or "When you feel like quitting"...
Here is an example of a YouTube video by the "PT guy" I mentioned at the end of my post yesterday. I think in this video he pretty much sums up his general "attitude", which is what has made me also try to practice some of his advice in other videos about gentle movements and exercises etc.
- Gentle Approach
- Aiming Low
- Remember Your "Why"
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| /Photo from November 2023/ |
"Autumn is the season that teaches us to let go."
On Monday we had a glimpse of sun and blue sky here for a while, in the middle of the day; which inspired me to try a long overdue walk to the nearest "recycling station" (for packaging waste) some 300+ meters or so from home.
I usually go every weekend, but now it had been 3+ weeks (the last time was the same day that I fell and hurt my knee - just after leaving that spot!). Walking there and back usually takes me perhaps 20 minutes, now it took me 40. Besides me now walking very slowly and keeping my eyes on the ground (looking out for wet leaves), it also turned out when I got there, that every recycling container was already over-full... (No doubt a few more people had been taking advantage of that short break in the almost endless rain lately!) I only "just" managed to squeeze in the contents of my own bag too, in their respective containers... (But I did get it all in, and did not just leave things on the ground - as I hate when others do that...)
No photos, as I had enough to cope with just handling myself and my main "mission".
It was my longest walk yet since the fall. My knee is still not back to "normal", neither in colour nor size. But the swelling has gone down enough for me to now be able to wear a compression knee bandage over cotton tights... (which makes it easier for me to put it on vs take it off...)
Later, back home, I snapped the shot below through a window. I'm pretty sure those leaves must have had "help" to gather themselves that neatly below the tree... ;)
Yesterday (Tuesday) was laundry day for me, which is still quite enough "being on my feet" for me for one day. (Still some sorting and ironing left for me to do today.)
We had a day of thaw yesterday, but the ground still very cold - which turned it dangerously icy again. I had intended to try a short walk - but did not get beyond the corner of my building before deciding it wasn't worth it...
The image above was zoomed in today from my windows - and edited "HDR-ish" in Picasa3 in an attempt to bring out just how icy that footpath behind the building is as well. Looks like another day to just stay in!
Weather forecasts predict it will turn colder again in the week to come; but still seem undecided about whether we're to expect more snow or not. (Or when, where or how much.)
Regardless of the weather, I have something of an ordeal of a week ahead of me, "prepping" for a colonoscopy appointment on Friday... "Just" a follow-up of a recent screening test; no symptoms I've actually noticed myself. So this far, I'm trying not to worry too much about the outcome; but focusing more on pre-preparing myself for the procedure itself - including the low-fibre diet to be kept during the week leading up to it...
Hopefully I've basically got my head round that now; but at first it seemed to me to be completely reversed to all I've been used to eating over the past 10-11 years... The thing is, my food cupboards are normally filled with whole grain products (rice, pasta, bread, whatever); and I'm also used to consuming a lot of fresh fruits and berries and vegetables. I can't remember when I last bought (or ate) for example white toast, or white rice; and I'm not in the habit of peeling fruits with edible peel... So feels much like I've had to completely "reset" my brain and my usual routines.
Back on Friday, I made an improvised soup from 1 onion, 3 potatoes, 3 carrots and ~100g celeriac, boiled in 1 liter of vegetable broth). Turned out quite okay and will see me through a couple of more meals this week, I think. (I can add meat to that as well if I like.)
"One day at a time but prepared for tomorrow as well" will probably be my motto for the week to come. (Or something along those lines...)
(PS. I tried asking Bing Image Creator for an illustration, but it obviously has NO idea what a low fibre diet involves...)
Or: It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...
It's been another week of "tread-carefully-and-keep-your-eyes-on-your-feet-when-out-walking"...
