contrast

I Have Excellent Veins

Fandango50 Comments

I suppose this could have been posted for yesterday’s The Monday Peeve from Paula Light because what I’m about to share with you happened yesterday afternoon. But I was in no mood to write this post yesterday afternoon because I was too pissed off. Look at this picture.

Yes, that’s my arm. The inside of my elbow, actually. And that’s what it looked like when I got home from having an MRI with contrast. Why was I getting an MRI? Well, when I had my annual physical exam — my first “annual” physical exam since 2019 thanks to all this COVID crap — my doctor said that my blood test showed that my PSA count was high. PSA is a protein made by the prostate gland. The amount of PSA may be higher in men who have prostate cancer.

During my physical, my doctor gave me a prostate exam. I won’t get into graphic details, but having a doctor stick his finger up your butt is not only mortifying, it’s very uncomfortable. After completing his finger in my butt exam, he said, “As I thought, your prostate is enlarged and I want you to get an MRI.”

I’m really not worried about having an elevated PSA, nor even about having an enlarged prostate. The prostate is gland about the size and shape of a walnut. It tends to grow larger with age. And I’m an old man. So no big deal. But, it’s also not uncommon for men to develop prostate cancer, which is why my doctor wanted me to get an MRI. You know — just in case.

Anyway, because my doctor wanted the MRI with contrast, they had to put an IV in my arm in order to inject the contrast medium into my bloodstream so that it would show up in the MRI. And having an IV didn’t concern me at all because I have excellent veins.

Whenever I’ve had to have blood drawn, or have donated blood to the Red Cross, or have had IVs before, there’s never been a problem because I have such good veins. Medical technicians have complimented me on my veins. One even told me my veins are “beautiful” and that she wished everyone had veins like mine.

But this guy who tried to find my vein yesterday in order to get the IV in my arm before the MRI was a fucking butcher. He stuck the needle in my arm and was having trouble finding my beautiful vein. So he started moving the needle around, pushing it in further, pulling it out a bit. Then he pulled it out of my arm completely and said he’d try again with a different needle.

Are you fucking kidding me? This can’t be happening. My veins are goddam beautiful. He tried again. And failed again. “Maybe you can see if someone else can properly insert the IV, you fucktard,” I said. (Okay, I didn’t actually say “you fucktard,” but I thought it very loudly).

But he said, “Third time’s a charm,” and went back in. This time he finally succeeded and the MRI proceeded without further incident.

When I got back home and looked at my bruised and bloodied arm, I decided then and there to write an angry post about my trauma. Trauma that should never have happened because I have excellent fucking veins.

Who Won The Week? 05/17/2020

Fandango16 Comments

10CC3057-4EEA-4C80-B8C1-700C0FC6C906It’s time for another Who Won the Week prompt. The idea behind Who Won the Week is for you to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

This week was an easy one for me. Last night, as part of a star-studded, nationwide televised show dedicated to the graduating class of 2020, former U.S. President Barack Obama made a short, seven-minute commencement speech to the graduating class.

How refreshing it was to hear an articulate, intelligent, compassionate, competent, world leader talking to the youth of America, inspiring them to come together and to work hard to restore their country to its full potential. What a remarkable contrast it was to almost every speech given by the inarticulate, incompetent, narcissistic buffoon who took Obama’s place in the Oval Office.

So this week, Barack Obama is The Who Won the Week designation. He was a perfect reminder of how things were in America and how they could be once again.

And now it’s your turn, folks. Who (or what) do you think won the week?

FOWC with Fandango — Contrast

Fandango44 Comments

FOWCWelcome to November 29, 2018 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “contrast.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.

SoCS — Compare and Contrast

Fandango9 Comments

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For this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt, Linda G. Hill wants us to use the word “contrast” in our posts.

I can remember when I was in high school and college receiving writing assignments asking me to “compare and contrast” two or more somethings, like items, opinions, beliefs, or philosophies. My first reaction to such an assignment was typically something like, “Well, which do you want me to do, compare them or contrast them?”

After all, while “compare” and “contrast” are similar in that you’re looking at and evaluating things, they are not synonymous. To contrast something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but to compare something is to do the opposite, to look for similarities.

Let me give you a quick and simple illustration of “compare and contrast” by doing so with dogs and cats.

How dogs and cats compare (or are similar): both are household pets that are furry.

How dogs and cats contrast (or are different): A dog looks at you and thinks to himself, “You feed me, you shelter me, you love me. YOU must be God!” A cat looks at you and thinks to himself, “You feed me, you shelter me, you love me. I must be God!”

I hope that helps.