Friday, December 26, 2008
Over
I am SO thankful this semester is finally over I got home and decided to weigh all of the books that I had to read in 3 months – the total weight came to 28.2 lbs! Ironically, reading this much doesn’t make you feel smarter, but does make you more confused...
Friday, August 22, 2008
LASIK
Disclaimer – do not read if you are scared of surgeries!!!
So I finally got brave enough to trust my eyes to the spine-chilling procedure of the laser vision correction. To be specific, my surgery was called a PRK (photo refractive keratectomy) and it slightly differs from LASIK because there is no corneal cut-and-flap (instead, the doctor puts a metal ring and burns off the top part of the cornea with alcohol and removes it with a brush). The whole surgery on both eyes took total of 9 minutes!! Here’s what happened:
1)Before surgery I took a nerve-calming pill and waited for 45 minutes for it to work (it gave me a few yawns, but I was still awake and VERY scared)
2)A nurse walked me to the surgery room and I laid flat with my eyes directly under the laser (which looks like a huge metal torture machine with a blinking red spot)
3)Nurse put anesthetic drops in my eyes.
4)Doctor entered the room (I had hard times staying still on the table and not running away ahead of my screams at that point)
5)Nurse showed me the eye-opening tool (literally!!) – it looked like a small pair of tons with hooks for the eyes – yes, like a typical torture instrument)
6)The doctor ordered told me to stay still and put a sticky tape on my eye lids first, then open the eyes by pilling on the tape and sticking the eye-opener in.
7)Burnt the top layer of cornea.
8)Did 30-second laser.
9)Put anti-cancerous medication on the eye (30 seconds)
10)Put a contact lens (as a patch)
11)Removed the eye-opened (THANK GOD!)
12)Repeated with the other eye
To summarize, I am SO happy that I got this done! Yes, this was very scary to go through, but it is great. The only regret I have is not doing this about five years ago.
So I finally got brave enough to trust my eyes to the spine-chilling procedure of the laser vision correction. To be specific, my surgery was called a PRK (photo refractive keratectomy) and it slightly differs from LASIK because there is no corneal cut-and-flap (instead, the doctor puts a metal ring and burns off the top part of the cornea with alcohol and removes it with a brush). The whole surgery on both eyes took total of 9 minutes!! Here’s what happened:
1)Before surgery I took a nerve-calming pill and waited for 45 minutes for it to work (it gave me a few yawns, but I was still awake and VERY scared)
2)A nurse walked me to the surgery room and I laid flat with my eyes directly under the laser (which looks like a huge metal torture machine with a blinking red spot)
3)Nurse put anesthetic drops in my eyes.
4)Doctor entered the room (I had hard times staying still on the table and not running away ahead of my screams at that point)
5)Nurse showed me the eye-opening tool (literally!!) – it looked like a small pair of tons with hooks for the eyes – yes, like a typical torture instrument)
6)The doctor ordered told me to stay still and put a sticky tape on my eye lids first, then open the eyes by pilling on the tape and sticking the eye-opener in.
7)Burnt the top layer of cornea.
8)Did 30-second laser.
9)Put anti-cancerous medication on the eye (30 seconds)
10)Put a contact lens (as a patch)
11)Removed the eye-opened (THANK GOD!)
12)Repeated with the other eye
To summarize, I am SO happy that I got this done! Yes, this was very scary to go through, but it is great. The only regret I have is not doing this about five years ago.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Fat in Action
I am not just trying to be funny - this is a true story. A 400-pounder teaches an aerobics class and people say that he’s quite motivational…
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Mid-life crisis
People on Russian internet are discussing mid-life crisis right now. The story that opened that discussion was that a man went to work, and when he got back home his wife and his daughter have disappeared. The other things that disappeared were a chandelier, a piano, and their savings account. The wife never told him that she was unhappy. So now his burning question is “Can a mid-life crisis change people on a whim?”
