I’ve finally got some free time, so I figured I might as well recap the rest of my vacation in the Summit. If you recall, I mentioned that Clarks Summit was a really fun, happening place. If my sarcasm wasn’t blunt enough before, allow me to reiterate: it’s not an exciting town at all.
So, how would I spend the rest of my vacation? Sticking to my plan and sleeping late? Honestly, I tried. It just so happens that being at school and waking up at 7:30 a.m. on a regular basis screwed up my body clock. As a result, I didn’t get too much sleep, but that didn’t stop me from relaxing as much as I did. That was definitely a high point.
There were a few things that just had no chance of being designated at high points. I had a dentist’s appointment, which always seems to be somewhat of an unpleasant experience for me. Not that I don’t appreciate what they do, but the concept of an individual poking around inside my mouth with sharp, metal objects kind of throws me off a bit. Luckily, they didn’t find anything in there so the appointment turned out to be just a simple cleaning. Nice and easy fifteen minutes and you get a free toothbrush. Yeah, I definitely approve.
However, something else was in store for me this Spring Break. Apparently, I was destined to have two new experiences rather than just one. Oh, lucky me. It just so happens that one night, when I was leaving the mall to go to Wal-Mart which, for the record, is literally about 3/4 of a mile down a very brightly lid road.
I guess I forgot to put my lights on. At least, that's what the police officer told me. Oh yeah, that's right, I got pulled over. In easily one of the scariest moments of my life, I had to sit there as the cop not only told me that I was driving without my lights on, but that I also didn't have a current registration sticker on the license plate. Thanks Dad.
No worries though, the cop thought that I had been driving from Clarks Summit all the way to the mall without my lights on, (hopefully I'll never be that stupid,) but since it was only from the mall, he let me off with just a warning. Warning instead of a potential $125 fine? Yeah, I definitely approve.
Moving on, I had a normal doctor’s appointment later in the week. Now, I forgot to mention on this blog yet that since the beginning of the month, I haven’t been able to move the entire right side of my face. It was a really strange experience, waking up one day and not being to smile or laugh right. Based on my mom’s history with cancer, I really did fear the worst walking into that office.
But, it turns out that the condition I have is just something called Bell’s Palsy. Apparently, it’s a common viral infection that inflames my facial nerve, restricting my ability to move. With two prescriptions, I left feeling on top of the world. Just take the pills and let them do their magic. Oh how I love modern medicine!
As a precautionary measure, my doctor did end up scheduling an MRI for me, just to make sure that my facial inactivity wasn’t the result of a brain abnormality. But, the MRI was later in the week, so I’ll get to that later.
After freaking my parents out with the news, (I hadn’t told them about the problem,) and spending entirely too much money on the prescriptions, I relaxed for the rest of the night until later heading out to the mall.
I believe I may have mentioned this on the reviews page, but I really do love all forms of entertainment and like many other guys, I like video games. One of my favorites was Resident Evil 4 and the sequel was releasing at midnight, so I decided to head down with some friends and pick it up.
Beforehand, I chose to trade some games in that I haven’t played in a while, so when it came time to purchase the game, it only cost me seven dollars and change, something that I can definitely approve of. The game itself is really good, but I’m hoping to get a review for that up over the weekend, so keep an eye out for that.
Saturday morning…usually one of those days where you just expect to sleep until the afternoon. Well, considering that I was on Spring Break, I was sure that I would get to enjoy this weekly tradition in all its glory. So much for that idea. It turns out that my MRI was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. For a change of pace, I most definitely did not approve.
Now, I’ve never had an MRI, so I knew this would be a unique experience. It really was. For those who have not had one yet, please follow along. Do you like staying in one place for any extended amount of time? Do you like keeping your body perfectly still at all times? Do you enjoy loud sounds? Do you enjoy annoying beats? If you’ve answered yes to any of these, an MRI might just be the diagnostic scan for you!
It’s most certainly not the diagnostic scan of choice for me. I didn’t like this machine one bit. Perhaps it was that unnecessarily small facial cage placed over my face. Granted, I had my eyes closed the entire time, but I knew it was there and I knew exactly how close to my face it was. But, that’s just the half of it, wait until you actually begin getting the scan!
I really cannot understand how a machine like that could make such strange sounds. But, it did and it was different. Not exactly a good different, but oh well. As a side note, I did try to pass the time by trying to associate songs with the various rhythms of the machine, but I came up short for all but one scan. In that scan, I could swear that I heard the opening tune to Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock.” Crazy, I know, but what can you expect, I was stuck in a tube for almost an hour.
In the end, I made it through and had a positive report concerning the scan. Nothing was up there that shouldn’t be, so that was definitely some great news to end the vacation with. But, wanting to end the night on an even more positive note, I called up one of my best friends from high school and we went out to Johnny Rockets.
Trips like these were almost a weekly occurrence when I was still back in high school. Now, we always end up going whenever I’m home to just catch up on things and enjoy some cheap, tasty pie. It’s only 99 cents per slice, I suggest everyone to look into it. Then, with my taste buds satisfied, I headed home and finished up the rest of the packing so that everything would be ready for the trip back to school.
Looking back, it was by no means an exciting vacation, but that’s not why I enjoyed it so much. I got to spend a lot of time with my family, relax with some friends and just take a step back from the stresses of school. All good things unfortunately have to come to an end, but that’s not really the case here. In all reality, when I’m coming back to school after a break, it’s just like leaving one family and rejoining another. Maybe that’s why I ended up liking it so much, when it came right down to it, the good times never really ended at all, they just changed location.