Tub, Continued

So, they came again today, at 1:00, which was a much more reasonable time. I just got home, to find my bedroom window coverings wide open, the window cracked open (seriously, why not just open it all the way?), and my bathroom door shut with a note on it saying not to TOUCH the tub until 5:00 tomorrow. Why shut the door with the window open is a mystery. . . and I guess that means I won't be showering before work at 4:00, but that's not even the bad part. I mean, the smell is ridiculously unpleasant, but I'm feeling a bit violated. My carpet is covered in paint chips, stuff was moved from my bathroom floor, the bathroom sink counter, my towel is in my bedroom along with the shower curtain, there's a wadded up rag (not sure if it's mine or not) in my kitchen sink (which is also a mess now), it looks like they just tossed things wherever. But, here's the kicker - they moved stuff on my bed. And I'm not talking about putting anything there. My pajamas were moved to the chest at the bottom of my bed, and I always lay them across the bottom of my bed. What did they do - take a nap? I'm a bit disturbed. And even though the whole thing pretty much makes me want to take a shower - I can't!

Tale of a Tub

This is how my tub looked after I stepped in it last week and it cracked. (Above)
This is how it looked when I got home today after leaving my house before 9 in the morning so that they could come fix it. (Below)




This is me not being happy. (I spared you the picture on that one!)

Eeeek!

So, I realize that I never post anything very nice on here, but then again, it is my blog for whining on. Whining away. . . This new job has got me beyond stressed. Ended up tonight, at 10 o'clock with 577 jobs left to do, with 5 people remaining. We cleared them out in an hour and 45 minutes, which was pretty much a miracle. Every way I ran the numbers it was going to take us 4 hours and we were going to miss deadline, and I was going to get fired. I'm still a nervous wreck. And tomorrow my boss leaves and won't be back until Tuesday of next week, and tomorrow the co-team lead doesn't work. So that leaves me. By myself. All alone. And scared. Very scared. I'm thinking of taking up drinking.

Remember the whole debit card thing?

Yeah, it's worse. My Netflix account is suspended. I had to call my internet provider and beg, because a card is the ONLY way they accept payment - so I'm on a seven day extension that's about to run out. I had trouble with my cell phone, although they took my bank account info to make a payment. I'm about to have trouble with my car insurance payment. And the card still hasn't come! So I just called the bank. My card was returned to them on the 8th and shredded. They said something about the wrong address, but that doesn't make any sense. Even if it was the previous address they sent it to, my sister would have got it to me. There was an option to expedite it. $30 to have it in 3-5 business days, but you had to have someone at the house to sign for it. As opposed to the free shipping with 5-7 business days. Totally would have paid it for next day, at this point, but it didn't seem worth it otherwise. This whole thing is so frustrating. My emergency cash is all gone, and I hate having to go into gas stations instead of paying at the pump. This card better stinking come fast! It's the first time I've regretted not having a credit card.

Some days you just shouldn't get out of bed . . .

So, yesterday I took off work for a floating holiday. I was attempting to sleep in, when I got a call from Verizon about switching my phone over, which I'm not interested in doing. I went ahead and got up. Then, I got a call from the bank, telling me that there was fraudulent activity on my debit card, so they cancelled it for me. Went to Big Lots to return some stuff, and since I no longer had my card, I got to walk around for a while trying to spend $16 on stuff I really didn't need. I now own a lot of pens. Smith's had nothing on manager special, which made me sad. I came home to find a note on my door telling me that they were repaving the parking lot, which meant I'd have to park on the other side of the complex for the next week. And I asked about my package, which still isn't here, even though I ordered it forever ago!

Other than that, a great day!

Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from IPH

Okay, not really. But, one of my sisters asked me today how I kept my temper and was so patient. In her defense, she's sleep deprived and might have mistaken me for one of our other sisters. But my immediate answer was: ice pick headaches. Chronic pain does do one thing well besides destroy lives, it teaches.

What I've learned:

Don't take things for granted. Seriously. Your good health, your pain free moments, a child's giggle, your parent's hug, a beautiful sunset, holding hands with someone you're giddy about. Nothing and nobody is around forever. Don't miss it.

Life sucks. Really, it does. And then sometimes it gets worse. But, it always has the potential to get better, and even at its suckiest, life is wonderful. There's always something to treasure in the wreckage. I really like the quote "Don't be sorry that it's over - be glad that it happened."

You can endure incredible punishment. And if ever I get tortured, this is going to come in really useful, I'm sure. But if your body won't ever give up, then why should your soul?

Other people's problems still suck. Not that I wouldn't mind trying the too rich/too beautiful problem for a while. . . But every time I think of how unfair my problem is, I can never think of anyone else I would want to trade lives with, because I know I can deal with my problems - and I don't know how I would deal with theirs. Except, of course, with the above caveat - I have some ideas for that one. . .

It's okay to ask for help. Although I've never been one of those gifted people that actually know instinctively how best to help others, I do try to help, in my own clumsy way, and I've never considered it an inconvenience. I just don't like to ask for help for fear of inconveniencing other people. Gradually, I'm realizing that those other people are happy to help. Especially if they've offered.

Just because you feel something, doesn't mean it needs expressed. Or, as one of my sister-in-laws says: you can hurt without crying. Not that I don't do my share of tears. But, I've learned that if I can laugh when I want to scream with pain, then I can not yell when I'm frustrated, and not throw things when I'm mad. Yes, this is something people often learn earlier in life - but I'm a slow learner.

Sometimes the best way to conquer things is to accept them, rather than fight. Something I'm still trying to learn. . .