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Intentional thinking
Have you noticed that if you start to think intentionally something or if you acquire a certain condition that changes your life (i. e. a disease of some kind) you start to notice people who have the same thing? When I was pregnant, I started to notice lots of other pregnant women. When I grew a long hair I started to notice other women with a long hair. When I wanted to get an eye correction surgery I started taking a note of others who’ve gone through it. Buddhists believe that our thoughts can materialize if we give them enough time and effort. Americans believe in the American Dream coming true. What are the things that YOU intentionally think about and notice?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Luggage story
I normally hate to listen to someone with a British accent but this guy is seriously funny. Enjoy!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Drugs, alcohol, abuse, and a happy July 4th
Nope, I am not referring to the Independence Day – but still July 4th is a GREAT reason to get drunk, spend $500 on fireworks and get thrown into jail for a domestic dispute – mainly because it is Sharon and Ozzy Osbournes’ wedding anniversary and people need to celebrate it!
I am late this year to saying Happy July 4th to Osbournes, but I still wanted to do it, and most of my honest and deepest congratulations go to Sharon Osbourne. I think that she has the best celebrity personality, and over the years of watching television (and comparing celebrities) she has definitely won my respect. Can you imagine being married to a person who looks like a devil, talks like a devil, sings like a devil, and acts like a devil? Yet, this has been Sharon’s reality for the last 26 years. When I put myself in her shoes – I just cannot imagine how I would manage that kind of life. I probably could put up with Ozzy (mostly because of his money) for a couple of years, then I would hit him on the head with a frying pan, and get a divorce. Amazingly enough, Sharon still says that she loves him. HOW??? She is able to love the most unlovable man I have ever seen in my life and that is what makes me to respect her so much.
So hats off to Sharon! If I was married to Ozzy, very soon my July 4th would turn from an Independence Day to the Day of Imprisonment। Sharon is a living proof that you can take any situation, any man, and any life and make it a happy place.
I am late this year to saying Happy July 4th to Osbournes, but I still wanted to do it, and most of my honest and deepest congratulations go to Sharon Osbourne. I think that she has the best celebrity personality, and over the years of watching television (and comparing celebrities) she has definitely won my respect. Can you imagine being married to a person who looks like a devil, talks like a devil, sings like a devil, and acts like a devil? Yet, this has been Sharon’s reality for the last 26 years. When I put myself in her shoes – I just cannot imagine how I would manage that kind of life. I probably could put up with Ozzy (mostly because of his money) for a couple of years, then I would hit him on the head with a frying pan, and get a divorce. Amazingly enough, Sharon still says that she loves him. HOW??? She is able to love the most unlovable man I have ever seen in my life and that is what makes me to respect her so much.
So hats off to Sharon! If I was married to Ozzy, very soon my July 4th would turn from an Independence Day to the Day of Imprisonment। Sharon is a living proof that you can take any situation, any man, and any life and make it a happy place.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
“An idiot’s dream has come true”
That is a well-known Russian phrase which can be used when speaking about the guy who tied helium-filled party balloons to his lawn chair and flew 234 miles from Oregon to Idaho। This flight cost $6,000!!! And this was his 3rd try… I wonder what his wife is thinking… Check it out on youtube.com! http://youtube.com/watch?v=tOqMBrTY89Q&feature=related
Saturday, July 5, 2008
A Happy Place
Have you heard of a happy place? No matter what’s going on in your life – there is a little part of your heart that is always happy – a memory of perfect content and bliss. Mine is on a sunny, white, sandy beach of the ocean. There is no past or future, no worries or regrets, no pain or hurt – it is just me and the ocean. OCEAN… Its waves sound like a mother whispering to calm her baby. Ocean…Ocean… Ocean…
Today we came back from Panama City Beach in Florida vacation and as I settled back at home I realized that I have already missed him – the ocean.
Some dark winter nights, when everything outside is covered with snow, and there is no escape from the cold and despair, I go to the ocean hidden in my soul. I imagine laying down on hot white sand, listening to the waves, watching for a sail boat on the horizon. As my cold lonely soul become warmer I know that I have arrived – at my happy place.
Today we came back from Panama City Beach in Florida vacation and as I settled back at home I realized that I have already missed him – the ocean.
