Okay, maybe I'll talk to you.
It has been a long day.
I did my usual Tuesday/Thursday wake up routine. I actually got to racquetball a little later than normal, not giving me the time to warm up by myself, only with others. I suppose that hindered my game a little. But not like it mattered. Today was probably the most fun I've had in that class all quarter. I played doubles with two of the better guys in the class and the coach. I actually played a pretty good game. My favorite part was that our coach was wearing a "Lennie Zalesky's Wrestling Camp" shirt. How cocky. But the games went well.
I had to cut off the game to get to my class. I was really sweaty, so Dr. Bulman commented. She's a nice lady. A good professor too. I'm learning, you see.
After that, it was the usual calm down, check out the internet, dry off my feet hour or so. After I sufficiently showered, etc, I went to Pita Pit to eat lunch. It was good. On the way back, I stopped in Watermelon Music. As I was entering the building, I heard a guy shouting at me. It turns out it was Yoav, a guy from my English class last year. He's a cool guy, just picking up some ethnic drums. Fun times.
Anyway, I came close to buying an accordion, yet logic struck me. Go home and make sure it's a good accordion. I will be back, Watermelon. You can count on that.
I got home just in time to change then bike to the Young Hall parking lot. There, I was picked up by Michael Lombardo, the guy performing the study. He went over everything that would be happening, then I went through and signed all the forms.
We finally arrived at the UC Davis Medical Center, specifically the Research Imaging Center. We went through some special doors, most of which were opened by him scanning an ID card, all of which had increasingly vibrant warnings about magnets.
I put my belongings and metal objects in a locker, then we headed over to the training room. The task was simple. A word was shown, belonging to one of four categories: Positive, Negative, Metal, or Fruit. There was also a question mark representing a mystery word. If the given word was outlined in orange, there was a 50% probability that the mystery word was in the same category. If it was outlined in blue, there was a 25% probability, or a random probability. So I just had to sit there and make guesses as to this unknown. Any confusion is due to my poor explanatory abilities; the task was really simple.
Once I was comfortable, I went to the waiting room for the other study to finish. Maybe 20 minutes later, we went in.
The magnet was huge. I didn't realize that until I was out, but it was enormous, with a huge GE symbol at the top. I first had to put in earplugs since it makes loud noises, then a Vitamin E pill was taped to my right forehead to indicate which side is which. I hopped up on the little tray and they put pillows and cushions all around my head, then the little brace. The part that made me nervous was that they only put markers for me to feel where my head is when it's still, not braces to make sure I didn't move. So I was really good at not moving at all.
The did a few structural scans, taking 30 seconds, 90 seconds, and 3 minutes. Then they did the tests 3 times, each taking about 20 mintues. Then they took a high resolution full scan, taking 9 minutes. By the end, I was pretty much paralyzed. It was good to move again.
It was cool getting to check out my brain. All the right parts were there and I looked pretty healthy. Well, from what I could tell.
The ride back was just as exciting as the ride there. By that, I mean not very.
Settling down, I played my trumpet, then went to eat dinner. I was wondering where everybody was, but then I realized that they had a hockey game. So I went to Chipotle by myself. It was good.
Around 8 or so, I went over to Melissa and Mei-Ling's place to study for Psychology. It turns out they live at their Sorority house. That was a big letdown. They were pretty much the only ones there. It was dark and lonely. I suppose that set the theme for studying. Meaning, I read through my notes, then realized both girls had left the room. In short, not much studying took place. But I did manage to borrow one of their books so I could have it for a day. Oh, the chances that I'll use it are slim, but hey. I no longer can say that I don't have the book.
Since getting back, I have yet to be productive. I take that back. I spent about half an hour doing my Greek homework. But I really should get going. I have an even bigger day tomorrow.
I did my usual Tuesday/Thursday wake up routine. I actually got to racquetball a little later than normal, not giving me the time to warm up by myself, only with others. I suppose that hindered my game a little. But not like it mattered. Today was probably the most fun I've had in that class all quarter. I played doubles with two of the better guys in the class and the coach. I actually played a pretty good game. My favorite part was that our coach was wearing a "Lennie Zalesky's Wrestling Camp" shirt. How cocky. But the games went well.
I had to cut off the game to get to my class. I was really sweaty, so Dr. Bulman commented. She's a nice lady. A good professor too. I'm learning, you see.
After that, it was the usual calm down, check out the internet, dry off my feet hour or so. After I sufficiently showered, etc, I went to Pita Pit to eat lunch. It was good. On the way back, I stopped in Watermelon Music. As I was entering the building, I heard a guy shouting at me. It turns out it was Yoav, a guy from my English class last year. He's a cool guy, just picking up some ethnic drums. Fun times.
Anyway, I came close to buying an accordion, yet logic struck me. Go home and make sure it's a good accordion. I will be back, Watermelon. You can count on that.
I got home just in time to change then bike to the Young Hall parking lot. There, I was picked up by Michael Lombardo, the guy performing the study. He went over everything that would be happening, then I went through and signed all the forms.
We finally arrived at the UC Davis Medical Center, specifically the Research Imaging Center. We went through some special doors, most of which were opened by him scanning an ID card, all of which had increasingly vibrant warnings about magnets.
I put my belongings and metal objects in a locker, then we headed over to the training room. The task was simple. A word was shown, belonging to one of four categories: Positive, Negative, Metal, or Fruit. There was also a question mark representing a mystery word. If the given word was outlined in orange, there was a 50% probability that the mystery word was in the same category. If it was outlined in blue, there was a 25% probability, or a random probability. So I just had to sit there and make guesses as to this unknown. Any confusion is due to my poor explanatory abilities; the task was really simple.
Once I was comfortable, I went to the waiting room for the other study to finish. Maybe 20 minutes later, we went in.
The magnet was huge. I didn't realize that until I was out, but it was enormous, with a huge GE symbol at the top. I first had to put in earplugs since it makes loud noises, then a Vitamin E pill was taped to my right forehead to indicate which side is which. I hopped up on the little tray and they put pillows and cushions all around my head, then the little brace. The part that made me nervous was that they only put markers for me to feel where my head is when it's still, not braces to make sure I didn't move. So I was really good at not moving at all.
The did a few structural scans, taking 30 seconds, 90 seconds, and 3 minutes. Then they did the tests 3 times, each taking about 20 mintues. Then they took a high resolution full scan, taking 9 minutes. By the end, I was pretty much paralyzed. It was good to move again.
It was cool getting to check out my brain. All the right parts were there and I looked pretty healthy. Well, from what I could tell.
The ride back was just as exciting as the ride there. By that, I mean not very.
Settling down, I played my trumpet, then went to eat dinner. I was wondering where everybody was, but then I realized that they had a hockey game. So I went to Chipotle by myself. It was good.
Around 8 or so, I went over to Melissa and Mei-Ling's place to study for Psychology. It turns out they live at their Sorority house. That was a big letdown. They were pretty much the only ones there. It was dark and lonely. I suppose that set the theme for studying. Meaning, I read through my notes, then realized both girls had left the room. In short, not much studying took place. But I did manage to borrow one of their books so I could have it for a day. Oh, the chances that I'll use it are slim, but hey. I no longer can say that I don't have the book.
Since getting back, I have yet to be productive. I take that back. I spent about half an hour doing my Greek homework. But I really should get going. I have an even bigger day tomorrow.
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