600 Miles in My Corolla Part 1

This weekend I'm attending my cousins wedding in Indiana, I live in Michigan so this turned into a little bit of a road trip.



I took my 2005 Corolla LE on the trip and did a little over 300 miles on the way down. First I had work in the morning so I woke up at 6 and got ready for work then I drove there and worked for 4.5 hours before driving home. This was about 40 miles roundtrip.

On the way home I grabbed lunch and when I got home I finished packing and preparing for the trip.

As this was the farthest I've ever taken my car and it would be alone I made some extra preparations



I brought one of my winter wheels since then I would have a full size spare and I also brought my socket set and some other tools incase I needed to repair anything. I also brought a cooler with drinks in it and my clothes and gear for the wedding.


I ended up leaving a little after 3PM for the 4.5 hour drive to Indianapolis. 212 miles later I made my first stop at a rest stop near Muncie, Indiana.





I was driving alone and found this to be really nice. Normally on a road trip I'm with other people which can be a source of stress. Peoples varying music tastes, needs to stop, and constant conversation can be exhausting, especially because I am an introvert.

But when you're driving solo you don't really experience any of this. You only stop if you want to, you listen to what you want to, you can sit in silence if you want, if you make a mistake like I did by taking an exit you weren't supposed to it's no big deal because the only person to judge you is yourself and I know how to handle it. Instead of someone being in my face about why I did that and didn't I know that it was the wrong exit, I calmly acknowledged my mistake and backtracked the couple of miles to correct it.

It's not all positive though, sometimes it's nice to share these moments instead of just being alone but for me it was a great way to start a very busy weekend because it allowed me to conserve energy and just enjoy the drive down.

On the way to fix the mixed exit my car got swarmed by bees which was a little nerve racking, it was at an intersection and they were swarming a few cars by some construction so I think a nest must have been disturbed. Thankfully none of them got in and it didn't turn out to be a problem.

I arrived at the hotel with about 330 miles for the day. As I was pulling into town I realized I had forgotten to bring my dress belt and made plans the next morning to get one. I dropped my bag off and ordered a pizza and took my car to go get it.

I then parked for the night. Overall, at this point in the trip I'm really glad I took my own car, I was worried about it affecting my back but me and it did really well. I was comfortable and the car was rock solid on the way down. It is really good on the freeway especially for a small car. It was a little loud but I got used to it pretty quickly and it felt good to take my own car and have it do so well.

My Experience as a First Time Blood Donor

I donated blood for the first time today. I recently did an at home test to see what blood type I am and it inspired me to donate blood.

Blood Types Explained

There are two main components of blood type

1. Red Blood Cell Type

• A
• B 
• AB 
• O

2. Antigens

• Positive (+)
• Negative (-)

What does this mean?
Certain blood types can only accept certain other blood types as transfusions. The following charts do a good job at explaining it.

American Red Cross

My test read O- which is a double edged sword. On the negative side I can only accept blood from other O- types but on the positive I'm whats known as a universal donor. So I can donate blood to anyone. For this reason O- is used often in emergency rooms and situations when you don't have time to determine the patient's blood type. So it is important that I donate blood to help ER patients and for anyone else who is O- because it's the only type we can receive and it is already in short supply.

Today
This afternoon I found a post on another site talking about how a user there was donating blood so I looked up the Red Cross website and found a drive that was currently in process and I went for it.

I showed up to the Red Cross location and went inside and was greeted by an older gentleman, I explained this was my first time and learned that I didn't have an appointment so I would have to wait on stand by. I did and had to learn about the eligibility requirements (http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requirements).

I was eligible so I continued a little while later into a room with a nurse and we went over the requirements as well as my wight, height, current medications and blood pressure. She also took a blood sample with a finger prick.

Next I was ushered into the back room where the actual donation process would begin. I sat down in a bed and was prepped and swabbed before getting the needle inserted and my blood drawn.

The process took about 10 minutes but felt faster to me and at the end I felt a little funny but was starting to feel pretty good about donating because of the fact that my blood could save up to 3 lives. 

After bandaging my arm I went out to the lobby to have some juice and cookies to recover. I felt a little lightheaded and when a nurse checked on me and I said that I felt this way they immediately went into a panic mode and got me into the back room on a cot and had me lie down and put my knees up and breath into a paper bag and put cold towels on my forehead and neck. I think it was an overreaction to my condition but its always better to err on the side of caution. After another 10 minutes or so I felt fine again and was allowed to leave. 

I was really apprehensive about going, I thought it would be fine but was also worried I would be in a lot of pain for the whole time which wasn't true in my case. When the needle is inserted there is pain for a few seconds and then it goes away. I was also worried about fainting after which I can minimize for the next donation by being better hydrated and eating breakfast and lunch first. 

Overall, I'm glad I went and donated. I think next time I will make sure to not skip breakfast and to drink more water to minimize the lightheadedness. I always think it's worthwhile to help people and I'm glad that I could. I would highly recommend and encourage people to go donate as it is vital to others survival for people to donate. Plus you get to feel pretty good about yourself afterwords and know that you may have just made the difference in someone else's life. 

A Blimp Lauch and an F150

This weekend a blimp was taking off from the small municipal airport across the street. I took the opportunity to break out my zoom lens and get some shots.

Note the man who ran something up to the people in the blimp

The red is a loading bar for the screen

I also took some shots of my dad's F150 and posted my favorites below. I'm still working on learning all the different functions of the camera but I think I'm slowly getting better. 

John Deere JS30 Repair

About a year ago I was given a John Deere push mower to do whatever I wanted with. It was from my Aunt and Uncle and the only hitch was that I had to drive about an hour to get it. I drove out and picked it up and learned that the handle was broken but that it was otherwise fine.

I therefore took it home and promptly let it sit for about a year. At the time I was pretty burned out energy wise and had work and school and then we ended up moving and I needed a new car and I had some serious health issues and the mower was on the back burner.

Until last week when I finally got around to ordering the new handle for the mower. Then it got in and I started working on it. First I got it up on a table so that it would be easier to work on.

Note the pumpkin which has been there since we moved in in November

Next I took detailed pictures of the handle and how it attached to the mower for reference in case I forgot where something went. Then I laid the new handle down behind the mower so that I could begin transferring parts over as I disassembled them. 

When that was completed, I reattached the handle to the mower. 

Then I checked the air filter and was in for a surprise. I found a really dirty and bad air filter on the mower and immediately decided to run out to the store and buy the replacement filter on the right. 

Then I ran it for a little while and decided to wash it and the mower came out pretty good. It runs excellent, starts on the first pull and cuts beautifully. The self propelled feature works wonderfully and I'm sure it has plenty of years left in it. 

Now, I'm in the process of selling it. It's posted on craigslist and I've been leaving it at the front of our driveway chained up to the mailbox with a sign on it. 

Overall I think it was a pretty good project. It wasn't overly complicated or difficult but I found it to be rewarding and enjoyed the fact that it didn't take days of labor to get it working. I assessed the mower for problems, ordered that parts dealt with the surprise that the mower through me and finished the project. I usually get a self esteem boost from working on and finishing a project and this was no exception. I love the feeling of knowing that you breathed life into a machine and got it working properly again, it's deeply satisfying in a way that is very hard to describe.