i should be sleeping right now.

whew. ok, so i've gone through two days of the ambulatory data collection. they put these super special insoles in your my shoes, which are hooked up to long wires all the way up my pant legs (and then some, apparently my legs are short!) and hooked up to this data recorder which is strapped around my waist. the insoles measure how much force i use on my feet every day. (i'm doing data entry all day every day, so there isn't much activity on my data. (thrilling!)

the data recorder itself isn't that heavy. its 10 "D" size battery pack, however, is QUITE heavy, and is where most of the weight comes from. after two days, my back is SORE and i'm not looking forward to day three tomorrow. (i have to have four days of data total, day four will probably be next monday.)


i have also consented to several substudies going on with this NASA study. one involves the chemical makeup of my muscles and involves a muscle biopsy -SHUDDER! ewewewewewwwwwwwwwwwww- and intermittent blood draws. two of them are studying depression in bed rest patients (one is chemical based, one is psychological) i'm sure i'll be able (and willing) to go into great detail once this starts.

but basically, scientists are NOT going to put people to bed for just for these studies, so when these opportunities come up, EVERYONE latches on and tries to get in a question or two. which is cool. i'm not only helping astronauts, i'm helping pregnant women and severely ill patients that have been put on mandatory bedrest. there is a lot to be gained from the research i've volunteered for, and i'm proud to be a part of it.

there will be plenty more to say later, but for now i've got to get to bed, because i have to be up at the asscrack of dawn to get to the Cleveland Clinic ON TIME this time. yeeeeeeeeeeeesh. i am perpetually late.