Holiday Road

I'm feeling much better, at least mentally, than I did on Sunday. With everything that happened at the Acme, Sunday would have been a bad day even without the injuries.

It could have been worse. My left knee is twisted. My right wrist is sprained. My legs and arms are either deeply bruised or just look ugly but move fine. I currently have my knee up, and both knee and wrist will be put in braces when I work tonight and were when I worked Tuesday.

I did take Monday off. I spent it with my sister Rose, her boyfriend Greg, and her puppy Kelsey at Rose's apartment in Audobon Park, about five or so minutes from my apartment. It's probably just as well I took the day off; temperatures in the Philadelphia/Camden area hit 100 Monday (and were only slightly lower on Tuesday, though they've since dropped). I spent Monday napping, watching Nickelodeon cartoons with Rose, and playing with Kelsey, who is way too cute. She licked my face, nibbled my toes, and fell asleep on one foot. : 0 )

I've tried to rest as much as possible the rest of the week, though I did work Tuesday night and am working again late tonight. (I originally had off yesterday.) I really shouldn't have taken Monday off, since I had lousy hours this week, but my knee was really killing me at that point and I was still feeling low after Sunday's myriad disasters. Calling my mom helped, and so did staying with Rose.

I finally got to chat with Lauren last night. My trip to visit her in Massachussettes next week is still on. I'm just going to have to be a little more careful with my knee. My knee is feeling better; the wrist still hurts a bit. I'm still walking slow and can't make any sudden moves on the knee.

I'm glad I decided not to call off the trip. I'd just feel lousier if I did. We've planned this for months. The change of scenery will probably help, and so will that mountain air...and being around my best friend.

Now, off to pack...

Help Me If You Can, I'm Feeling Down

I feel lousy. I feel lousy all over. I have had the worst damn day of my entire life.

I fell off my bike going to the Acme for a marathon 7 and a 1/2-hour shift. I don't remember much about what happened, only that my knee hurt too much to get back ON the bike, and crying and screaming and wailing for help. I was going past a construction site; that must be where the rock the stockboys found in it later came from.

It's a good thing I was a stone's throw (pardon the pun, but I need the humor right now) from work. I was a mess. One knee was badly skinned; I could walk on the other, but it was shaky and couldn't bend in certain places unless I wanted to scream and fall. One hand got slightly skinned (the other had a minor cut but otherwise was fine). My right arm and wrist were very sore.

So what did I do, after cleaning up the cuts and scrapes? I worked the entire 7 and a 1/2 shift.

You must all think I'm off my marbles, but I NEED the work. I got bad hours this week, and I need the money. The Acme needed the help, too. Thanks to a passel of huge 10 for 10 dollar sales this weekend (including things that you don't usually find for a dollar, like 12-pack juice drinks), the place was a zoo all day. We were short on front end help, and the managers had to be everywhere and were stressed to high hell. The baggers were no help - they were a couple of teens who preferred goofing off to doing their jobs, and the managers often ended up cleaning up the many spills the baggers refused to clean themselves. One of the customer accidents were so bad, they had to call an ambulence. I finally corralled one of the managers long enough to get a ride home (though I had to leave the bike, as it wouldn't fit in the trunk - thank you again for that ride, Jackie!).

I put ice on it, but the knee, arm, and wrist still hurt, and the band-aided hand is making typing a bit more difficult than usual. The side of my knee that hurts just touched the toilet a bit...and I ended up sitting on it, screaming and crying about how much it hurt. And no, my feet are fine. Head and neck are fine, too, as far as I can tell.

I'm scared to death. I live ALONE. There's no one here taking care of me. Almost everyone I know is on vacation. I need to use the bike to get around. What will I do if I can't ride? I hate being dependant. Plus, I'm going on vacation next week. I was going to visit my best friend Lauren in northwestern Massachussettes and we've planned this for months, but if I can't move...what am I going to do?