Well……I think I am finally close to being well again. Today was my last day on the antibiotics the doctor prescribed and I feel better but not totally healthy yet.

I have gotten a bit of LSAT studying done which is a good thing. I was having the most problems on the logic section due to the strict time constraints. You are given 35min and I was getting them all correct but doing it in over an hour. I decided to buy a book specifically on that section and got one from Amazon called the LSAT Logic Games Bible. So far the book has proven to be quite helpful. On the games in the half I have read thus far, I can now do most of them in 10-15 min. Hopefully I will be able to shave this down to the required 8min 45sec by October 1st.

I went in to see the doctor today to get my vaccinations for China. We spent about 20 minutes talking about the various health concerns for China and then it was on to the vaccinations. I got Typhoid, Tetanus / Diphtheria, and Influenza (that sounds so wrong ), all in my left shoulder. She wanted me to think about getting a rabies vaccine, which will involve a series of three more shots over 3 weeks. After the vaccinations it was on to the HIV test I need for my Visa. They needed to draw blood for this.

Let me give you a little background on me and drawing blood. I hate it. They never can get it out of me which just makes it worse. The last time they did it, the nurse tried in my right arm and couldn’t get anything after 3 minutes of trying. She then had me drink a few cups of water and squeeze a ball for 5 minutes before she tried again. No luck. She then brought in a second nurse who was an expert and always got it. She tried in my let arm instead of the right but still didn’t get anything. 45 minutes into trying, she finally got it on her second try, and said it was the first time she didn’t get it the first time. Damn it…..that is one area where I don’t want to set records.

The doctor sent me to a lab below her office, and when the lab owner got wind of this story, he said he would do it himself (instead of having a technician do it) and guaranteed me that not only would he get it on the first try, that it would be painless. I was a bit skeptical. I normally don’t like to watch while they give me shots / draw blood so I looked right while he tried to draw blood from my left hand. After about 10 seconds, he told me to hold a cotton ball. He had to put my hand on the cotton as I was still looking right. I hadn’t felt anything so I was worried that he didn’t get it when he said “Alright….time to try your right hand.” I quickly thought “NOOOOOO!!!! Not again!!” when he said “Just kidding” and whipped out a vile filled with the dark red stuff. YEAH!!! I couldn’t believe it……it wasn’t even painful.

I got all three shots in my left arm and they drew blood from my left arm. It is totally useless right now (it stings when I move it). Here is a shot of me all screwed up:

A dopo….ciao ragazzi