I still think I could've learned these lessons an easier way. Like reading them from someone else's blog.

Step One: Identify the Problem

I've been sick since Thursday. I know, I never get sick. But I woke up feeling horrible, and after puking called in sick. Tried to get up with a positive attitude and go to work on Friday, but after trying to get dressed left me sweaty and crying (and not dressed), I gave up and called in again. I just spent the last four days possibly more miserable than I've ever been before, napping on the bed, watching TV on the couch, visiting the bathroom frequently, lying on the floor because one of those destinations was too far away from the other. . .no fun. So, in trying to figure out what it was/is, here's what I'm working with:

SYMPTOMS:
fever/chills
huge bloated solid tummy
stomach cramps from hell
heartburn
nausea/vomiting
headaches
dizziness
general feeling of weakness like something is sucking my life's energy
extreme fatigue
full body ache
lower back pain
not hungry

CONCLUSION:
alien baby

Seriously, what else could it be?

Tale of Two Services

I've been putting off getting an oil change for over three months now. Sadly enough, it's something I feel guilty about every day, but even that wasn't enough to get me to do it. I hate oil changes with a passion. Finally, I decided to bribe myself. I made up a list of 25 things I've been putting off for way too long, and determined a reward if I complete the list in a reasonable amount of time.

So, I set out today for an oil change and a passport photo (2 actually - one to renew my passport and one for my concealed carry permit). I ended up at Walgreens first, where I stood in line for 10 minutes behind one person who was picking up various photos. Eventually, my patience was rewarded by the "service" person telling me that a weekday morning (between 9-11 specifically) was the best time for passport photos. She would (reluctantly enough) take my picture right then, but I would have to wait until after three to pick it up. Crushed and defeated, I said an insincere thank you and left, cursing myself in the parking lot for not just going ahead and taking the dang picture.

My next stop was at Big-O, mostly because I had a coupon from them. Yes, same company that actually dented my car with my last service - but different location. I walked in there and waited another 10 minutes while three guys talked and joked with one customer. About eight minutes in, another customer (male) walked in and waited by the counter. I was in line behind the chatterer. When he left, the counter guy (the other two had wandered off to do who knows what by this time) looked at the male customer and asked if he could help him. I left, with a great deal of attitude. Seriously?

Highly upset, I decided to go to JiffyLube. Much more than I ever want to pay for an oil change, but I remember them being quick and friendly. Before I'd even walked in the door, a guy asked what I wanted, took my keys, and held the door open. They had my oil changed in less than 15 minutes and were very nice doing it. And, yes, it was super expensive - but so worth it!

Then I thought I would try another Walgreens, since I had another errand close to a different one. There was nobody at the photo counter, but after waiting for a couple customers, I asked the cashier and she sent someone right over. They took my photo and told me to wait 15 minutes for the print. Really, it was that easy.

My point being, assuming I actually have a point - decent service pays off! And, I finally got the oil change - YAY!

More Whining

The heel fell off my boot today. And why am I still wearing boots when it's spring, you ask? Well, because I haven't painted my toes yet, and I like to have them make their sandal debut looking lovely. Which means I should probably paint my toes. Or find a love for athletic shoes, but who are we kidding?

And apparently, although it's comforting to know that I have enough clothes to get me through three weeks of doing no laundry, it makes for some very heavy laundry bags when I finally get around to doing it. But, some random guy gave me his card with $10 left on it, so it's pretty much a win.

Current painful things in my life:

- annoying people at work with drama and loud voices
- internet dating
- trying to peel frozen bananas
- tummy ache from too many cucumbers
- strange back strain (possibly due to very active dreams)
- dealing with people who repeat questions after I've already told them the answer (and we're talking adults here)
- having to wait for my holds to come in at the library
- knowing I still have boxes in the trunk
- IPHs

Other than that, things are going well. Oh, here's a random thing I thought was funny. You know how Obama likes to say "Let me be clear"? So does the bad guy on the TV show Alias. It cracks me up every time I watch it.

I learned about all sorts of things

since I went through a couple of National Geographic magazines this morning waiting for my chiropractor. Apparently my head and neck were all twisted. Oh, and my regular headache is gone - if anyone cared. Now it's back to just super bad IPH. Which I expected, because they normally get worse for a couple of days after an adjustment. Hopefully they'll be better after that.

Anyway, as I was lying there and he was working on my head, he asked, "So what have you been doing lately?" Not sure exactly what the question entailed, I must have communicated my confusion somehow, because he clarified with, "To enjoy the experience of being alive?" I just laughed and said, "Not much", but I've been thinking about his question ever since, and I still can't think of anything. Do I really not do anything worth answering the question with? Because that is just very sad.

More Headache

So, I have a headache. Yeah, yeah, I know I always have a headache. But this is a regular headache - on top of (or underneath, who knows?) the IPH. It's a fairly rotten regular headache that I've had for the last couple of days. Just for the record, I think it's unfair. And I'm even grouchier than usual.

In non headache related news, I managed to papercut my lip today. Apparently getting paper from the printer is dangerous. Now I'm just wondering if I'm clumsy because I'm tired, or tired because I'm clumsy?

Ouch!

These are my bruises from where I slammed a car door into my leg yesterday. They look much more impressive in person.

A fragile creature. . .

I was not designed to work 13 hour days. Just sayin'.

Hiccups

Totally random, but I just got the hiccups, which I really really hate because they hurt and they annoy me, and I tried a drop of sandalwood oil, and it worked! So fun. I love my oils.