Isolation

I debated on and off running to the bank this morning, since I worked at noon. It didn't take very long, and I had to send out bills, anyway, so I did it. It was sunny, bright, and warmer than it has been, probably in the lower 40s. Everything's melting like crazy here. The snow on my porch is more than half-gone.

While the snow is melting in sunny spots, anything in the shade remains icy. I discovered this the hard way when I walked over a patch of ice near the train bridge over West Clinton Avenue and almost ended up flat on my face. That was really close. I'm going to have to be more careful going by there until the snow is gone completely.

I've been feeling really isolated. Of course, it's really part of a larger problem, but it's been more pronounced this winter. It's been at least three weeks since I've been able to run my regular errands, between my hours, the weather, and this cold.

Ok, colds happen to everyone, especially at this time of year. Ok, we got two historic blizzards in a row. Those are legitimate excuses. Ok, I've worked a lot. I just feel like I'm in a box, somehow. I feel like I'm a machine who stands behind a register, says "hello," shoves food around, counts money, and says "good bye." I have no life and no feelings. I can't love, and I can't write anymore. I haven't come up with a really good idea for a regular story in ages. Even our Monkee Role Plays haven't really been that great lately.

I was able to continue to ride the bike to work, still dodging traffic on the Black Horse Pike. More of the snow is melting on the sidewalk, but they aren't anywhere near clear enough to ride on.

Work was, once again, very busy. It was much busier than it has been, and this wasn't aided by being short on help. We had at least four call-outs, including my relief. It was quiet enough by the time I got off that I was able to shut down with no problems.

I took myself out to dinner at Arby's to cheer myself up after work. That was probably a mistake. My stomach's been feeling weird ever since. Maybe it's reacting to the bacon in the Chicken Club Sandwich.

I hope it's not reacting to the ice cream. I bought a gallon of light Turkey Hill Ice Cream after work. Coconut Almond Fudge doesn't sound like a flavor that would normally be called "light," but while fairly high in calories for a light (probably due to the almonds), it has less fat and sugar than some of the plain light and frozen yogurt flavors. I only buy ice cream once in a blue moon, when there's a really good sale. It wasn't the best sale, but come on...who's gonna resist a light Coconut-Almond-Fudge ice cream?