyUnacceptable #WalkingWorks #BikesAreNice #RideTheBus
2023-12-06 19:40 📖 The Gemtext Print Hurdle (2023-12-06T19-40.gmi)
🏷 tags: #print #gemtext #php #script #gemdoc
2023-09-23 00:41 📖 A Puzzling Development (2023-09-23T00-32.gmi)
🏷 tags: #puzzles #diagrams #HowToThink
2023-04-02 17:57 📖 How To Buy Shoes (2023-04-02T17-57.gmi)
🏷 tags: #shoes #embarrassment #lessons #CustomerService
2023-02-27 13:44 📖 Climate Action? (2023-02-27T13-01.gmi)
🏷 tags: #StopBuyingGas #DrivingIsSociallyUnacceptable #WalkingWorks #BikesAreNice #RideTheBus
2023-02-07 14:36 📖 What Can I Say? (2023-02-07T14-36.gmi)
🏷 tags: #ClimateChange #Degrowth
2023-01-22 12:42 📖 What's Your Plan? (2023-01-22T12-42.gmi)
🏷 tags: #degrowth #WhatsYourPlan #LetsPlanTogether
2022-11-16 18:10 📖 Open Harassment Period (2022-11-16T17-20.gmi)
🏷 tags: #Medicare #telemarketers #phone #harassment
2022-10-20 10:21 📖 How Can We Decide? (2022-10-20T10-21.gmi)
🏷 tags: #election #voting #information #deficit
2022-10-08 20:53 📖 A Very Cranberry Day (2022-10-08T20-53.gmi)
🏷 tags: #cranberries #oats #porridge
2022-09-26 12:58 📖 This Week's Photo Assignment (2022-09-26T12-58.gmi)
🏷 tags: #photo #assignment #scholartree
2022-09-24 23:04 📖 It's Happened Again... (2022-09-24T23-00.gmi)
🏷 tags: #age #celebration
2022-09-14 21:48 📖 How Do I Change The World? (2022-09-14T21-48.gmi)
🏷 tags: #climatechange #crisis #personal #adaptation
2022-09-08 22:57 📖 Historical Blog Entries (2022-09-08T22-57.gmi)
tags: #blog #history
2022-08-22 10:58 📖 Why Am I Here? (2022-08-22T10-48.gmi)
tags: #freedom #censorship #exile
2022-08-08 13:02 📖 Openness (2022-08-08T13-02.gmi)
tags: #open-source #fear #security #friendship
2022-08-03 13:06 📖 Things I've Learned From My Granddaughter (2022-08-03T13-06.gmi)
tags: #learning #teaching #parenting #diet #wieght-loss #nutrition
2022-07-26 07:21 📖 A Tired Old Man (2022-07-26T07-21.gmi)
tags: #tired #hopeful
2022-07-19 13:08 📖 There Is No Jewish Religion? (2022-07-19T13-08.gmi)
tags: #religion #judaism #christianity #hebrew #english
2022-07-17 20:22 📖 W.H.E.O.S.O.E. (2022-07-17T20-22.gmi)
tags: #exhausted #refreshed
2022-07-16 05:47 📖 Welcome To The Past (2022-07-16T05-47.gmi)
tags: #nostalgia #building #relationships
2022-07-14 20:20 📖 Finished (For Now) (2022-07-14T20-20.gmi)
tags: #success #uncertainty
2022-06-25 19:56 📖 Wow! The Lagrange TUI Rocks! (wow-the-lagrange-tui-rocks.gmi)
tags: #happy #textmode
2022-06-20 08:00 📖 Temporarily Relocated (temporarily-relocated.gmi)
tags: #tired, #happy
2018-09-17 09:33 📖 Custodian (2018-09-17T09-33.gmi)
🏷 tags: #photos #documents #catalog #preservation #duty
2018-09-16 21:41 📖 What I Missed In Life (2018-09-16T21-41.gmi)
🏷 tags: #blessings #curses #poverty #isolation
2005-04-23 20:04 📖 Another Operator: An M2 Stripper? (another-operator-07.gmi)
🏷 tags: #Opera #M2mail #e-mail #attachments #utilities
2005-04-17 06:39 📖 Papa's House: Thanks A Lot! (papas-house-02.gmi)
tags: #family #travel #customerservice
2005-03-23 07:20 📖 Papa's House: My Days As An Eco-Terrorist (papas-house-03.gmi)
