Thoughts on Fainting

At some point, probably around my 11th grade blood drive, I started passing out from time to time. I would like to blame it on needles, but there have been many shots that have turned out just fine. Today, I had yet another one of these lovely little moments, and this is the first time I ever did it in front of the Boy. He was sitting a nurse cubicle away, and when I woke up he was right there with 2 other nurses and another doctorish guy with phlegm in the title (??). It scared him enough that I got a milkshake AND a cookie over it!

Fainting as a process is really odd, because by the time you realize it is happening, it is basically over. At least for me, I start to feel heavy and light-headed at the same time. Then, my hearing starts to get tunnel-y. I think the tunnel thing is the best metaphor, but its a tunnel where you never notice the walls coming in until after it is all over. My thoughts get louder and suddenly I am really really sure I need water. This is my real problem, because it never fails I try to find some and this is when I pass out, usually on hard bathroom or kitchen surfaces.

There is some transition between that part and the actual passing out that i have no consciousness of and never remember. Then I dream something that is really wonderful and pleasant. I never remember these dreams long after I wake up, but I always wake up feeling happy and slightly annoyed I am back. I don't know why, but I find this part of fainting really comforting. The part everyone worries about actually feels like a relief. I kind of imagine that's what death feels like (the Boy HATES when I say that, but it is always on my mind on days like these).

So the fainting part is actually not bad at all, but the waking up part is the worst because everyone fusses over you. Today was especially bad because they kept checking my blood pressure and made me lay on the floor with my legs up in a dress. I at least had the presence of mind to pray no one from the Boy's job came in, or I'd embarrass him. I just feel guilty because all these people are running around fetching me things and checking my skin color (it's really alright people, I am truly always this pale), when they could just keep checking Microsoft employees and getting on with their day. The program is basically the same whether I am alone or not- you lay there until you feel good enough to get up. Then, you hopefully don't puke. Then you lay around the rest of the day, musing on why exactly you do this in the first place, which is about where i am now.

I kind of think I am just squeamish. The doctors today thought I was maybe anemic and the phlegm guy was concerned I was starting a seizure, but he was just pushing it to the limit. Some mix of anemic (since I don't eat nuts or most red meat) and dehydrated/ squeamish sounds like the answer to me. But I promised Dr. Phlegm that I would get a doctor's appointment to actually check it out, so why not?

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Thoughts on Bed and Breakfasting (Or "We Just Aren't that Grown Up Yet")

 

This weekend, the Boy and I  headed up to (very) Northern California to see Redwood National Forests. We wanted to do something different, so we decided to stay at the Lost Whale Inn. It is a Bed and Breakfast which is right on the water in Trinidad. I am not sure I have ever, at least definitely not in my adult life, stayed in a Bed and Breakfast, so these are my thoughts on the whole experience.

We had to drive up to Trinidad from the city, and since we left just in time for rush hour, it took us about 7 hours. By the time we got to the B and B it was super dark, so it felt like we were just down some barren dark road. Our room was pretty little, but it was super cute and decorated in all sort of whale stuff. Clearly, whale decor is needed for a good time.

 

The next morning we woke up to a really pretty view. We were pumped for the breakfast, which is apparently why the place has such a great  reputation. It was super delicious- have you ever had peach cobbler? That shiz is delicious! Also, I have never gotten the appeal of scones- they are dry and chalky, but these ones had fresh raspberries which were awesome.

Despite the deliciosity of the breakfast, this is about the moment where we realized that perhaps Bed and Breakfast living is not for us. Do you know they expect you to  mingle? We had to share a table with another family and everyone wants to talk to everyone else. Oh boy. We were both horrified, because talking to strangers is like the least relaxing thing in the world. Don't get me wrong, we always meet people when we travel, and I generally like people. But the conversation just lasts as long as it lasts. This is more like the beginning of church camp, where you are mingling with people you are going to see the whole freaking time!

 

But did I mention how cute the room was?

 

And this is  the view from our window. It was so pretty and serene. A very different kind of beach view. You certainly complain about this, which I think is why some of the people there just kind of hang out there all day.

 

Before we headed out to see some trees, we wanted to check out the private path to the beach that the Inn's website talked about. We even heard July was the time of year where baby seals are around, so we weren't going to miss that.

 

The path was way more hardcore than we expected, and in the last 80 feet or so you have to climb down a ladder to get there. We felt like action heroes!

 

Then, suddenly you are at this gorgeous beach (it was really foggy all day which I loved). 

 

I don't have any pictures that really show it, but there were families of seals out on some of the rocks. It was very rocky, but it was just gorgeous, so I think the time we spent on the beach was worth the whole trip. And even if we winced every time the tire salesman tried to tell us about Jesus (we told him we were Episcopalean like 5 times!)- also, this is true and not an exageration or caricature.When you add in the scones, all in all it was good.

 

More pretty beach shots. 

 

Seriously! It was that good!

 

This is the Boy getting ready to master the rope ladder back up. The hike was probably 20-25 minutes, and it was so steep heading back up! It kicked our butt before we even got started!We didn't realize how tough it would be, so I feel like they should warn people more emphatically. I feel like the average age of the guests (there are only like 20 at a time) has to be 50 or so, and that is a really tough path.