Storm Malik passed by here last weekend, with various unforeseen consequences in tow. While out walking yesterday (watching my feet, so only one photo), I was trying to start writing this blog post in my head; but for some reason my thoughts went to an old nursery rhyme/folk tale. When I got back home, I went online to check if it's the same in English. I found that in English it's called The Old Woman and Her Pig. It took me a while to find it, because in the Swedish version, there's no pig involved! Here, it starts and ends instead with a boy who refused to go to school. Verbally, ours is also snappier* (see below). Otherwise it's basically the same - describing a chain of events with one thing leading to another (which is why I came to think of it in the first place).
...And as soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig...
*In Swedish though, it's more like this (and should be read very fast): "cat on the rat, rat on the rope, rope on the ox, ox on the water, water on the fire, fire on the stick, stick on the dog, dog on the boy, and the boy to school!"
[Swedish: "katten på råttan, råttan på repet, repet på oxen, oxen på vattnet, vattnet på elden, elden på riset, riset på pojken, och pojken till skolan"]
Anyway, applying this pattern of consequences to my week, it went something like this:
In the night between Saturday and Sunday, while I was sleeping, Storm Malik caused a power outage in my area of town. The power outage (or the power coming back on again) caused damage to the motor of an electrically adjustable backrest that I've had mounted on my bed for nearly 16 years (technical aid originally prescribed for a complicated situation with surgery on top of other pain problems at the time). When the power came back on, the motor started giving off a strange and very loud noise, which woke me up. At first I assumed the noise must come from some machine outside (like a snow plow). When I realized where it did come from, I hurried to pull the plug out - feeling rather scared! It wasn't until a bit later, when a newsflash on my tablet informed me that there had been a power outage during the night, that the whole thing began to make some sort of sense at all. (I also learned the power had come back on around the time when I woke up.)
As it was Sunday, there wasn't anything further I could do about it that day (except start pondering the consequences). Thankfully no other appliances had broken down. (I had to restart my TV cable box, but it let me do that without protests.)
On Monday, I called the primary health care rehab unit; and in the afternoon, an occupational therapist called me back. She was very nice, but since we were new to each other, 20+ years of explanations (medical history) were needed (phew). At the end she said that she would call the technical aids centre, and they'd get back to me.
On Tuesday, the same occ. therapist called again and told me the tech guys had told her they would not repair the backrest because it was too old. And what with current rules and regulations, and my needs having changed compared to 16 years ago, she also could not prescribe me a new one. I had anticipated as much, so did not argue with that, but said that in that case, I needed help to get rid of the thing. And perhaps some advice about simpler alternatives.
So on Thursday, the OT made a house call to demount the Thingy from my bed - a procedure requiring acrobatics (getting down on the floor and wriggling in under the bed) that I (still) wouldn't dare try now - even if on the whole, I am more mobile today than I was in 2006. (On the other hand, I'm 16 years older. And, as I keep telling people, the older one gets, things are rarely as simple as just stating that one is "better" or "worse" compared to 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago...) The OT managed the necessary acrobatics, though. So in that respect, all went smoothly - and just now, I'm feeling mostly grateful to have got rid of the no longer helpful contraption. (Actually I think that even if they'd manage to repair it, I'd now have been scared of a repeat experience!)
However, I now have to kind of re-learn some movement patterns. (If someone asked you on the phone - like the OT did me - "How do you get out of bed?" - would you be able to describe the exact procedure from lying flat down in your bed to finding yourself standing next to it?) And I also need to figure out the right combination of pillows etc needed now for comfortable daytime rest, and for example reading. I had an old bed wedge pillow down in my storage room (from way back before the electric thingy), but I think I may need a higher one. Nowadays the internet is full of stuff like that, only a click away - the problem is just to decide what design, size, shape, angle, height, weight etc etc might work best for me at the moment. (I'd prefer if I could walk into a shop and try them out!)
