Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Wednesday, September 02, 2015

I fell asleep (imagine!)

at about 8 pm, and woke up feeling like it must be 2 am or later, when it was only 10:30 pm. My mouth was terribly dry so I got up for something to drink and I'm eating the last of the cereal and milk; I love cereal at night for some reason. I think it's because my grandfather always ate it then. Of course, he also put cornbread in buttermilk, and I despise buttermilk, so hey, go figure. We pick and choose our endearing moments, I guess.

The air conditioner is apparently completely fixed. They changed out the compressor motor, which was bad. So now it's set on 76 and it's 75 degrees in here and I'm comfortable. Amazing what a difference a couple of degrees makes, but more importantly, it's not humid or stuffy like it was. Since September has already been hotter on average than August was, this is a good thing. Still, cool weather must be on its way soon. I wore a dress today because 1) I didn't want to take the time to switch purses and it matches and 2) pretty soon I won't be wearing dresses at all. It is a pretty light dress with lots of purple, blue, and green splashes over a lavender shell, with a irregular hem that comes up in a slit on the front right. I get a lot of compliments on it. I probably spent $10-$12 on it at Gabriel Brothers last year. :) The only problem with wearing a dress, as opposed to a skirt, when you have diabetes is figuring out how best to give yourself a shot so you don't expose yourself. I hate going into the bathroom to do that--it doesn't seem very sterile. With a skirt or pants I can do it quite discreetly; today I just had to pick times when no one was looking, turn around, and use that slit to the dress well. Hey, it worked. The other thing I hate about wearing dresses, or skirts, for that matter, is that every time I get up from a seat, I'm afraid I'll get my dress hung up on my butt, or in the case of the bathroom, in my underwear. I did that once. I went out of Blimpie's restroom at Euclid and Rose, and walked all the way up the street past the fine arts building and up to the president of the University of Kentucky's house, when a nice lady pulled over her car and quietly informed me that my skirt was hiked up in my underwear. I was so embarrassed, yet so glad she stopped and told me. Really, after you've aired yourself down a major thoroughfare (and this was before they blocked off one end of the street, so it was even busier), you lose a certain amount of shame.

I'm glad we're over the hump towards a long weekend. Tomorrow I should have that ergonomic assessment and get a better idea of things I can do to help my hands, neck, and back. I downloaded some articles and put one through interlibrary loan (hey, I'm a patron, too, or more correctly, a patroness) on wrist bracing in carpal tunnel and arthritis. It apparently helps either. They're not sure exactly what's wrong with my hands--the EMG does read mild carpal tunnel, but whether it has returned after release surgery or if that's residual, it's hard to say. I did not get immediate relief from the cortisone injections, which should have helped if it was carpal tunnel. What is helping is the bracing. I didn't use the brace for the two and a half hours I 'napped' just now, and I can tell a difference. The night bracing, especially, is helping. I'm not so sure about the day bracing, when I'm using my hands. I'll ask the occupational therapist tomorrow if she thinks they're useful. It may be just having something like an ergonomic keyboard, such as the one I'm using now, would help at work. But during the day, my wrists really hurt. The compression of the Smart Glove does help a bit, and they hurt more when it's off, but on the other hand, I don't want to weaken my hands by bracing too much. I have a back brace, too, but wear it only when I'm doing something that requires a lot of back use, rather than all the time, because it can weaken the muscles. The same thing can happen to the hands. But I did find a set of exercises that help, too. (7 Hand Exercises to Ease Arthritis Pain)

I think I'll check on the news and see if there's anything good (is there ever? rarely). Then I'll head back to bed. Good night. But I leave you with this, a silly song that brings a smile to my face every time I hear it:

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