Some dark winter nights, when everything outside is covered with snow, and there is no escape from the cold and despair, I go to the ocean hidden in my soul. I imagine laying down on hot white sand, listening to the waves, watching for a sail boat on the horizon. As my cold lonely soul become warmer I know that I have arrived – at my happy place.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Gross anatomy
Yesterday I participated in the autopsy of the victims of this shooting: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080625/ap_on_bi_ge/plant_shooting_25
The victim that I saw being cut open was a 29-year-old Hispanic male. He was short, slim typical Mexican-looking guy with a lot of pitch-black hair on his head and a small dark mustache that you would see washing dishes at a Mexican restaurant or on a top of a new house construction. A medical pathologist preformed the autopsy (not the coroner) and he was answering every anatomy question that I had. At the end he told me that this was a perfect body to cut up – there was absolutely nothing wrong with the man + he still had all of his anatomical parts such as appendix., gallbladder, both kidneys, clean lungs, healthy heart and so on. The only visible way to know that he was dead was a clear, deep, round gun-shot wound about ¼ inches in diameter on the side of his head.
It was a very tragic way to die – these guys (and 1 woman) just went to work on the 3rd shift and most of them were sitting in the break room when the shooter showed up. The guy that I was helping to cut had a defense wound on his hand and I was so very proud of him because I know I would also put up a fight before I die if someone was trying to attack me.
This man died just 9 hours before the autopsy and his body felt cold and stiff when I tried to unfold his fingers for the policeman to do fingerprinting. I was not afraid or disgusted of his poor little dead body – all I could think about was – there are living people out there who hate enough to reduce a person into a pile of dead meat.
The victim that I saw being cut open was a 29-year-old Hispanic male. He was short, slim typical Mexican-looking guy with a lot of pitch-black hair on his head and a small dark mustache that you would see washing dishes at a Mexican restaurant or on a top of a new house construction. A medical pathologist preformed the autopsy (not the coroner) and he was answering every anatomy question that I had. At the end he told me that this was a perfect body to cut up – there was absolutely nothing wrong with the man + he still had all of his anatomical parts such as appendix., gallbladder, both kidneys, clean lungs, healthy heart and so on. The only visible way to know that he was dead was a clear, deep, round gun-shot wound about ¼ inches in diameter on the side of his head.
It was a very tragic way to die – these guys (and 1 woman) just went to work on the 3rd shift and most of them were sitting in the break room when the shooter showed up. The guy that I was helping to cut had a defense wound on his hand and I was so very proud of him because I know I would also put up a fight before I die if someone was trying to attack me.
This man died just 9 hours before the autopsy and his body felt cold and stiff when I tried to unfold his fingers for the policeman to do fingerprinting. I was not afraid or disgusted of his poor little dead body – all I could think about was – there are living people out there who hate enough to reduce a person into a pile of dead meat.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Dangerous phones and friends
I was awakened by a phone ring at 7 am today. A handsome, polite, young male voice bid me a Good Morning and asked me if I got his pants ready for him. I checked myself to see if I was still sleeping, but the reality of a bright summer morning was definitely kicking in. I went on to explain to him that I was a homemaker and I didn’t make any pants. He lost interest in the conversation and excused himself. I was disappointed because I was imagining a very cute guy that I talked with and I was sad to loose him. I told about it to my husband and he said that should have told the man to come pick up his pants. We laughed and got in the car to go to Wal-Mart. We were almost at the Wal-Mart parking lot when I got another call. This time it was a middle-eastern man with a deep voice and a heavy accent – he also wanted to know where his pants were. This time my imagination was picturing someone looking like Ben Laden and I quickly told him that he had a wrong number. The man was asking for my name and I could not figure out if he was saying Irina or Elena (another very common Russian name). I decided to call one of my Russian friends from Evansville who has an alteration business and who’s name is Elena to tell her about my encounters (and to warn her about the crazy middle-eastern guy).
It turns out that she wrote my phone number next to her own cell phone number on a piece of paper that she usually keeps on the table under the glass when she does business – she keeps that numbers close so that she can easily give them out to clients. We laughed and said Good buy, but now I am wondering – who else is going to call me next about his pants?
It turns out that she wrote my phone number next to her own cell phone number on a piece of paper that she usually keeps on the table under the glass when she does business – she keeps that numbers close so that she can easily give them out to clients. We laughed and said Good buy, but now I am wondering – who else is going to call me next about his pants?
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