Pox

Have you ever had chicken pox?  I haven't.  I got the blood work back from UC Davis yesterday and they found out I hadn't had it and wanted to give me the vaccine.

I started signing the paperwork and then read that you have to agree not to get pregnant three months after the injection, which is fine, but out of curiosity I asked, why not?  The nurse said that the virus was an active virus and could kill a fetus.  At that point she told me that if I do get the vaccine I might also get chicken pox and wouldn't be able to leave the house for two weeks if I get it.  WHA!  That's when I changed my mind and was able to sign a release stating I'd agreed not to have the vaccine.

I looked at a couple of photos of chicken pox online but they aren't very nice.  So instead, how about this:

Reading

This poem appeared in the April 2012 issue of Harper's magazine.
 I love it so much I cut it out of the magazine.
Are you reading anything worthwhile?  I'm still working through the Grace Paley short story collection after hearing about Wants in another book and have read a few fluff books in the past month that aren't really worth mentioning.  We have a subscription to Harper's and the other day I read My Old Man, a memoir by Clancy Martin in the June 2012 issue.  I recommend it.  I sure do love an interesting memoir.

Interview

I just had the telephone interview with an undisclosed giant insurance company and will hear back in a few days if I'm selected for an in-person interview.  My cell phone reception in the house is often bad unless I'm in a good spot but this morning it was so awful that we lost the connection.  I'm blaming it on the helicopter that was circling the house.

I ended up frantically buying Skype credits and calling the HR lady back through Skype.

The worst interview question for me is "Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with your co-worker..."
I just don't get into conflicts with my co-workers. I'm an adult. DUH.  (that is not the answer I gave).

Turquoise and Caicos

I picked out a new summer nail polish earlier this week.  I love it!  I have a telephone interview tomorrow so I don't have to worry about looking EXTREMELY professional and taking off the polish.  I've never really had a serious telephone interview before.  It seems like an odd way to assess someone when they're not right in front of you.

Essie polish

I had my lifeblood sucked out of me yesterday at UC Davis Med Center to test for some diseases including chicken pox (?) and I had to get another TB test because the one I had in February for my immigration exam wasn't sufficient enough.  UC Davis needs two tests administered in case the first one is a false negative.  I really dislike the thought of needles.  Once I'm actually getting the blood drawn I feel fine but the whole waiting thing makes me queasy.  

The Dr. made me turn my neck, twist to the side and lift my arms.  He asked me if I had scoliosis but then pressed on my spine and decided I didn't so that's good news.  I don't know if this was part of the medical exam but he said that Canada produced a lot of good comedians and asked me to remind him of their names.

Once my blood and TB tests are reviewed then I am ready to be placed somewhere within UC Davis for a temporary job.

8 years old

Petey turned 8 years old yesterday.  He's practically still a baby considering he's going to outlive us all.  Maybe he can help me take my pills when I'm 85, or remind me to turn the stove off, or call for help when I fall down the stairs.

Petey and I celebrated a bit before V came home from work with a birthday peanut and some loud dance music.  He had already opened his "real" gifts in the morning, including something called the Bamboozler!

After dinner V and I drove to San Francisco to see his pal's band.  It was in a space I'd never been to called the Lab.  It sounded really good in there and smelled about average to below average.

Neither of us wore earplugs and our hearing is fine this morning.  We got home around 2 am so the fatigue level is pretty high.  

Black Dice

Today I am heading over to the UC Davis Med Centre to complete a medical exam so I can be hired as a temporary worker with them.  It sounds like it will be vaccinations and an eye test.  I had my vaccinations for my immigration application so hopefully I won't have to go through that again.  

I met a fellow green card holder at the show last night who got hers a year ago and she said that even though she had an updated vaccination record the US wouldn't accept it because it wasn't in English.  She also told me that after two years she and her Mr. will have to go through the interview process again.  So many hoops!  

Pearls

I had a dental check up today with a new dentist and I don't have any cavities!  To celebrate, I got this:

Just kidding!  I ate some strawberries and yogurt instead.  I bought a Groupon for $40 which included an exam, x-rays and cleaning at Capitol Dental.  I was a little concerned at first because I had to wait for 30 minutes before being seen and the receptionist discussed another patient's procedure really loudly so everyone in the waiting room could hear.

What I did like was that the dentist said I had really great teeth in excellent shape, which was nice compared to my other dentist who, on my first visit there, asked me if I'd ever considered braces.  Yes, I did consider them, in grades 7 through 9.

There was just a little bit of staining on the tops of my teeth.  I said, "must be from all that red wine I drink" and the dentist said, "oh, what kind?" and I said, "red".  Then he asked, "what kind of red?".  And I said "whatever's on sale" and he said, "you mean whatever's in your glass?"  Sassy!

The hygienist did a really thorough job scraping and cleaning.  I was impressed.  At my old place they barely even scraped and I always felt like there was some plaque left over.  I would go back once I get dental coverage through my job.

Busy weekend

Happy Monday!  Last night before falling asleep I was thinking about the Aleve lady in the old commercials who needed to take a pill before gardening.  I am turning into that lady.

We trimmed the plants and trees, ripped out all the weeds and finished laying down the weed blocker fabric that I'd started a while back before running out of anchors.  We bought some new plants at Home Depot and V bought some missing supplies to install a drip system in the front.  Everything looks a lot nicer.

Flowers in the trunk

While I was pulling weeds I realized something looked off about the front porch and that the planters and pots didn't look balanced.  I have no idea how long it's been gone but someone stole a small mosaic table I had on the front porch.  I'm sad it's gone but considering I didn't notice until this weekend and have no idea how long it's been missing I suppose I can't be too heartbroken.

On Saturday we attempted to go to the beach which was allegedly going to be 82 degrees but when we got there the fog had already started to roll in.  At Bolinas it was 52 degrees and windy.  The town was packed and there was hardly anywhere to park.  A lot of people were driving down the skinny streets only to have to reverse out because there weren't any spots.  There were a couple of tense moments when an old guy yelled obscenities at us because we didn't give him enough room to pass in his giant van and later when we were reversing into a parking spot and someone tried to steal it from us.  There weren't any waves and a ton of people in the water so we decided to leave, but only after I got my jalapeno cheese puffs from the liquor store there.  Have you had these?  They are TOO delicious.

I've finished my make-up testing!  My skin broke out about 4 hours into wearing the Nars pure radiance which felt like I had a layer of oil on it.  My cat jumped up on to my desk and rubbed his body against my face and I'm pretty sure he got some makeup on his fur.  Gross.

The Philosophy make up was too pale but did feel pretty good on my skin.  

The Clinique Moisture Surge and City Block are my favourites.  I especially like that the City Block has zinc, which blocks everything.  It's not marketed as a tinted moisturizer but has a light tint that works with my skin tone.  Good for relaxed outdoor adventures where you don't need to look like a bazillion bucks.  Clinique is giving out travel sized samples of these right now at Macy's if you're interested.