Ugh. Two days in a row of feeling like an utter CRANK!! Thank God it is Friday. The sky is all stormy which I love. Rarely do we get thundershowers here in Seattle, but the weather is like that today. Jay called me earlier this afternoon because it was actually HAILING up where we live. My step-dad is a hail crop adjustor. I always have to explain what this job is. He goes out to farms and other sights to assess damage to crops from hail and reports back to the insurance company he works for. He mainly only does this during the summer. The fact that he would often where combat boots (left over from his stint with the army) reminds me of a story about a skinhead named Joey. Once Upon a time in the Land of High School, a smelly, scabby skinhead named Joey spent the night at my house (along w/some of my other friends and other "Decatur fucks" as we called the out-of-towners in to see a show as Channing Murray). My parents were out of town and when Joey saw my dad's combat boots sitting in the hallway he says very drunkenly "Whoa! Is like your dad an Oi or somethun'??" My dad is the anti-Oi. Anyways..I thought it was funny!! Here is something I learned when I called the reference desk of the Seattle Public Library inquiring about the history of the hypodermic needle/syringe (I had heard this trivia quiz question at Murphy's Irish Pub Tuesday Pub Quiz). The question was "When the hypodermic syringe was first invented, what was it used for and what kind of injections were given?"

Well, I had no idea of course. I thought, hmmm...embalming fluid, perhaps? According to "Famous First Facts" (thank you nice library man!) The hypodermic needle/syringe was invented around 1835 by a french doctor (Charles French Last name I can't spell)

who specialized in orthopedics. Originally the tip was made of silver and the plunger end wasn't developed at this point so one would turn a screw that was part of the syringe in order to get the injectable liquid flowing. It was first used to inject feric chloride into aneurysms to help blood clotting.

Fascinating, yes?? I thought so. I'd love to have an old medical textbook (say from like 1801). I could read for hours in that!!

Well, I'm done for today! Aufwiedersehen!!

do the jerk * do the frug