So the next consequence is that I've spent so much time googling backrests this week that now all my devices (laptop, tablet, phone) are full of 'cookies' from all kinds of places selling various rehab stuff. (From the Big A to specialized smaller websites.) In turn with the consequence that where/what ever else I go or do online now (playing games, using Facebook etc), ads for technical aids keep popping up every two minutes. Not only wedge pillows and backrests (that I've already looked at a dozen times), but a million other kinds of "senior" and medical stuff as well... from walkers to pill poppers and compression stockings (and all claiming to be the best of its kind).
I did of course also discuss pillow/backrest alternatives with the occ. therapist. But decided to give it a bit of time to figure out what I think might serve me best, and at a reasonable price. (Reading customer reviews may also be worth while. For example, there was one pillow that looked good size-wise, but I found reviews mentioning that it had a bad smell...)
This "snow sculpture" (?) looks to me like a group of too many snowmen standing much too close together...! I doubt that would have been my first thought one year ago, but now it is. The dreaded virus has messed with our minds as well as our physical health and our whole society (all over the globe) over the past year...
On Wednesday this week I had an appointment at my health care centre (HCC) for a spirometry, a breathing test to do with (in my case) asthma. It was one of the tests ordered back in the autumn by the doctor in charge of my annual checkup (the same one who messed about a bit too much with my blood pressure medication, as some readers might recall). But for this kind of test there was a waiting-list.
I've done it once before, but that was probably about two decades ago, so I can't say it was totally uncalled for to repeat it. Have to admit I was not overjoyed to be summoned in the middle of winter, though - with temperatures around -10°C (14°F)... On the other hand (I argued with myself), spring pollen season might not be better either, for this kind of thing. So I decided it was probably best to just try and get it over with as suggested. Well, at least as long as I did not wake up that day to some really disastrous kind of weather, like a proper snowstorm or something.
The weather situation on Wednesday morning turned out not too bad, though, even if we're still firmly caught in a cold spell. Around -10°C, plus a bit of extra wind chill, and a couple of cm of new snow had fallen on top of the old over night... But it had stopped snowing. And I'd been out walking almost every day in similar conditions over the past couple of weeks, even if not quite all the way into town.
Just going for a walk just now does require some preparation, though: Warm leggings and socks. Other trousers on top of that; and an extra ankle-long warm outdoors skirt on top of that. Three layers of t-shirts and sweaters, and a quilted knee-length hooded winter jacket on top of that. Knitted scarf and hat, warm mittens, and winter boots with studded soles. One of my trekking poles for extra support in tricky places. (On shorter walks just for exercise I often use two, but when going into the city centre that tends to just get complicated. One works as a compromise.) In this case, also a mid-size rucksack. (Because: 1/ there is no cloakroom at the HCC any more - so nowhere to put all the items and layers you have to peel off when getting in! - and 2/ I also had a couple of minor errands to do in town afterwards.)
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| Selfie from another day, in similar outfit. |
What was new this time was that I was now asked to wear a face mask during my visit. "Okay," said I, "but I won't be able to keep it on the whole time..." The receptionist looked at me suspiciously - until I pointed out what it was I was there for (breathing test). Well, I did wear the mask in the waiting room (although there was only one other person there, sitting at the other end of the room). Most readers of this blog are probably used to wearing masks a lot more frequently than I've had to do so far; but have you tried it combined with glasses, after just having come in from a walk in -10°C?? - I had to take my glasses off, they immediately got all steamy... But without glasses, I don't see anything either! Never mind, I did not have to wait all that long before the nurse came to fetch me. (She called out my name, and at least my hearing is still good.) For the actual breathing test, I did of course get to take off the face-mask, or it would all have got very strange indeed.
The procedure took around 40 minutes, involving a number of deep inhalations and then exhalations ("as hard as you can, and for as long as you possibly can") into a mouthpiece connected to a computer (immediately turning my efforts into graphs). First one round without bronchodilator (I had been instructed not to use that kind of medicine for 24 hours before the test); then I got to inhale some doses of that, wait a while, and then a few more rounds. The pauses were used for info and questions etc. The outcome of the test was pretty much as expected (by me), i.e. confirmed that I do have asthma (I've been on medication for thirty years...), but also that the medication I have is probably still sufficient.
