covert davis operation

On Saturday evening-ish, I went out to Walnut Creek for our Twirly Girls AIDS walk fundraiser (also since I’d volunteered to be the pole cleaner). I’d worked a pretty awesome contraption out, since it gets tiring speed-climbing poles one-handed. Thank goodness for carabiners and my watch (I hung the spray bottle on the carabiner, draped a towel over my arm and off I went).

We raised ~$1200, and the event itself was only 2-2.5-ish hours long (this obviously doesn’t factor in the hours of prep work and gathering of donations, but still)! :D! I ended up leaving at around 9 p.m. and headed on my way up to Davis, since I was already almost halfway there. (Honestly, I was just looking for an excuse to go up so I could volunteer at clinic.)

I like how most of my head blends into the darkness.

This kinda shows me why my parents think I “got so tan.” I guess I did darken quite a bit. :x

Almost all the people I’ve ever known who live in/around Davis/Sac have already graduated/left. :[ That weekend, the sole remainders happened to be in San Jose, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Reno, respectively. Thus, I found a place on the street to park (so I wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb, seeing as how summer Davis = empty Davis) and slept in the back of Speedracer for the night.

At around 5:30 a.m., I woke up to the sound of male voices as they walked past Speedracer (and in my mind wondered, “What the hell are you doing awake at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning?!”), but I got up and decided to walk to Starbucks because it is a wonderfully awesome and reliable venue for (1) outlets to charge my phone and (2) free wifi. (I could also then brush my teeth/wash my face so I wouldn’t look like a total bum.) On my way there, I happened to come across $20 lying on the floor with no owner to be found. :D! (Gas money/karma?)

I was going to stop somewhere to pick up breakfast, but ended up just heading over to clinic instead. I’ve only been to Sunday clinic a handful of times, so I didn’t really remember much in terms of how they did their thing (sigh). Luckily, I had the sense to take professional clothing along with my usual PHAC attire (whew). :D I found my fellow PA’s at the table after wandering into the back room to put away my things whilst being stared down by everyone.

I got to follow two patients’ entire cases (they took unexpectedly long), and also did super-detailed several lab calls. I’m really sad that the next time I head up to Davis will likely be one of my last ones ever, but like all/most good things (or so it seems), I guess it had to come to an end at some point. :[ I shall miss you dearly, but I hope to come back to volunteer someday as a full-fledged doctor!

I also find it vaguely hilarious that I have to sneak around when it comes to volunteering. It’s so backwards. ._.