Morning everyone. It's raining this morning and supposed to hit 73 this afternoon. I'm still so tired, this week kicked my ass. I can sleep in tomorrow and I can't wait. Yesterday I finished painting my door and today I have to hang it. I also finished the first portait, but may still make some adjustments. I ended up texting my dad telling him not to come up and rake the wood chips in the yard (I've already told him but he still went up Thursday, although he didn't go inside). No joke, he texted back ok then called an hour later saying he might go up. I told him they were coming to pump the septic tank at some point so he may end up turning right back around since the tree fell right between the road and the tank, and that I was going to do yard work this weekend anyway. After convincing him that there really is no way he wouldn't be in the way of the septic people, he agreed not to come. I wanted to just scream, "why the hell can't you just respect what I ask you to do?" Especially if I'm asking him not to make a trip somewhere. Anyway, I need to get ready for the grocery store and gym. Happy weekend everyone, and here's another random tangent:

I read yesterday that a little boy needs a bone marrow transplant and specifically needs a donor who is half Vietnamese and half Caucasian. After a little research, I learned that your likelihood of finding a compatible match ranges from 19% to 80% depending on your ethnicity. This is because they need to match HLA types, which stands for human leukocyte antigen. These allow the immune system to differentiate cells in your body from invading organisms or cells. The HLA is a big component in organ transplant rejection, since that's how your body would recognize that a transplanted organ came from somewhere else. They can protect (or fail to, if certain infections are present) against cancer and viruses by bringing fragments of the antigen to the surface of cells so the white blood cells can attack them. Mutations in HLA may be linked to autoimmune diseases (which is why people who have autoimmune diseases are not able to donate bone marrow), and a study found a possible link between HLA and perception of body odor-meaning it may affect mate selection in an unconscious way. The HLA complex is made up of a lot of different genes, which are inherited-which is where ethnicity comes into play. Like other genes that affect how you look or what disease you might be prone to, people of different ethnicities tend to have different HLA types. Each person also has several different types that need to be matched close to perfectly for a transplant (it makes finding a match difficult, but generally helps the immune system better identify foreign cells/antigens better than having one type). This is also why a sibling is your best likelihood for a match-they have the exact same parents and are more likely to have the same HLA types. So if siblings aren't a match they usually test family members, who are more likely than the general public to be a match. If nothing comes up from that, doctors enter your info into a database like Be the Match, which can match donors and patients all over the world but obviously your chances aren't as good. According to their website, the likelihood of finding a match is as follows: For Caucasian people: 77%, for American Indian/Alaska Native people: 57%, for Hispanic/Latino people: 46 %, for Asian or Pacific Islander people: 41%, for African American or Black people: 23%. Mixed race people probably have the toughest time finding a match because they have a set of specific HLA types from people of 2 ethnicities, making for a less common combination.