Doug Thompson Leadership Camp (Part II)

I decided to post some pictures of the trip to West Virginia for the annual Doug Thompson Leadership Camp.  Enjoy

Saturday: Evening Arrival

Awesome Ultimate Frisbee where many injuries occurred

Lance's Burnt Pudgie Pie

 Sunday: Canopy Tour

Morning Chow to prep for the big Canopy Tour

A good way to get injured right before a cool day

Awaiting our fateHigh above the trees

Jeffro

Monday: White Water Rafting

Fearless Leader: ChadThe Mystery Hole?Gabe, Eddy, Jeffro, Will, Ryan, Chad, Michael, Dr. Greist

Tuesday: Ride Home

Exciting!It got to me too!

The annual Chinese buffet visit

The End

Doug Thompson Leadership Camp 2008

Today is my first day back from the Doug Thomson Leadership Camp in West Virginia.  I was reviewing the photos from the trip and I have determined that whenever a camera flashes I turn into a complete idiot.  It’s like I have an epileptic seizure for that split second and I go back to normal when the flash disappears. 

Anyway, the trip was completely awesome and I would love to do it again.  I hope they ask me to do it again next year because I would love to do it.

#2 Worst Date Ever

Last night was yet another defining moment in the life of John.  I met with a young lady who I had previously met at a friend’s wedding.  If anyone has read the previous posting they would know that I called her by the wrong name on the dance floor.  Anyway, I managed to get together with her, where we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse.  I wasn’t sure how to approach this situation because texting was the only form of communication besides one short phone call.  Was it a date or just “hanging out?”  Well, I wanted it to be a date simply because I haven’t been on one in such a long time.  I followed suit by purchasing flowers to give to her, I drove from 45 minutes away to pick her up, and I paid for the dinner/dessert.  I don’t think she was looking for a date, and that was the starting of a long, uncomfortable ride.  I knew as soon as I gave her the flowers that she just wasn’t into me like that.  Wishing at that moment that flowers were the sign of the end of the date and not the beginning, I didn’t realize that it would all be over in just an hour and a half anyway.

If we were just hanging out, it was one of the worst “hang outs” that I have had in a long time but that can be explained by the misdirected notion that I thought it was actually a date.  If for some odd reason she thought it was a date, then it ranks as #2 on the worst date experiences list beat only by a date that lasted only about an hour because I told my incredibly incompatible (but hot) date that I had to go home and sleep.  I have never had that hard of a time trying to get someone to talk.  I felt like I was blabbing on and on about myself the whole time.  When she was asked about her life and things she likes, she gave me real simple answers.  It was like pulling teeth to get her to talk and the awkward silence between each corny little question didn’t help.

I was pretty nervous going into the evening, and the tension continually raised as the night went on.  Swallows of saliva lumped down my throat, and trembles shuttered through my fingertips from anxiety.  She walked way in front of me everywhere we went.  And when people she knew started greeting her at the Roadhouse she seemed ashamed.  Finally dinner wasn’t punishment enough I just had to take her out for ice cream afterwards.  One hour and 30 minutes later it was all over.

I just want to thank the beautiful Stephanie/Jennifer (Stephaner) for the wonderful evening, and making it another memorable story.  Unfortunately, our different views on the evening were drastically different.  It makes a top ten worst date experience when one person thinks it’s a date and the other person doesn’t share the same desire.  That plus me looking like an idiot helps!

Black Market Blood Products

On a muggy July evening, I discovered something that I never would have dreamt in a million years.  I was sitting in the back seat of a silver car, when we pulled up to the front of an apartment building.  There were no street lights around so the lighting was dim.  A gentleman wearing black clothes and a shaved head approached the car with two Ziplock bags in hand.  His elbows leaned up against the window during the whole transaction.  Nonchalantly the front seat passenger handed him $80 in exchange for the two baggies.  The clear bags had small white boxes in them, and they were stuffed full with about ten or twelve boxes combined.

I knew it wasn’t illegal drugs like weed or coke in the bags.  It wasn’t until I was introduced to the man in black as a fellow hemophiliac that I realized what was traded was a couple bags of Kogenate, a blood clotting product.  I had just witnessed a black market transaction of recombinant Factor.

For those who aren’t familiar with hemophilia and the healthcare costs, hemophilia is second only to multiple sclerosis in costs of healthcare coverage, ranging upwards to $200,000 per year, assuming nothing is wrong physically.  And I came to find out later in the evening that the man receiveing the products had just lost his job and his insurance.  I was under the impression that there were many programs in the state of Indiana that allowed hemophiliacs to continue to receive Factor even if insurance was not available, but I guess he had already exhausted most of those options.  It is just too expensive to go those routes despite Indiana being one of the best states to live in if you have hemophilia.

All I have to say is that this really sucks.  I could gripe and moan about how society has messed up because we concentrate more on leaving no child behind but can’t provide honest healthcare for everyone, but I don’t think that will help me this time.  I hate to see people hurt and he was really in need of this Factor.  He was icing his swollen ankle the whole time we were over at his place, and he in infused as soon as we got back.  It sometimes sucks to be a bleeder!!

A Text from an Angel

I got it!

Finally, a response from all my hard work.  After countless “no’s” and endless shut-down’s, a text chimed in at 2:43pm on Sunday afternoon with a positive gesture.  “hey i think i have sun night or tuesday night off work if u still wanna hang out.”  Could I be so lucky?  What was it that I said that makes her want to hang out with this goober.  It doesn’t make sense to me.  I am way too excited to even type this “progress report.”

New Living

I bought a couch this week on my day off.  I also spent a little money on my apartment to kind of decorate it up a little bit.  It was looking pretty drab, which is nothing new to me.  My bedroom when I lived at home was a gray-walled prison cell with dark confetti carpet and the very bed on which I was conceived to lie on.  Anyway, this is my new cocoon!!

Man seeking Women to Bear my Offspring

Well, yet another story to convey to my faithful readers.

I had met an officer for the excise police who was really cool.  We exchanged information and I received a phone call from her about a question she had for me.  The call went straight to voicemail and I didn’t receive a notification for some reason.  Probably because Verizon is totally gay.  Nevertheless, I didn’t get the voicemail until after my four day weekend from work.  Since I met her through work and thought the issue was work related, I thought I would wait until Monday to return her call.  Monday and Tuesday passed by and I didn’t remember to return her call.

Last night, a week and a half later, she called me back.  Unfortunately I was swimming in the pool outside my apartment and again it went to voicemail.  The tone in her voice revealed resentment and frustration.  Dripping in highly chlorinated and sunblock-enriched water, I returned her call amidst scores of screaming kids.  When she answered I gave her the situation and she understood. 

She told me that she had a question to ask but she already kind of knew the answer.  She asked me point blank if I was married and that she had a friend that she wanted to hook me up with.  She could hear the kids screaming in the background and assumed they were my kids.  Little did she know that I can’t even hold on to a serious relationship let alone find a women that is willing to bear my offspring. 

To make a short story long, she told me her friends story and wants to set us up.  I already know that I don’t like the idea of meeting someone with certain expectations without ever seeing them.  I gave her my email anyway and hopefully she will email me.