At 4, the B and B has a tea time, but shucks we missed that. We were back to the Lost Whale Inn around 6:30 and a lot of the guests were all sitting out on the back porch drinking wine and talking. We friendly waved and briefly chatted about taking a lot of their advice of where to go (another plus, I guess). Then we stole a bunch of the tea time food (also delicious, but I think we can safely mark this as a less mature route than just being friendly while we eat our chocolate strawberries and asparagus toast and such). We hid in our room to eat, and it was so good we snuck down to steal more.

 

The next morning we sat with another family for breakfast, but the conversation just kept stalling. Does anyone else feel like they just run out of questions when talking to someone else? I do not have enough skills at this, and being a grad student, I find awkward silence sucks the life out of me. I didn't even feel comfortable taking a picture of our breakfast!  They wanted to talk about the massages they got the day before, but I am sorry, how much is there to be said about massages? Yes, they were great and relaxing. Isn't that nice. Blerg strangers! Why won't you let me change the topic when there is nothing left to say about how nice massages are!

 

We came back up to our room to pack up and the Boy wrote in their cutesy guest book.  It was about how we named all the whales, and if you thought they had different names you were a fool. Then we drew this picture. 

So my final thought is that we need to be more competent adults to appreciate all of the pluses of staying somewhere bed and breakfasty. Maybe I need to have a greater appreciation of massages, but I dont like staying still on trips. We are always there to explore! So, we probably won't do that one again until we master the art of conversation, learn to drink lots of wine, and stop hiding from strangers who want to talk to us. But we loved the peach cobbler, the beach, and the coziness of the room. So I feel like we failed the Lost Whale Inn, but the Lost Whale in did not fail us.

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The Ethics of Where You Spend Your Money

from https://www.facebook.com/ChickfilANB

  There has been a ton of news to come out in the last week that I genuinely have some opinions on, but I am going to start here and see what is still relevant.

I am pretty sure that I don't need to reiterate the recent Chick-fil-A dramas, basically people noticed that President Dan Cathy was giving good chunks of money to anti-gay marriage causes. Then to add insult to injury, he spoke out in support of "traditional marriage" (I have heard the argument that this is somehow not homophobic, but truly I am not convinced. Even a little- much like being "pro-life" it is about shorthanding people who are not like you by taking away their rights, therefore maintaining your own privilege. It is also, for lack of a better word, ignorant). Though I could not disagree more with Cathy's politics, I think something good happened here, and I wish it happened more. 

By being outspoken about his beliefs, Cathy let the consumer know exactly what they were getting with their chicken. The often ignored truth of late captialism is that every choice we make of what to buy comes with all sorts of ideological baggage. Chick-Fil-A and its president has every right to articulate their opinions and lend monetary support their ideals (also, didn't their politics come up before? I know I gave them up in college for some reason that wasn't just because I don't think their product is particularly good). I as a consumer have the right to give them absolutely none of my money ever and encourage other people to do so. Super conservative consumers have the right to eat as much mediocre chicken as they want in honor of traditional marriage. This is democracy a la capitalism, and truly there is nothing wrong with it.

(At the same time, there is also a way for businesses to respect the politics of all their consumers and not put their money into political causes which will frankly be embarrassing hopefully 10 years from now)

What this reminds us all of, no matter what are politics are, is to put our money into ideologies we can live with. The most effective way to do this is buy local- the more you can look into the face of the person you are buying from, the better chance you have of making truly ethical purchases. Obviously, this isn't a fail proof plan- any crazy pants can still open a stand at a farmer's market, but te odds are a lot better. Yes, sometimes things are cheaper if you buy them from large chain stores or restaurants, but you have to honestly ask yourself how they keep prices low, and a big answer to this is not paying their labor sufficiently or treating them right, which is pretty much the definition of unethical production.  

The other really easy way to edit your consumption is start being more selective in your content- sick of only seeing ridiculous skinny waifs as the ideal of women? Stop buying magazines like Marie Claire, which is especially heinous in its shaming of women who aren't white rich and skinny. Frustrated by the portrayal of race and gender? Stop going to movies where there are only white men as the top 5 leads. Send the message that the movies don't get your attention. 

On the other hand, figuring out where companies put your money after you hand it over can be trickier- but this is what i have found out:

If you don't want to funnel your money into  anti-gay marriage groups (or if you do- it's America! You have a choice!), I wouldn't shop at Salvation Army, Target (they are especially awful, and you can read about their conflicts pretty easily online), Walmart, Exxon, Auto-Zone, Brown-Forman (who makes Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort), Cinemark, Domino's, Walmart, and Urban Outfitters.

If you want to support businesses which are taking a stand for gay marriage, I would shop at (or buy, some of these are products not stores) JC Penney, Oreos, Levi's, Microsoft, Starbucks, EA Games, General Mills, Betty Crocker, and the Home Depot. 

If you want to avoid companies with racist politics, do not shop at Lowe's! 

Another choice you can make is to try to avoid stores that still use sweatshops, because no matter whether you are conservative or liberal, if you are a Christian, you should support companies that treat their employees with dignity and kindness. So these are a few that you might want to avoid-  
Walmart (are you noticing how they are on all of these lists- I truly believe that the Waltons are pure evil. They are not right), TopShop, Nike, Starbucks, Disney. Some companies, like the Gap, dramatically changed their policies in the last five years based on pressure about how they were treating their workers, but I would still be thoughtful and look into the places where you are shopping. 

I mean, this is a lot of information. And the longer you look into it, the more depressing it gets, but it is something you HAVE to do. No matter what your politics are! It's called being a good steward in this world.

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