Tallying up the accomplishments...

[fajrdrako]

Remember my adventures with my alarm clock, back when I was first out of the hospital, which eventually got its batteries removed and was left in a waste basket awaiting re-installation?

I decided last night the time had come to start using it again: I fetched all the parts, took them back to the bedroom, and set the alarm for 7:30 a.m.

When I woke up at 7:40, I wondered why the alarm hadn't gone off. Discovered that it had: it was set to the radio, and the volume was turned down to zero. Sneaky devil. It found a way to foil me once again.

I had ordered Paratranspo to come at 8:30. At 9:00 they still hadn't arrived; it turned out the driver was lost, since my address is on one street and the front door on another. But since Paratranspo vehicles come to my building all the time, many times per day, I thought their drivers would know. Luckily, I'd left a lot of time before my physiotherapy appointment: we got there in plenty of time and I sat around the hospital cafeteria with a cup of coffee for a while. And a magazine that advertises the local yoga and tai chi classes.

Physio was fun: I can't actually put weight on my foot yet, but I can put it on the ground to stretch it. And I got exercises for my sore arm - which I landed on when I fell. Turns out to have rotator cuff problems. Ugh.

Since I can't move things around in my apartment, I'm doing the jobs I can do. So today I copied old addresses into my address book, and sorted out my file cabinet - a boring job that seriously needed attention. Bit by bit I'm dispensing with clutter and debris.

Comments

A Good Day

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

(...although, since this is now the third try for actually writing this comment, it ain't no good day no more, not from my point of view!! sheesh)

Ahem. Let me try to recapture the moment. [g]

The alarm clock! That seems both like just last week, and such a long time ago. Certainly a long time ago if you consider all the points on your journey since then. But this clock... trying to get one last jab in at you, eh? Why does it remind me of Jarvis, in "fire control" mode, hovering anxiously ever closer to Tony Stark's side just after he had set himself back down after the flying test, till Tony had to hold up a warning finger and say, "Ah -- ah! No. No! I tell you, you dust me again when I'm not actually on fire, I'm donating you to City College."

Rotator cuff. Ouch. I am sorry to hear that this is what's going on with your arm. I literally feel for you: I have the same thing, in my right shoulder/arm. But you got yours "honestly," in one quick moment of a fall, while mine was acquired slowly and tediously through ten years of repetitive Postal Service work activities. Rotator cuff problems are one of the more common repetitive-strain injuries in our place; carpal tunnel problems and knee problems are two others. I hope your exercises help to alleviate this for you. If you want to be the recipient of many good vibes, you could let me know what exercises you're to be doing for this... thank you.

The Paratranspo driver couldn't find you. Hm. This brings back the stories Sheila has told about inept and rude (clearly, untrained for the specificity of driving non-able-bodied people) drivers that she has dealt with, there. Maybe the driver just had a bad day. Hope so. But I must say, I've never noticed that your building does not have the address on the same side as the front door! Do tell!

I am most admiring of you for having done the de-cluttering which you were able to actually grasp and deal with. Contemplative activities, you have to admit.

Tomorrow is my "Saturday," and I have a front room to tidy up, but... no, first I have to go to the dentist for a filling. When I know that I'm still stuck at high-level-input in the tactile area (neckbands of t-shirts still driving me batty, for instance, and stray hairs touching the skin of my face feeling like searing burns till I can brush them away) and I know the novocaine won't work on me. Rather do the housecleaning!

Best news is that the little tiger cat is up and dashing around, again. Perky as ever! Five days of Kitten Chow did the trick, and Fancy Feast is helping too. She even doesn't feel as skinny as before -- I can't feel her backbone as I did, there, on a couple of very scary days. I feel so evil for having malnourished her... how could I have known? I guess she has a very high metabolism, she needs lots more calories than most two-year-old cats! So, I'll keep feeding her kitten food. Keep my little tiger full of sassy energy and nixiness. (And she never even knew anything was going on. Just kept that same trusting look on her face when she looked at me. Aww! Nope, kittycat, never would I hurt you. This was so close!...scary. But she's okay again.)

Re: A Good Day

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like your comparison of my alarm clock with Jarvis. It doesn't have quite as much as an attitude, but sometimes - ! Too bad it can't fetch and carry for me like Jarvis.

Yeah, rotator cuff. Something I hear a lot about. Really, my case is very mild. I can't describe what she told me to do; you'd have to have a demonstration. (E.g. massaging a very specific point in a very specific way, with a certain amount of pressure and speed.)

The funny thing is, the address of the apartment building is on the building - right above the front door, in big letters. But you can't see it from Queen Elizabeth, you can only see it from Third Ave. So it didn't help him in the least.

He was nice, though. And flustered because he'd been lost.

Contemplative activities, you have to admit.

And bizarrely time consuming. Nice to have it done, though. I'd probably never get it done if I was working all day.

Good luck with the dentist!

Re: A Good Day

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

the address of the apartment building is on the building - right above the front door, in big letters. But you can't see it from Queen Elizabeth, you can only see it from Third Ave.

So true. I hadn't thought that he'd be coming down Queen Elizabeth, as I never do, as that street has too much fast traffic for me ever to be able to look for addresses from it. I stand guilty of assuming.

Yeah, rotator cuff. Something I hear a lot about. Really, my case is very mild.

glad of that. I'll just keep varying my movements, and see if mine doesn't stay all right (which has worked so far; the pain hasn't gotten worse since I realized what was up and quit always using my arm in the same way).

Good luck with the dentist!

