December 2008 Archives

hi. my name is heather and it's been over ten days since i've driven my car.

i parked it in its spot behind my apartment building after coming home from having dinner to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday two saturdays ago. then it started snowing. then i went away for christmas, during which time it seems never to have stopped snowing.

by the time i got home (after a normally 20-minute trip from the ferry terminal taking almost 2 hours due to yet more snow), my car was utterly surrounded by the white stuff. snow was piled over a foot high on the roof. the snow on the ground reached above the bumpers and almost entirely obscured the wheels.

then my neighbour dug her car out, but piled all the snow behind my car. there's this teasingly snow-free area just a foot to the west of liselotte. unfortunately, i lack a crane or superhuman strength to lift and move my car into the snowless section. there also doesn't seem to be any hope that my building manager will even consider digging out the parking lot. hell, he wouldn't even leave a shovel for me to do it myself.

so, i've been taking public transit to work. oh, and i'm filling in for my officemate while he's on vacation. this combination means that my alarm clock turns itself on at 4:45. that's a.m., in the morning. and, i have to be at the bus stop by 5:45 a.m. again, in the morning. if i'm lucky, and i don't slip and fall on something (like i did this morning) or the train doesn't get delayed at a station because some dumbass wouldn't let the doors close (like yesterday morning), that gets me in to the office at either just before or just after 7 a.m. yes, that's still the morning.

i don't know, have i mentioned that i recently had an MRI which revealed some fairly substantial damage to my left knee? ever wonder what happens to an injured knee when it suddenly has to spend a lot more time than normal walking in slippery, unstable, snowy conditions? well, i'll tell you... it hurts! and, shockingly, when the work day also suddenly requires a lot more walking and heavy lifting than usual, it hurts even more! not to mention the requirement of wearing quite possibly the worst pair of shoes for someone with osteo issues, complete with steel toes to add extra weight and less comfort, it's a recipe for lots of yucky gimpage.

this is only day two and already i'm near breaking. it doesn't help that i landed square on my one remaining good knee when i slipped on the icy sidewalk this morning. it was a fairly graceful landing -- reminiscent of a curler throwing a rock -- but wholly unnecessary and unwanted.

the small glimmer of hope is that tomorrow could be a short day at work, what with it being new year's eve day and all. then, i'll have a day off to recover, during which i hope to beg, borrow or steal a shovel to dig out my car and, hopefully that will mean an end to this ridiculous getting up early and hour-long commuting.

after my week on the island with the luxurious ten hours of sleep a night and lazing about on the couch, knitting and watching television, this working shit is really getting me down. too bad i like a roof over my head and food in my fridge so much, or i'd call it quits right now.

update: not five minutes after clicking "publish", my boyfriend showed up at my door holding my very own blue snow shovel -- which he's currently using to dig out the hessmobile mark II. how awesome is he? excuse me while i go order pizza to feed him when he's done.

since i blew my wad on yet another car repair last week (this time it was the defrost fan motor which decided to call it quits at pretty much the exact moment winter weather started in earnest - awesome!), i've started day-dreaming about what i'm going to do with my income tax refund come March.

yeah, i know; but sometimes you just gotta have something to look forward to, you know?

so, i'm thinking about selling my Nikon D70 and buying a new D60 or D80 to replace it. i figure i could maybe get $250-300 for the D70, body only. that would mean i'd only have to shell out $250-400 more for the upgrade. bonus: i'd get to keep my lenses! i'm mostly thinking about the upgrade because i finally got up to 10,000 actuations and i think i remember reading something somewhere which said it was all downhill from there. plus, 4 more megapixels would come in handy, not to mention 100 and 3200 ISO!

of course, this is probably just day-dreaming on my part. two weeks ago i was salivating over a desk chair at Staples, but when it came to shelling out the cash i totally backed down. it's far too nice a feeling to see my bank account balances get bigger instead of smaller (or, worse yet, my credit card balances get bigger!) to succumb to the siren song of big ticket non-essential purchases.

official confirmation of my borked knee is quite soothing, in fact. it's a feeling of justification. "see? it's not just in my head!" yes, i'm petty enough to feel good about waving my MRI report in my boss' face and saying "i told you so!" because i felt the disbelief as i hobbled around the office, up and down stairs, trying hard to continue my work-required heavy lifting and hauling all with a ruptured ligament and torn cartilage. i have RUPTURES and TEARS, people!

despite the caps, i'm not even a little bitter.

how could i be? i'm going to see a surgeon; and, if i'm lucky, he'll decide i'm worthy of fixing. then, many months from now, i just might be able to get up, walk from here to there and not worry that my next step might gimp me up. again.

now that i'm waiting again and have told anyone who'll listen about my horrible injuries (snarf), i hope to not mention it again until i: a) have seen the surgeon; or, b) borked it again. if i don't shut up about it, i might just annoy people. therefore...

i've decided not to decorate for christmas this year. neither am i baking anything. i have so many other making things on the go i just can't add any more to the pile without wanting to scream. the next two weekends are booked up with birthdays and weddings. work socializing is reaching a fever pitch with potlucks, pancake breakfasts and meeting dinners. that being said, all the presents are bought and wrapped. i have a couple of cards to send out, but that's all i have left to do to prep for the celebration and i'm SO HAPPY about that.

i guess i should give up my dreams of being a runner, huh?

succumbed to pizza. i really wanted a steak, but knew i couldn't cook it well enough so i opted for the more expensive, less satisfying option. i rock! and i have indigestion.

tomorrow is a big day! it's MRI day at St. Paul's! my appointment is at 7am, so i'm hoping to arrive around 6:30 so i can find where the radiology department in time. i've never done more than just drive past the hospital, so i'm way more nervous about getting/parking there than anything else. the last thing i want is to be late and get bumped. that would make me cry.

otherwise, i'm ridiculously excited about it! i totally expect i'm going to be like some annoying 5 year old asking "what's that?" "what are you doing?" "what does that do?" "what are you doing now?" "can i take a picture?" "what's that noise?"

i'm SO EXCITED i don't even mind that my alarm clock is set for 4:45 am.

i sold two more magnet sets today. i took my latest into work and they went pretty darn fast. i have more square glass on order, but it could be weeks until it arrives, which is sad because i received three beautiful new chiyogami papers from portland in the mail and i can't wait to use them.

i had big plans to do laundry and some house cleaning tonight since i have plans wednesday and company coming on thursday and super dessert to make tomorrow, but... it's cold and rainy and dark and i'm so stuffed with mediocre pizza i think i'll just park my but on the couch and work on my latest pair of booties while basking in the glow of the idiot box.

sound good to you?