Day 3 Settled In

So I finally decided to settle into my new home of Baird 785, and late last night I unpacked my bags and moved them into my dresser here. Naturally for anyone who knows me this means I also brought a number of superhero themed pajama pants since I won't be stepping outside for another 10 days so I might as well be comfortable. I haven't yet sported any of these incredibly cool and attractive pajama pants yet, partially because I haven't yet started to feel at home and also because I am afraid to intimidate everyone else on my floor with my superior fashion sense and cool factor. In time they will learn.

7 pairs superhero and 1 pair sweatpants

Don''t worry Mom, I even brought the forever lazy. Thank god for butt flaps!!!!

Thankfully I was able to sleep much better last night and woke up feeling well rested this morning. I started my morning with HIMYM, what better chance do I have to catch up? Needless to say I am now completely current.  Before long I begin to notice an interesting sensation in my lower abdomen.  The only way I can really describe it is as pressure.  It felt like it could have been just gas, but the thought of flatulence was terrifying to me, as trying to push out some gas and ending up with much more than I bargained for didn't seem like a great way to start my day.  I decided just to ignore this sensation for now, as I would find out one way or another soon enough. Before long the sensation dissipated and I ordered breakfast.

At least the fruit was good

This morning I decided to go with an omelette with cheddar cheese, onions, peppers and spinach with a banana and orange juice. The kitchen staff thought it would be fun to also add disgusting mushrooms as well as tomatoes to my omelette which made it watery and less than appetizing.

Those Bastards.

I've decided that the kitchen staff must just dislike me, because as you can clearly see they took my order correctly but instead decided to put two things in my omelette that I absolutely hate.  Regardless I picked out the mushrooms and ate it anyway, because it's still free food, and beggars can't be choosers.  All in all I definitely would not suggest the omelettes. I think tomorrow I'm going to go with the pumpkin french toast with Vermont maple syrup. It sounded too good to be true so I kept it simple today and that still failed.

After breakfast I decided to head to the common room to see what some of my fellow disease carriers are up to and assess everyone else's symptoms to see how I match up.  From what I've gathered, no one has had any severe symptoms such as the "rice water diarrhea" we have all heard so much about, although others did report weird stomach feelings as I had also felt earlier in the morning. I am once again clueless about whether or not I received the vaccine.  While in the common room, one of our activity coordinators here on Baird 7 dropped off a couple presents including a 32 inch LG LED TV, a DVD player and a nintendo Wii, all of which are brand new so naturally being #1 I was given the responsibility of setting everything up.

It's a black Wii.....I'm not sure what that means as I'm not sure I've ever seen one before. I also don't see myself playing too many games with my fellow residents, being #1 I hardly see how this could be fair for anyone. Also I don't want to see anyone become more ill as I dash their hopes and dreams, causing them severe emotional distress.

They seem to be putting a decent amount of money into keeping us entertained, by buying us a new TV for the common room as well as a DVD player, Wii and games. We were even asked if there was another game that we would like to see as apparently the budget will allow us 1-2 more games. I'm not sure what the intend to do with all of these new electronics come the end of the study but I'm really pushing for a lottery to decide where they will end up.

After setting up all of the new electronics I decided to return to my room to order some lunch. At this point in time a nurse took the chance to remind me that if I do not produce a stool sample by midnight every day that a swab will be inserted into my rectum to gather a sample, as explained in the informed consent that I was required to sign about 3 times before the study began.  Thankfully it was only around 1pm at this point so time was on my side, and I have since produced a very robust sample with a type 4 consistency.  After having such a disappointing breakfast I decided to play it safe and go with the tried and true chicken caesar salad for lunch and was not disappointed.

Sorry this picture is a bit blurry, I hadn't noticed until it was too late to take another one. Although the chicken caesar salad was just as good as it was the other day, the amount of chicken present seems to have dropped, again the kitchen staff must have it out for me, I will have to find some way to retaliate.  I did decide to switch up the sides a little bit today ordering the cheddar cheese plate which is described as a "variety of local cheddar cheese, served with crackers". Although the cheese was good, the presentation left something more to be desired and the portion was less than stellar.  Of course I also ordered another pudding, upping the current pudding tally to 5 and at the suggestion of another patient, also ordered the pumpkin custard.  The pudding as always was delicious and I would suggest it every time.  The pumpkin custard was also very tasty but I realized that I didn't love the texture and custards may not be fore me. Regardless the cup was still scraped clean. 

Pumpkin Custard

After lunch today I ventured around Baird 7 to find what beautiful views and sights it had to offer. Turns out there were none.  The closest I was able to come by was the view from my room which does give my a slice of Mount Mansfield viewable between two of the many different buildings that make up Fletcher Allen. I specifically asked for a room with a view when I checked in, and although they laughed my request off at the time, they obviously listened (guess they already knew I was #1) because as far as I can tell I have been blessed with one of the best views from my room, at least compared to everyone else here on Baird 7

As you can see here, all and all I still feel very well. The change in backdrop doesn't mean that I spent the day on the toilet, simply that I remained in my inclinable bed for most of the morning and decided to take my picture from there. Although it still isn't the most comfortable bed for sleeping, when it comes to sitting up and watching TV, I give it 7 poops out of 10.

Also I thought everyone might like to know that the planner I recently bought and had been using to keep track of meetings and appointments for my job in the research lab has been working wonderfully for planning out my entire week of TV watching to ensure that 1. I am up to date on any TV show I want to watch and 2. That I see as many shows live as possible in this brief time that I have with cable television. T-minus 3 hours and 50 minutes until New Girl.

I'm pooped.