Tattoos

A very close friend of mine is contemplating having a tattoo engraved upon her body. The only problem is that she can't decide what she wants. She has settled on a couple of things including a gecko, but she can't find a good enough pattern, apparently in the shops to suit her fancy. (She'd very fancy, BTW.) Here is the story of my tattoo.
In the third or fourth book of the Series, my lead character goes off on hiatus to Rome and ends up in a very bad situation, locked in a mental ward with two very fancy, very new tattoos. Of course, these tattoos were of my own imagining and fit his personality perfectly. So with my birthday approaching last year, a friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said "I want a tatoo." This was step one.
Step two: Friend says OK, but I'm going with you to get it so I can watch. (A little sadistic? No, just contemplating the process prior to trying)
Step three: Looking for the perfect tattoo. Went on line. Checked a couple of sites, found the perfect tat.
Step three: Said to friend "Found tat."
Step four: Friend arrives and takes me to the parlor.
Step five: Tattoo guy says "Hey I like that one."
Step six: Lots of pain.
Step seven: Voila! Tattoo done.
So I think that my friend should just get on with it. And it makes me wonder when she accuses me of being a whiner and a complainer and unable to endure pain. But hey, there's pain and then there's PAIN.

I would compare a tattoo to a scrape and burn that kind of oozes onto your skin over a period of time. It's not like getting your leg chewed off by an alligator! So keep it in mind, the next time you hear me 'whining' and 'moaning', I've probably had my hand caught in the blender while making margaritas and keep in mind as well that I'm not complaining about the pain, I'm complaining about losing the rita!