A plus was that I also got a chance to consult the nurse about an allergy test (blood test) that was also taken back in the autumn. In all the other chaos back then, I never got the result of that. When I got the letter about the spirometry, I was reminded of that, so requested (via the internet) a copy of what that test had shown, and received a copy of the lab report by letter. That turned out more puzzling than enlightening, though, as the only thing it showed clearly was that I'm allergic to grass (which I've known for around 50 years without any paper to confirm it). However, it said nothing at all about other pollen, like the various early spring trees (which I did discuss with the doctor). On the other hand, the test did show possible sensibility to three kinds of food stuff (likely to indicate cross-reactivity with for example birch pollen; however, confusingly, birch pollen itself seemed not to be included in the test). Food allergies were not mentioned when talking with the doctor back in the autumn. If he had asked about that, I'd have suggested a couple of other things rather than those three included now. So now my head is full of questions, like: Why I was tested for things that seem random to me, but not those that to me would seem relevant? Or was I actually tested for more things but they don't show up in the results because they showed nothing? And as for those three mentioned that I've not noted reactions to myself - should I now try to avoid those anyway, or what??
The nurse was of the opinion that what's not listed on the lab report, is not likely to have been included in the test at all. So she said she'll add my questions to her notes. But she would not be able to ask the doctor who originally ordered the tests, as he's currently (again) not there... So I suggested she give the results (including questions) to the other doctor who had to step in back in the late autumn when the first one wasn't available either. At least I've seen her once, even if we've had no further contact since she got my BP back on track... (I so miss two previous doctors who used to work there, both of whom knew me well from years back... But those two are both retired now; and since then it's been a new one at every checkup...)
Remains to be seen if anyone gets back to me to this time, without me having to call and ask again. (The nurses I trust; the doctors not so much!)
It's another sunny afternoon just now, and I think time to get dressed for a another winter walk. But this time, just to get out and breathe a bit!
After a quick visit to the hospital on Tuesday, the sun was shining when I came back out; and I decided to walk from there “downtown” (it’s all downhill from there to the town centre).
I did not have my camera with me, but I had my good mobile phone, so I decided to take some photos for the blog. There are some very nice (and kind of ‘posh’) old houses and gardens in that part of town.
It was one of those days when the skies change very quickly, though. I hadn’t walked very far before dark clouds began gathering.
By the time I was passing by the early 20th century church halfway down the hill, it was raining. Rather a cold shower it was, too!
Luckily, the community centre with library, theatre, art museum and café was close by… So I decided to seek shelter there and have lunch and a cup of tea while waiting for the rain to pass.
After I had finished my lunch (a delicious chicken casserole) it was still raining, so I decided to also take a peek at the current exhibitions in the Art Museum.
I have to admit though, that I find it rather difficult to really appreciate works like these:
Or even this:
… even if the red makes it more cheerful, and I guess it might liven up for example a boring corridor – but does that make it Art? (just asking!)
The one below, however, I liked, even if not cheerful:
Actually at first that man on the floor looked three-dimensional to me – but on closer inspection he turned out to be as flat as the background painting on the wall!
Eventually it did stop raining, and I could continue my walk downtown.
New apartment blocks being built.
(Enlarged and ‘HDR-edited’ section from the same photo to show you the decoration on the green wall.)
The sky still looked rather dramatic when I got down to the river in the town centre, and I decided to take a bus the last bit back home.
All in all this was a Good Day for me, though; because what happened at the hospital in the first place was that I had that ‘mole’ thing on my neck removed, which had been a kind of hovering cloud on my personal sky for months. When at long last I finally got to see the dermatologist, diagnosis and treatment only took about five minutes! It was not a cancerous growth, but a benign sebhorreic keratosis. Most of it came off easily and then she applied cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) on the rest – and now, 4½ days later, it’s all gone.
