Little Irritating Things

Mark never called me back with a quote on Lola. I'm really not surprised. Typical male, never calls when he says he's going to. :P What probably happened is he didn't get around to sketching and, thus, doesn't know how big she is. Since size is probably the single biggest factor in pricing, I'm just going to go with what he charged me for Mae. I know he wants to have them roughly the same size. Same size = same amount of work = same price. It would just be kind of a pisser to not have the cash on hand. Meh. I let the stupidest things bug me sometimes.

The nose is still swollen. I may have gotten a little better, but it definitely hasn't gotten worse. I can say that much at least. This morning it got a rinse, a soak, and I took a vitamin, drank a big glass of orange juice, and took 2 Advil. Now all I have to do is wait for it to decide it doesn't want to be swollen anymore. I'll probably ice it at least once when I get home. My chest is doing great. It feels secure and it's not really crusty. The bruising is still there, but that's going to take at least another 3-4 days to clear up.

I was browsing the portfolios of some of the guys at the shop that does the "tribute to tradition". A lot of stuff they had up wasn't really my taste, but it was solid work. I was really impressed with the owner's portfolio. Apparently, he's very much in demand and it's hard to get an appointment with him. I can see why looking at the work he does. I bet he's ridiculously expensive, too. That's usually how it goes with the uber talented and in demand. Ideally, I'd like to get inked by him at the convention if he's there. I was thinking if he is going to be there, I might try to introduce myself beforehand. At this point, it's all just hypothetical.

Only 2 more days of getting up early, then it's 3 days of celebrating the anniversary of my birth. Well, I guess 4 since I'm taking Monday off to recover. ;)

I Fought The Law

I'm so frustrated right now. I made the mistake of telling the truth and got deferred from giving blood. I'd made such an effort to make sure I wouldn't get deferred and they turn me away because my state doesn't regulate tattooing or piercing procedures. Seriously? I even checked the website in advance, but they didn't list states that regulate, just how many. I figured with all the red tape I go through every single time I get inked or pierced, we had to be on the list. Wrong. The only statewide regulation is you have to be over 18. Other than that, it's up to each county to impose regulations.

This has pissed me off enough, I'm seriously considering contacting someone in the state government (Not sure who. Representative maybe?) and making my displeasure known. I shouldn't have to lie to do a good thing. Plus, it's hurting the Red Cross because they have to turn away an otherwise ideal donor. I know in the old days there were issues with blood diseases, but not anymore. Things have improved a lot even in just the past 10 years. I even rattled off a few things that I know one country requires and the nurse said I'd just rattled off all Florida's requirements. *facepalm* The rules are really damned simple and I don't know why Georgia hasn't bothered to do it. Half of it is common sense.

*Needles should be sterile and single use. All used needles should be disposed of in a sharps container.
*The artist/piercer should be wearing gloves at all times during the procedure and, ideally, any time they're in contact with the client's skin.
*Any non disposable tools should be sterilized in an on site autoclave.
*Ink should be put into single use ink caps and disposed of after the tattoo is complete. It should never be returned to a universal container.

And if you wanted to get a little more strict, you could add that artist/piercer be vaccinated against Hep B. It's fairly common anyway and Hep B happens to be the biggest concern when collecting blood. It was on my list of required shots before I went to college.

I know it's not a big pork project or whatever they call it in politics, but it's definitely something that should be addressed. When something like 40% of people have tattoos, making even a small percentage of that wait just seems unfair and unhelpful. Everybody wins in this situation. Most counties do this stuff anyway, so why would it be such a big leap for the state to put it all in writing? I'm sure they've already got people from the health department inspecting and whatnot.

So I guess that's my rant for the day. Off to start composing my strongly worded letter to whoever represents me.

Pain in the Nose

My nose is seriously sore. It's not swollen, just red and sore. I took some Advil this morning, but it's worn off. I tried to put my drink on it to cool it off a bit, but my glasses get in the way. So I guess I'm just going to have to tough it out until I can get home and ice it properly.

The chest dermal is fine. No new bruising and it's sitting just as happy as it was before. Hopefully it'll be easier to massage in the shower tonight. It'll look really great when the bruising clears up. I can't wait to show Jason and tell him how well Melanie did. I'm recommending her to everyone. I'm trying to figure out the best way to plug them on Yelp. I guess I could edit my review to include my experience.

In other news, my job is secure for now. I was talking to one of my co-workers who keeps in touch with the receptionist and she said the receptionist isn't coming back. A brief history for those who might not know, I was moved from being an assistant to the front desk. The receptionist fell before Halloween and dislocated her shoulder. They had to surgically put it back in. She's also well into her 70's. She was absolutely sure she'd be coming back, so I was concerned when she did come back, I would lose my job. However, it's almost certain she won't be coming back, so I'm safe. This a huge relief. I'm not crazy about this job, but it pays the bills. I may even finally get paid a decent wage as well. It's probably not going to be an amazing salary, but it's definitely better than what I'm getting right now.

And this is relevant because it means I no longer have to stress over how/if I'm going to be able to pay Mark for Lola. I still want to pay as much as I can up front, so we'll see. I'm gonna call him after I get off work so we can chat. So excited!

