Divers Updates

That's "divers" as in diverse, a variety of,  not as in people who swim underwater.

Update #1:  Workspace Personalization and Socialization

I went out late last night to buy clear push pins of my very own.  Today I rearranged my little display of personal items a bit.  Nobody said anything today, but yesterday one person asked about the Mâvarin portraits, and the Indiana Jones picture, and Southern California vacation options.  Two other people asked about my Tuffy picture.  (It turned out one of them gave a two-year-old Tuffy lookalike to a shelter some years back.)  And I had a good conversation with two more coworkers at the end of the day about a particularly arcane and troublesome aspect of company recordkeeping.  Zorro would be proud of me--well, maybe not.  But it's progress!

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from work.  The mouse pad with the Dad & Grad photo is a promo from a recruiting and placement service, with a place to slip in a 4x6 photo.  By the way, I've never turned on the speakers to this office computer.  Not once.

Update #2:  Tick, Tick, Tick...Ding!

As of today (since it's after midnight now), my thirty day probation with Obscure Growing Company is over.  They didn't tell me to clear out my desk or turn in my parking pass, so I guess I'm staying.  Actually, that's been clear for a while, because my immediate boss has often made reference to what I'll be doing or what I'll understand better a month or six months or a year from now.  Meanwhile, I have that packet of benefits stuff to go over this weekend.  It's due at the end of the month, so I assume that means I'll be eligible for health insurance and stuff sometime in July.  Which leads me to the next update:

Update #3:  The Finger and the Ankle

I went to see Dr. L. today, on a follow-up visit about my sprained finger and ankle.  I don't currently have health insurance, but it "only" cost me $78. Worth it.

Today (again, I mean Saturday) it's been four weeks since I fell and hurt myself.  The finger and ankle are both still swollen, and for some reason my ankle's been itching a lot.  Dr. L. says that the ankle will continue to be swollen for many weeks yet, especially after I've been walking on it.  This is apparently normal for that level of sprain.  She gave me a couple of exercises to do to build up the stability of both ankles.  That would be nice, knowing my ankles were no longer liable to become sprained at least once a year. 

Dr. L's other advice on the subject was to slow down and pay attention to where I'm walking, even if it means getting up a little earlier in the morning.  "Most of my older patients fall because they're rushing, and not thinking about where they're going."  Nice to know I'm suddenly in the category of her "older patients!" :(

As for the finger: good news!  She thinks it will probably straighten out as the swelling goes away.  In fact, I think it's already a little less crooked than it was.  (It's the middle finger on my right hand: see the picture below.)  Dr. L. was minorly pleased with the improved mobility of the finger--I can almost make a fist now, a loose one--but feels I need to work to get it healed the rest of the way, even if formal physical therapy is eventually required.  "I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it really is," she said.  See, if the finger won't work with the rest of the hand and go completely where it's supposed to go, it can get left hanging out while the other fingers are tucked in.  Then it may get caught on something and reinjured.  Dr. L. was pleased, though, that mine can be tucked in with the other fingers, up to a point.  She wants me to use a theraptic squeeze toy (like the ones the Red Cross uses) to help it get back to normal.  I got an apple-shaped one recently from Apple One, in the same promo gift pack as the mouse pad.  I just this minute got it out so I can start working with it.

Update #4:  Exercise

Speaking of working out and exercising, I haven't been back to L.A. Fitness since I overdid it so badly two weeks ago.  I plan to go tomorrow.  I'm trying to get John to find his  old mp3 player for me, so I can drown out the bad rap the gym was playing very loudly the night I was there.  If John doesn't find the Rio soon, I'm buying myself a low-end iPod.  John's position is that I don't deserve one until I prove I'm actually going to work out on a regular basis.  Well, tonight I did several exercises at home with my pair of two pound free weights.  Can I have my iPod now?

Anyway, I explained to Dr. L. today about overdoing it at the gym.  She said to start with "ridiculously low" weights, and build up from there.

"I guess I was trying to prove something," I said.  "Back in the 1980s, when I used to work out on a regular basis, they called me Conan the Barbarian because I used more weight than anyone else." (To tell the truth, I was only called that once, but I was very proud of the incident.)

"Did you hear what you just said?" Dr. L. replied.  "That was a long time ago--"

"Twenty years," I said.

"--And you can't do that any more.  And anyway, who wants to be  Conan the Barbarian?"

Tonight I told this story to John.  "I do. I want to be Conan the Barbarian," he said.

Anyway, about an hour and a half after Dr. L. advised me to slow down, I ran the whole length of our office building to avoid waiting out a traffic cycle at the crosswalk on my way to lunch.  I did this outside, in 104 degree heat.  Bad mistake.  My asthma kicked in, and my lungs felt as though I'd burned them.  I was coughing for two hours, and still felt discomfort this evening at home.  I finally pulled out my Albuteral inhaler, which I almost never use.  Good thing it was hanging around my sink!

I've really got to take better care of myself.

Karen