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(taking a cue from a friend here, with the + and the - and all)
(+) I have awesome friends, online and offline. AWESOME, awesome friends.
(+) my Presto plug-in water kettle has an automatic shut-off for when I get distracted and it boils dry. Thank you. Presto you have saved my kettle.
(+) because I like to stock up I have plenty of lovely teas and evaporated milk and good honey for said teas, and also Chai Maté.
(-) about two weeks ago now I injured my right shoulder at work. around 4 am after I did my checks and chores (in home care we do a lot of the care of the patient's environment, too- laundry, cleaning, etc.- and because I have AWESOME quietness skills I can do a lot while the lad is sleeping without waking him or his family) I sat down to chart and my right bicep felt very tight and sore, as though I'd been lifting 100lb sacks for an hour straight. I rested it for half an hour. The tightness and soreness abated. But at the end of my shift, when I have some amount of lifting to do, I found my right arm was weak.
what I SHOULD have done, in retrospect, is stop by work on the way home, report it as a work-place injury, and start worker's comp right away. Even though I was exhausted, it was going to be HOT, I needed to get to sleep, and starting the whole w/c thing takes HOURS. HOURS.
what I DID was go straight home, put ice on it, and try to get to sleep before my bedroom hit 95 degrees. And kept working. Compensating. Because, as smart as I am, as much as I would have advised anyone else to report it right away, I. Kept. Working. Because that's what nurses do. We compensate, and we keep working. We Do.Not.Stop. Oops.
So, not better by last week. went to see my doc, she wrote me off for a week, NO LIFTING so no modified duty. And in talking with her I realized I have to make the worker's comp claim. If my agency paid sick time, this wouldn't be such a big deal. If I'd saved more last year, not just enough to cover Europe but some cushion, too, it would not be such a big deal.
HOWEVER. I have started the process now. So at some point there will be some money. I've called my creditors (the few I have- student loans, etc.) and set up grace periods/deferments/lower payments/canceled accounts. I've got food and some money for fresh if I can't get it from gardens/freecycle, and enough gas in the car to get me to and from Physical Therapy. So it's ok for the next coupla weeks, and I'll know by then how it's going to play out, when I can work, and what W/C is going to come through with.
so (+) I have a job with W/C as a benefit. *whew*
(-) AND (+) EnjoyIt! is closed while I rehab. (-) because it would be a bit of income. But (+) because I can double check all my listings, see what's not selling and decide if I want to donate it instead, and work out (in my head) how I want to organize the books for easy shipping (which changes as they sell, as my stock gets smaller). So, that's good.
(+) I have this opportunity to live one-armed, mostly, for some time, so I am learning as much as I can about that limitation while I can't avoid it. I'm well aware it's not the same as a permanent change in my ability. But I'm hoping I can take the time I'd spend whining about not being able to have my own way all the time and use it to learn about myself, about this limitation, and about working with/through it, instead.
thus: (+) I have managed to get the old sheet off the bed, the new one on, and the laundry into the washer! (This is epic today, when it's usually zoop! zoop! with my magic wand, and all done.) I have soup, self-made with beans from one friend's garden (they dried on the vine, he was going to toss them out! oh no you don't! so I have shelled beans! one-handed! and made yummy soup) and fresh veg from another friend's and left-over rice from the housemates, and it is good. I have become adept at resetting my cellphone every 30 mins to remind me to take 5 mins for arm/shoulder exercises.
and I HAVE AWESOME FRIENDS. yes, I do. *nods* So, on the whole, the Early Autumn State of the Slashfairy is more + than -.
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