Sigh. The novocain worked. The filling was without sensation (pain, I mean). However... now I know that I am sensitive to the chemical in the cotton-tipped stick that they put on your gum to numb it so you don't feel the needle from the novocaine shot. As the stuff migrated around my mouth, coating the back of my throat, I almost gagged, but told myself to ignore it; later that day, the tell-tale sore throat that I'd had with the dish soap suddenly appeared, and I was crestfallen. I quickly took some Claritin and started to drink lots and eat carrots (for the fiber scrubbing qualities!). Or it could also have been something connected to the silver amalgam filling: as this was in my extreme back tooth, and it already had a small silver filling in it, he jsut used silver again. I long ago had the amalgam fillings removed, to be replaced with resin... one of my best accomplishments, I think. So. Maybe I'm also sensitive to the amalgam? But I know it was the pre-novocaine swab, too. Yuck.

Good news is that I woke up today with no symptoms.

Okay, well, I felt like crap and wanted to sleep all day.

Apart from that.

Last night, as I was talking to you, I realized that I felt horribly exhausted; I almost fell asleep in my chair, at 8:30. And then my digestion got all upset, too -- same as with the dish soap. But, as I said, today that's all in the past, thank goodness.

I live and I learn.

Re: A Good Day

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear you were able to rest, and feeling better.

I slept for 11 hours last night and hope to get a lot of sleep tonight, too.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

A little PT incentive. :-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you - thank you! It's so beautiful. I can hardly wait to be there. Walking. Walking. On both feet.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

443,520 feet long. So, if your steps each span two feet, you'll need 221,760 steps to walk 84 miles.

Sorry. It was what I had running in my head while the dentist worked on my mouth. 84 times 5,280 (which I tried different ways, first 100 times 5,280 minus 52,800 and minus... didn't like that one; forget what eventually worked for me) result divided by ten )assuming five steps per ten feet), then... final result: you'll have to take 221,760 steps to walk Hadrian's Wall. I'd use fewer, as I have a longer stride.

Well, it occupied me. Thanks for helping. [g]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Glad to be of service!

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Your alarm clock is definitely taking revenge!

Re ParaTranspo: you would think they'd have a list of odd addresses like yours.

Any better idea of when you can start putting 50% weight on the foot? Next week?

I am very impressed at your de-cluttering. Mine is going much too slowly. At least I got a few things done today.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Your alarm clock is definitely taking revenge!

I never realized it had such personality. Or such a malicious sense of humour.

Any better idea of when you can start putting 50% weight on the foot? Next week?

Maybe next week. Maybe Friday.

I am very impressed at your de-cluttering. Mine is going much too slowly.

Yes, but you got a lot of renovation done. Can't do everything at once.

Mind you, I plan to do just about everything at once as soon as I have the mobility! I am so desperate I am now fantasizing about taking up dance, or maybe kickboxing. Stop me before I do something outrageous.

Did you see the announcement of the Dunnett Gathering in Paris in October, 2010? Are you planning to go?

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Mind you, I plan to do just about everything at once as soon as I have the mobility!

B--- tried to do that: he carried his heavy camera all the way down our street back from a jazz club Monday night. His back is now regretting that impulse -- a lot. Gradually is IMPORTANT.

Did you see the announcement of the Dunnett Gathering in Paris in October, 2010? Are you planning to go?

Just saw it now. I'd really like to go, but I have to figure out if it will interfere with the city elections right then, and if I can afford it. Probably best just to start saving now.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

B--- tried to do that: he carried his heavy camera all the way down our street back from a jazz club Monday night.

Foolhardy! I guess he must have been feeling a lot better.

His back is now regretting that impulse -- a lot.

Yes. Sympathies. He earned it, but sympathies anyway.

Gradually is IMPORTANT.

My brain knows that, but I am impulse-control-challenged. Impatient. Bored. Eager to, you know, walk miles and dance the night away. Will practise restraint, with the sad example of Brett before me. I'd thank him for the bitter warning but he would probably not thank me for the thank you. [g]

if I can afford it. Probably best just to start saving now.

Yes. I can't afford it but intend to do my utmost. I could sell comic books on eBay, maybe?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I am now fantasizing about taking up dance, or maybe kickboxing. Stop me before I do something outrageous.

Heck no, stop you we won't! I think you'd be perfect at kickboxing. Can you think of anything else that would demand such balance, and energy? I'd love to see you do it. C'mon, auriaephiala -- let's find a class and sign her up!

(I'm serious, by the way. About you probably being perfect for kickboxing.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Kickboxing? I do think it will be fun. But tai kwon do is appealing, too.

[kimsrants.livejournal.com]

congrats on your awesome physio progress!
you work that foot!

love,
the OLT girls.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you. Can't believe how much I miss you all. Well, actually, I can believe it, because you're all pretty awesome. But. Immobility is frustrating and dull. Physio is magnificent, though occasionally painful.

Are you still working on the Paradise Lost graphic novel?

[filkferengi]

Yay for decluttering! That old New Year's resolution of yours, to get rid of one thing a day? I've been doing that fairly consistently the last couple of years. Of course, in practice it's more like donating a box of books once a month, but the general trend is still reduction of clutter. It's a small, manageable sort of goal; thanks for sharing it!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've been discarding five things per day lately - after having skipped the practice through January and February. It's working well. It's going to be working better when "getting rid of something" is a less difficult matter of taking something on crutches with a backpack from my apartment to 'somewhere else', whether it is the trash or the laundry room (where we share old books) or somewhere else.