No Witty Title Today...

More bruising today on my chest. I'm not surprised. It wasn't too pleasant to give it a massage in the shower, but I did a little bit. It feels perfectly secure. I think the L shaped jewelry made it much happier. I was actually worried because it didn't hurt when I woke up this morning and I was like "is it still there?". It was and just as happy and flat against my skin as before. So yay for that. It'll probably still look kinda gross on Saturday when I go back. Apparently Jason will want to inspect it. I'm fine with that.

Speaking of Saturday, I'm calling Mark tomorrow to confirm everything. As I mentioned in my previous entry, we didn't really get to talk so I said I'd just call. I guess I could've called today, but I had to work and I figured give him a day or so to look her over and ponder how to make it work. That being said, she will be on my right side. For a brief time I thought about putting her on my thigh, but after inspecting the mole situation (absolutely not allowed to tattoo over known moles), I decided something more linear would be better in that spot.

As for the payment situation, I think I'm going get together as much cash as I can and pay him as much as I can up front. I'll try to explain the situation on the phone tomorrow. I can afford a $300-$350 piece. I generally don't like carrying that much cash, but if I get it the day of then it shouldn't be too bad. Plus, by then all my other bills will have come out so I'll know how much I can take out. Go me.

I've only whacked my nose stud a few times today so maybe my brain is getting the hint that there's something there. Now that I've said that I'll probably whack it 8 times in 2 minutes. :P

Dermals oh my!

Pictures!







Melanie is great. She's super nice and explains everything she's doing. I was kinda freaking out a bit before she did the dermal. Once I settled down, she pierced me and it didn't really hurt at all. The problem came in when she tried to get the jewelry in. There are 2 kinds of jewelry that can be used for dermals. One kind is the solid piece and another basically has 2 loops for the foot and heel. She prefers the two loop kind, but it refused to go into my skin. She actually took it out several times and repierced me at least once to try and get it in. Finally after about 15 minutes of fiddling, she decided to try the other jewelry. It went in seamlessly. We were like "Seriously?". It was kinda funny.

I was glad I was wearing my glasses today. When we did my nostril, my eye watered really badly. Had I been wearing my contacts, it probably would've come out. Less good.

I gave the shirt to Mark and we're tentatively set for a week from today. He was preparing for clients so I didn't really get to talk about any details. I'm gonna call him on Monday and we're going to sort out the rest of the details on the phone and the official appointment time.

Body Mod "Schedule"

Just because I'm obsessive like that.

Jan 3-Nostril and/or chest dermal (all depends on if Melanie is there)

Jan 10-Session one of Lola

Jan 25-Session two of Lola

Feb 8-Session three of Lola (if necessary)

Mar 7-Weight loss tattoo (assuming I've met my weight goal ;) )

Jun 12-14-Get something fabulous during the convention

Jul 4-Get something equally fabulous at I & D's Tribute to Tradition

Fixing up my foot, getting my tragus repierced, getting my conchs pierced, and Beverly (my last pin up) will all happen when they happen, I suppose. I'm really excited about getting tattooed at a convention. I'll probably drive poor Shane nuts tomorrow picking his brains about it.

Getting Inked in Public aka Tattoo Conventions

So apparently the crowd at Sacred Heart is responsible for organizing the tattoo convention here every year. I actually found an article from '06 quoting Shane about the event. When I'm there next weekend, I'll ask if they're planning on doing another one this year. I would assume so as last year was the 12th annual or so the flyer said. I was considering going to Miami that weekend, but I may put it off to convention it up. So much excitement in the next 6 months tattoo-wise. Allegedly Ink & Dagger is doing their $50-$100 tattoos every Sunday in March (as yet unconfirmed), then the convention in June, and I&D's 4th of July "tribute to tradition". That's in addition to whatever hot messes I decide to get myself into outside of that.

I'm waffling about several other things. I may or may not get a chest dermal. I may or may not get my nose repierced. I may or may not do both. I may place Lola somewhere else. I may not. I may pay Mark up front for part of Lola in case I get downsized/laid off/insert corporate jargon for "no longer employed" here. I hate to ask him about pricing because I feel it's rude, but I'm going to need a hard and fast number. Alternately, I could pick something smaller and more affordable and save up for Lola the old fashioned way. She's going to be at least as expensive as Mae. I figure I'll be honest about the situation. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to be running around with a half finished tattoo because I couldn't afford to pay for the second half (or third as the case may be).

Overall I really dislike discussing price because half the time I think he just pulls it out of his ass. I underestimated Britney & Christina by $70, but I overestimated Butch by $40. It's all fine and dandy when I overestimate, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass when I fall short. I like to plan for all contingencies, so best case I don't get laid off and I can pay for everything no problem. Worst case, I'm laid off and only managed to pay for half or 2/3 of it. The reality usually lies somewhere in the middle. What will probably happen is I'll get laid off, get the check I'm owed, and that would allow me to finish paying her off. Meh. I should stop thinking about this. It's stressing me out.