tags: #childhood #adventures
2005-02-05 07:29 📖 Papa's House: Are You Serious? (papas-house-04.gmi)
tags: #ambiguity #context
2005-01-29 10:39 📖 Papa's House: What Do You Want To Be If You Grow Up? (papas-house-05.gmi)
tags: #goals #family #ambiguity
2005-01-23 02:40 📖 Papa's House: Hey, I Really Made A Mistake (papas-house-06.gmi)
tags: #errors
2005-01-18 07:37 📖 Papa's House: All Together Now (papas-house-07.gmi)
tags: #family #cooperation
2005-01-12 09:01 📖 Papa's House: A Walk In The Park (papas-house-08.gmi)
tags: #family #childhood #fun
2005-01-11 08:00 📖 Papa's House: The Nutty Nutcracker (papas-house-09.gmi)
tags: #family #school #performance
2005-01-10 12:42 📖 Papa's House: Carol's Quilt For Kaylee (papas-house-10.gmi)
tags: #family #crafts #quilt
2005-01-03 09:01 📖 Papa's House: Old And Older (papas-house-11.gmi)
tags: #family #travel #memories
2005-01-03 07:46 📖 Papa's House: Welcome (papas-house-01.gmi)
tags: #family #blog
🏷 tags: #Opera #portableapps #thumbdrive
2004-07-11 02:07 📖 Another Operator: Why Only Opera? (another-operator-05.gmi)
🏷 tags: #Opera #irc #etiquette
2004-04-24 16:04 📖 Another Operator: I Give Up (another-operator-04.gmi)
🏷 tags: #userstyles #stylesheets #Opera
2004-01-26 07:01 📖 Another Operator: Oh No! (another-operator-03.gmi)
🏷 tags: #userstyles #stylesheets #Opera
2004-01-08 14:01 📖 Another Operator: System Colors For Stylesheets (another-operator-02.gmi)
🏷 tags: #userstyles #stylesheets #Opera
2003-12-21 07:12 📖 Another Operator: Only One Of Many (another-operator-01.gmi)
🏷 tags: #Opera #blog
2003-09-27 17:11 📖 ROAD STUFF: No, Not Yet (road-stuff-07.gmi)
tags: #travel #stories
2003-09-13 17:13 📖 ROAD STUFF: Almost There (road-stuff-06.gmi)
tags: #travel #desert #highways
2003-09-09 16:24 📖 ROAD STUFF: Day Eleven (road-stuff-05.gmi)
tags: #travel #family #anniversary
2003-09-08 07:37 📖 ROAD STUFF: Day Ten (road-stuff-04.gmi)
tags: #travel #family #Colorado
2003-09-03 16:50 📖 ROAD STUFF: Day Five (road-stuff-03.gmi)
tags: #travel #family
2003-09-01 08:42 📖 ROAD STUFF: That's A Pretty Good Start (road-stuff-02.gmi)
tags: #travel #Utah
2003-08-30 05:45 📖 ROAD STUFF: Are We There Yet? (road-stuff-01.gmi)
tags: #travel #highways
2003-08-29 20:41 📖 ROAD STUFF: Last Night Home (road-stuff-08.gmi)
tags: #travel #preparation #planning
2003-08-27 10:09 📖 ROAD STUFF: More Preparation (road-stuff-09.gmi)
tags: #travel #preparation
2003-08-27 09:16 📖 ROAD STUFF: Help! (road-stuff-10.gmi)
tags: #travel #preparation #lost
2003-08-24 17:45 📖 ROAD STUFF: Getting ready. (road-stuff-11.gmi)
tags: #travel #preparation #lost
2003-08-24 14:02 📖 ROAD STUFF: Well... It's A Start (road-stuff-12.gmi)
tags: #travel #preparation
1998-08-08 00:00 📖 Newman Occasional Journal: A common citizen (newman-occasional-journal-02.gmi)
tags: #family #perspective
1998-08-01 00:00 📖 Newman Occasional Journal: Introduction (newman-occasional-journal-01.gmi)
tags: #family #war #history #populationgrowth #perspective
⋯
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