So honestly – it hasn’t really bothered me that the Midsummer weekend too has been rather cloudy and rainy and on the chilly side. It’s been good anyway!
The weather forecasts keep making promises of glimpses of the sun a few days ahead… but it’s much like chasing the rainbow. When we get there, the sun has invariably moved on again, into the future…!
The photo is from last week, but the same veiw looked pretty much the same today (maybe a few more leaves have shifted from green to red on these trees), as I walked into town this afternoon to get my seasonal flu-shot.
A few hours later and in my body it feels like the War of the Worlds has begun (my immune system against the alien invasion) … Some years I’ve hardly felt a thing, other times I do. Well. Whether it’s mostly in my mind or not, I think I’ll be going to bed early tonight…
Tussilago farfara, also known as Coltsfoot.
The name "tussilago" means "cough suppressant". Although still coughing, I was not really tempted to pick these for medicinal use when I came upon them yesterday down by the river… I was just happy to find a sign of spring!
Took the last cortisone tablets on Friday. Although still coughing, there’s been less of it today, and the good news is that today for the first day in nearly two weeks (“touch wood”) I have not felt in need of any extra asthma inhalations. Tiredness seems now to be taking over instead – I feel I’d like to sleep for a week!
Linking to Straight Out of the Camera Sunday
When visiting my health care centre on Monday because of bronchitis and asthma trouble, as part of the examination I was introduced to a Nebulizer .(Swedish: Nebulisator) It was new to me, so afterwards I looked it up to learn its name and a bit more about it.
Nebulizers are used for the treatment of asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Nebulizers use oxygen, compressed air or ultrasonic power to break up medical solutions and suspensions into small aerosol droplets that can be directly inhaled from the mouthpiece of the device. The definition of an aerosol is a "mixture of gas and liquid particles," and the best example of a naturally-occurring aerosol is mist, formed when small vaporized water particles mixed with hot ambient air are cooled down and condense into a fine cloud of visible airborne water droplets.
The first "powered" or pressurized inhaler was invented in France in 1858. This device used pressure to atomize the liquid medication. The pump handle was operated like a bicycle pump.
In 1864, the first steam-driven nebulizer was invented in Germany. The Siegle steam spray inhaler consisted of a spirit burner, which boiled water in the reservoir into steam that could then flow across the top and into a tube suspended in the pharmaceutical solution. The passage of steam drew the medicine into the vapor, and the patient inhaled this vapor through a mouthpiece made of glass.
The first electrical nebulizer was invented in the 1930s, but many people in the 1930s continued to use a much more simple and cheap hand-driven one.
Exactly what kind of electrical nebulizer it was that I used now, I don’t know. The picture is from the Wikipedia article. The one I used looked similar but not the exact same shape.
Anyway (for those of you who did not read my previous posts this week) it was a test treatment to see how well I responded to cortisone. Afterwards I was prescribed a short cortisone tablet cure to help me through the present problems (my regular everyday treatment with dry powder inhalers having proved not quite sufficient in connection with a bad cold last week)
Sorry if I seem a little obsessed by my own respiration and not much else just now… But breathing is rather essential for the rest of life, you know! ;)
Find more interesting N-words at ABC Wednesday
In yesterday’s post I asked what you thought might be the origin of a paler version of the picture above. It was created by using the ‘colour reduction’ filter in Picasa. …In the version above, I’ve added colour boost to the colour reduction ...
Cinemascope
Lomo style. Getting any ideas yet?
HDR style
Ta da! The answer is: Fizzy Vitamin C dissolving in a glass of water on my sink.
Some people believe very strongly in additional vitamin C as household remedy in connection with colds. I’m oversensitive to fresh citrus fruits so don’t eat oranges etc. (they make my mouth itch), but I do think I usually get enough vitamin C from other fruits and berries and vegetables and juices. In recent years I have not had a lot of colds; I can’t even remember when I last (before now!) had a really bad one with fever and chest infection.
