Thursday, February 7, 2008

Avoidance

I gave blood again today. My least favorite part is when they prick your finger to test the hemoglobin count. Hate that. The guy took my pulse right after and it was a little high. I thought, "Duh, you just pricked my finger and made it bleed. That made me unhappy." Five minutes later he took my pulse again and it was fine. Yeah, I get over finger pricks pretty fast. Amazing, huh?

When I finished giving blood, I had four elderly volunteers hovering around me because they thought I was going to pass out. What they didn't know was that my semi-wobbly walk from the cot to the snack table was caused by arthritis in my knees plus cold, somewhat damp weather. Dry warmth is a lot kinder to me. After they plied me with water and cookies, I finally figured out why they were concerned and told them the cause. That made them all relax and they went back to work. Have to admit, it was kind of funny to see these four frail women staring at me with fearful eyes when I had absolutely no idea why. I felt fine. Still do, but don't tell me that.

Why "don't tell me?" I should be working on the next part of the Supergirl story I'm posting on my Comic Books Revisted blog, but I'm copping out with the ole "I'm a pint low" excuse. Yeah, one part of my brain is trying to snow another part of my brain. The sad thing is, it's working.

I also need to do my taxes, but I hate working with numbers. So I'm avoiding that, too.

And finally, I'm avoiding editing my novel because it's tricky and difficult. I'm turning it from Romantic Suspense into a Suspense Thriller and that means tough decisions have to be made at almost every line, especially since I need to cut nearly 20,000 words from the thing. It's a daunting task.

I guess I need to chuck this avoidance behavior and get my nose back to the grindstone. The pint low excuse has a statute of limitations. It is never allowable on any day but donor day. So tomorrow, it's back to work.

6 comments:

F.S. said...

I'm bummed because I'm ineligible to donate blood for a year because of my New Year's trip to Mexico. (Like you, I'm normally a by-the-calendar donor.) According to the Red Cross, the place we stayed is considered a CDC malaria zone, though it was so cold that I'm certain the mosquitos -- and probably the malaria parasites themselves -- had flown south to warmer climes.

So I'm trying to figure out what altruistic thing I should do in the meantime. Or if I should take this window of time to jump on the tattoo bandwagon.

Joanna Sandsmark said...

I'm not a fan of tattoos so I won't advocate that one, but I understand about feeling the need to do something to "give back" to society. There are so many rules about what you can and cannot do in order to donate. In the big picture, it's good because the chances of having tainted blood are much less. But in individual cases you can wish they weren't so strict.

Becky Mushko said...

Blood test hint: The next time they want to stick your finger, make sure they use the side of your fingertip, not the pad. A lot less nerve endings in the side make a big difference.

Joanna Sandsmark said...

Actually, that's exactly what I asked for. And although he poked the side, he did the poking with gusto. Even on the side, I hate that finger poking part of giving blood.

But it's a very good tip for others, so thanks, Becky!

Anonymous said...

I feel like a heel, but I laughed all the way this funny story about your misery and pain. ;D And can I tell you how pleased I am to see that even real writers get the blues and will do almost anything to avoid workin' on the very project they couldn't refuse? Heh. ;)

Joanna Sandsmark said...

Yup, happens to all of us. I just glanced at the book list next to the comments and saw that Yo Meow Ma is listed for 19 cents by a vendor on Amazon. Argh! That's just mean!