I’m hungry as hell right now because I’ve got an appointment at the lab at 3:45 and it’s a fasting blood test. I wouldn’t have to fast if they were testing just my thyroid, but there’s a lipid panel as well. I didn’t get up until 11 AM, but 5 hours without eating is still a long haul. You can bet your ass I’m going to be loading up on cholesterol afterward!

This is such a pointless, stupid waste of time. I already made it clear to them that I’m not taking any more thyroid medication, and the more I thought about it, the more I’m sure I’m going to refuse statins as well. Forever I mean. Statins just don’t always prevent strokes and heart attacks. Tammy would know this firsthand. She’s been on statins for years yet that didn’t stop her from having a heart attack. So why take something and always stress about the side effects if I’m just going to eventually have one anyway? If I do, I still think it would be many years from now. My carotid ultrasound didn’t show any plaque, so I’d say I’m good until my 70s or 80s.

I spent quite a while yesterday sweeping the rest of these popcorn ceilings of their beloved dust and webs.

Exchanged hellos with Jon earlier who asked how our tech stuff was going. He said he didn’t want to say “nerdy” stuff and offend me, but I wouldn’t be offended at all and neither would Tom. We’re definite nerds/tech junkies, or whatever you want to call us. Jon said that’s something he admires because it’s a talent he doesn’t have. Tom is still much more knowledgeable than I am. My specialty is with words, foreign and not.

Today was bulk trash pickup. We tossed one of the old rat cages, a couple of old vacuums, and a couple of old portable heaters.

Later…

They were only a few minutes late for my appointment at the lab, but OMG! I guess even Russian parents don’t believe in teaching their kids any manners. I didn’t know they were Russian at first. I only knew it was both rude and ridiculous the way they let one of their brats scream so loud that I could barely hear the woman at the desk speaking to me.

It was afterward that Tom said I should’ve kept up on my Russian studies. I guess the lady at the desk was having a hard time communicating with the woman. I would have kept up on it if it weren’t such a pain in the ass not having a Russian keyboard. The language didn’t seem that difficult to learn.

This other guy could have used my sign language, which is almost as good as my English. He was deaf, and the woman had Tom get his attention while I was checking in.

Anyway, the guy who drew my blood was nice enough to use a butterfly needle at my request. I just find it easier to save them time than have them discover the hard way how tiny my veins are. I finally learned why, too. It’s bad genetics. One of my parents or grandparents had small veins. I guess you could really say I’m genetically screwed. Makes me wonder why my parents had kids, knowing how many problems the family had. On top of wondering why they had kids they never truly wanted in the first place and that they would ultimately abuse, of course.

He took four vials, two for my thyroid, two for cholesterol. Trying not to think of how shitty the results may be. I know the cholesterol is going to be bad; it’s the thyroid I’m worried about. Especially when its medication can cause some of us the kind of terror-filled anxiety you probably wouldn’t even feel if some psycho held you at gunpoint, as I was telling Norma when she recommended I get my heart checked every 6 months if I don’t take statins, due to the family history. I told her I was getting stress-tested soon.

The traffic was a nightmare, and there sure are some angry people in Cali. We pulled into the parking lot of Jack-in-the-Box when this vehicle suddenly stops right in front of us. I was in the midst of asking Tom why they stopped when this youngish plump blonde storms out of the passenger side and runs around to the driver (who I never did see) and starts screaming at them. Even though people don’t scare me easily, I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be the one she was screaming at. This bitch was livid as hell.

So I got the burger and fries I promised myself I would get after the lab and felt just awful afterward. Not much heartburn but I felt so sluggish and just yucky overall. The experience reminded me of part of why I went vegan. Initially, I did it to lower my cholesterol never knowing just how much better I would feel not to mention wonderfully regular. Never thought I would say this, but veganism is definitely the way to go. Makes me kind of pissed to know I loaded up on practically a year’s worth of meaty TV dinners. It was a stupid thing to do that I’m sure to regret, especially since I didn’t crave or miss meat nearly as much as I thought I would. Once it’s gone I’m only going to have meat at fast food joints, which I only visit once or twice a month if even that. Fruits, veggies, beans, rice, yogurt… that’s the way to go. Not meat, cheese, sugar, pasta, or bread. No salty snacks either, although sometimes I do give in to popcorn.

The vampire said red meats and citrus were good after having blood drawn. I was so hungry that I felt a little dizzy after the blood was drawn being on an empty stomach and all that. And oh, how grumpy I felt! Hunger makes me grumpier than PMS at its worst. He said the body produces something like 2 million red blood cells an hour, so I guess my body’s long since replaced the lost blood.

The Caddy has a fake convertible roof, which started to tear off and look really ugly, so he glued it back down with gorilla glue.

He has to work tomorrow, which both sucks and doesn’t suck. He doesn’t have as much free time as he’d like, but it’s more money.