However, someone mentioned their faith in vitamin C last week and as I happened to see a tube of them in my grocery shop, I picked one up. I suppose a temporary boost for a few days might do more good than harm (or possibly no difference whatsoever).
I think I would really have preferred it with fewer artificial colour additives though.
My own household remedy this week has been lots of cups of herbal peppermint tea with a little honey added. That’s between all the other cups of black, green and rooibos tea as well!
Do you have any household remedies? Or remember any from your childhood? One that I recall is that my maternal grandfather used to smear butter on skin irritations like burns or bites. (Of course in those days that would be real butter and not table margarine!)
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
~ Margaret Thatcher ~
I haven’t been able to be out and about much this week; I’m still fighting the battle with the viruses that invaded my body earlier this week. On Thursday, however, there was also a battle going on in the football field I can see from my balcony. And it wasn’t football! It was the Home Guard practicing self defense – I think. Most of the time they seemed to just be hanging around doing nothing though - and when they did take action it was all in slow motion. Just like me…
Spring is also taking things very slowly. But it’s on its way! The Clematis on my balcony has survived another winter in its pot, and is showing little buds.
“An illness is like a journey into a far country; it sifts all one's experience and removes it to a point so remote that it appears like a vision.”
~ Sholem Asch ~
Can’t recall the last time I had a cold of this magnitude. Feverish all day. Trying to keep myself upright as much as possible though because it’s better for my breathing. Been watching TV, not really caring what’s on. When I find myself watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills I know I’m not quite my usual self…
Yes that ‘w’ in mowtion is intentional.
If you don’t know what you’re looking at in the picture, it’s a robotic lawn mower.
And if you could see me, you’d still be seeing me in kind of robotic slow motion. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please go back to the post Trying to Focus Tuesday. I’m still really bothered by my eyes. I still get occasional light flashes if I move my head too fast (although less now than a few days/nights ago) and the new ‘cloud’ in my left eye is really irritating. I keep wanting to take the glasses off and polish them about every 15 seconds but of course that does not help.
In fact I feel a lot like that machine in the photo, whereever I go just now I seem to be bumping into my own limitations which don’t let me ignore them; and every now and then I withdraw to my “corner”=bed to lie still, close my eyes and reload my batteries.
Luckily I have an interesting audio book going and two more waiting, which should get me through the weekend I hope.
Watching TV also works if I keep to programs where I don’t need to concentrate too much visually. (I tried watching figure-skating but no, no, no, no… )
Also have to limit my computer time as things are just now. However, I read emails and some blogs on my phone (but might not comment as much as usual).
PS. By the way - if you have your blog settings on “show mobile template on mobile devices” that makes it easier for people to check your blog on their iPhones and Androids etc. Just mentioning it, because before I got my own Android phone last summer I never even noticed there was such an option or had any idea what it meant. You’ll find it under Settings - Email & Mobile.
“You can't depend on your eyes when
your imagination is out of focus.”
~ Mark Twain ~
As those who read my post yesterday know, on Monday afternoon I had an ‘emergency’ appointment at the eye clinic, due to another vitreous detachment on Saturday. (The link goes to a post I wrote two years ago after my first experience.)
Two years ago when I was first troubled by a floating grey ‘cloud’ in my right eye, I didn’t know what it was; and didn’t contact the eye clinic until after some weeks had passed, but the cloud in my eye still hadn’t (and still hasn’t).
This time it was a more sudden experience but now I recognized what it was when I suddenly started seeing little black spots and then they gathered into another floating cloud – on my other eye. This was in the daytime but it wasn’t until the evening that I got ‘scared’, when turning off the lights to go to bed I kept getting flashes of light in the outer corners of my eyes, especially the left one. I knew from the info I got last time that this is considered an extra warning sign.
Sunday I took things very calm and wore sunglasses outside (I was wearing those on Saturday too though). During the day no experience of flashes, but again at night.
So Monday morning I phoned the eye clinic and got an appointment the same afternoon. Same procedure as two years ago and same answers. Thankfully no damage to the retina this time either. The ‘clouds’ I’ll just have to live with and hope for the best (i.e. that with time they might settle and appear less disturbing).
I was also told, for the next few weeks in particular, not to do anything physically strenuous. Going for a walk is okay though, the doctor said, and so is reading and watching TV. Computer wasn’t mentioned, but I suppose that’s as with reading and TV: More to do with my experience of it.
I have no intention to quit blogging but I may have to adjust my habits a bit further still - we’ll see.
“What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.”
~ Ecclesiastes 1:9 ~
Two years ago I blogged about an eye problem, ‘vitreous detachment’ or PVD. Then it was primarily my right eye. This weekend I had a new attack, now primarily the left eye and also including “flashes of light” which I can’t recall having had that first time two years ago. Probably still not serious but I got an appointment at the eye clinic this afternoon for a check-up.
The first mini daffodil opened out on my balcony 3 days ago.
Since then the sun has gone back into hiding though.
The sciatica is better but now instead I’ve got “tennis elbow” problems (not from tennis!). Of course it is my (otherwise) “good arm” while on the other I have arthrosis in the shoulder.
Won’t be out and about much in either of my worlds this weekend. Luckily I have some audiobooks waiting and dvd’s.
Also have a training program for tennis elbow since before so will try to be a good girl and do those exercises and hope for the best.
“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.”
~ Oscar Wilde ~
So will you believe that two nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with an out-of-the-blue attack of sciatica down my hip and leg, apparently just from turning over in bed?!
Have you ever heard of a more idiotic injury? Actually I’ve had a few more of those in my day, like concussion from banging my head into a bookshelf, and chronic neck pain from acting unconscious in a CPR exercise. I know it’s a dangerous world out there! But until now I’ve optimistically been thinking I should at least be relatively safe in my own bed.
Anyway, also having had a rather bad spell of the other set of pains lately, it seems I have little choice but to try and slow down even further; even if it feels like giving a speeding ticket to a snail.
So yesterday I spent most of the day in bed. On top of all I also had to deal with the inconvenience of another day (8 am to 4 pm) without running water (because of repairs going on) – but just did not feel up to going out except for a short limping walk in the late afternoon. (That was nice though. Even got a few photos that might show up in my Picture Book this weekend.)
This morning the hip/leg was feeling better, and I was able to go to the rehab pool as usual. Coming home, I needed to do the washing I had had to reschedule from yesterday. This is where Irritation comes in, if not before.
Coming down to the laundry room I was Not Amused to find Someone Else’s washing still spinning in the washing machine, on my time. I decided, however, to leave it to finish the program. When I came back down some 20-30 minutes later, it was done, but still not collected. So I had to take that wet washing out first to be able to put mine in. Grinding my teeth, I put it nicely in the basket under the sink. I also had to clean up a bit after Someone. (Because mysteriously, while detergent used IN a machine cleans things, OUTSIDE the machines it becomes a dirty mess! Explain it if you can!)
When I next came down to move my washing into the drier, what do you think I found? Yes, that’s right. Meanwhile, Someone Else had been down there and put their wet laundry into the drier. So once again I had to remove their laundry (now dry) to that basket under the sink.
When two hours later I came down to collect the last of my own things, Someone Else’s things were still there. I suspect he or she did not dare come back for it until after my shift was over.
I have to confess: There are few things in this world that put me in a worse mood than having to take care of Anonymous Laundry left behind by someone consciously infringing on My Time. Once may be a mistake but twice during the same shift is not. And on a day when I hardly even feel able to cope with my own, it’s even worse. I did leave a note behind: “Please next time show respect for other people’s time.” In my mind though I was writing an essay of about 20 pages, with illustrations… (Had they come down while I was there they’d have found me in neck brace and wrist supports and still slightly limping.)
Clipart images from http://etc.usf.edu and http://clipartheaven.com/
