So glad that's over

I started my morning earlier than usual, having an 8:45 am ophthalmology appointment that got off to a rocky start. The automatic check-in machine insisted I did not have any appointments at Lexington Clinic East. I checked my voice mail, which verified that I did. I went looking for the office to check with them, but it wasn't on the Eagle Creek side, so I went back down to registration and waited through the regular checkout to find out that yes, I did have an appointment, paid my co-pay, got my sheet for the doctor's office, and headed up on the other side of the building, which meant that I finally got checked in a half-hour later than I normally would have.

I then had a little paperwork to fill out, followed by a short look at my visual acuity and prescription. I met my doctor (all the staff were very cordial and I'm pleased with the office; I was just frustrated to near-tears (I hate when I do that) because I was so late). And then the fun began.

The main reason for the appointment, which you may remember, is because my optometrist was concerned with my eye pressure. In the course of the appointment I was:

1. given numbing drops
   
2. examined with a machine that touches the eye and checks the pressure
   
3. had my eyes dilated
   
4. was examined by the doctor who had some steampunk gizmo that fit over his head (I'm assuming that was a look at the retina/optic nerve)
   
5. was examined using an ultrasonic pachymeter to measure the the thickness of my corneas (which can contribute to pressure issues) and
   
6. scans were taken of my optic nerve and eye tissues, which involved a staring contest with a little blue dot so that the scan could be made before I blinked.
   

The whole process (since the dilation took a few minutes and there were a couple of waits) took quite a while. I got out of there around noon, my eyes feeling very puffy and of course totally blind in the sun; thankfully they'd provided those little plastic sun glasses, because even though I have Transitions lenses and was walking and not sitting behind automobile glass, I needed even more protection.

The upshot is yes, my pressure is a little high in both eyes, and they are reasonably equal. It is not so bad as to put me on medication yet, and the nerve does not seem damaged, either. Everything we did today will be used as a baseline. I go back in three weeks to have the pressure tests again and a field-of-vision test (where they put you in a kind of satellite thing and lights appear here and there to test whether you can see peripherally, etc.) I'll have to go back at some frequency to be determined to monitor things to see if I'm actually developing glaucoma.

This was not what I really wanted to hear, but I did expect it.

There were some upsides to the visit. The doctor was thorough and impressed with my medical knowledge (well, I am a medical librarian--I recognised one syndrome he asked about because I'd run a search for someone once). There was a lovely lady who was 90 years old but looked about 65 who was very personable, and a gentleman who'd been in a wheelchair for 50 years but who'd had an exciting career in computer programming back in the 60s and 70s, who'd gone from a kid in a rural area of Lincoln county where he'd have to bike in 10 miles to read every book in their small library to college, which he finished despite being paralysed in a car crash, to calculating Moon and Mars launches. It was fascinating to hear them talk of their lives. I also saw a regular from the store who was on the phone at another office window.

After the appointment I went over to the podiatrist's office and told them that I couldn't afford the custom orthotics until January but had once bought a type of orthopaedic insole there and wondered if they had any more. So I got those and they seem to be helping somewhat.

When I got home I was famished and had nothing in the house to eat, so I ordered pizza. Yay for payday (the 1st of two this week)! After eating I laid down (yes I know, I shouldn't have) and woke up in time to put clothes on and head to work. Unfortunately it did not occur to me that after three hours my eyes would still be dilated. I was okay up near the buildings with just the regular tint on my glasses, but once I got out in the open the sun really hurt and I could barely see. It was too late to go back and get the sunglasses, or I'd have been late. So I navigated the best I could with watery eyes, and made sure to cross Richmond and Man O'War at the crosswalks and with the lights, rather than cutting across at some point. Even so, I almost got run over and someone honked even though I did have the right of way--I double checked that the light was green.

Tonight was fairly uneventful except that we have a nice young lady as a new employee whom I got to train, who also gave me a ride home, for which I'm thankful, because even though everything eventually wore off, there's always the getting home in the dark fun. There was one absolutely hilarious thing. One of my co-workers was on the phone with store support while I was on break. Apparently he put down the phone to wait on customers and forgot about it. Then his register started having buttons randomly going on and off. It lasted a couple of minutes. I told him maybe I should wait on people--it didn't seem to be happening to mine. Then it did. Some paper was printing at the printer. I thought nothing of it at first--our new employee was doing her computer-based education modules. Then I realised that the one she was working on didn't have a printout. I went over the the printer and it said: '(Co-worker's name) store support is still on the phone'. At which point I saw the phone, picked it up, and we worked out what was needed. He'd been manipulating the buttons from his end to clue us in. He heard me say my register wasn't affected and then played with mine. I'm afraid we were being somewhat dense, although in my defence I didn't realise anyone had been on the phone, and I did figure out what was happening eventually. :) It was hilarious. I went out to check the pumps that were being worked on remotely and we ended the call, and I was laughing so hard outside and continued all the way into the store. It was great. I'm not sure my co-worker found it quite so funny. :)

So now I'm home and have eaten a little and it's nice to not be at work. I thought I'd get a lot done today, but didn't plan on the doctor's visit being quite so long and tiring. My eyes were poofy for a long time and it feels like every bit of their surface has been touched and they had a real work out. It's an odd sort of feeling. But at least it's over--at least for three weeks. I made that appointment for the afternoon when I wouldn't be working afterwards, though.

I guess that's all for now. How was your day?

It was too quiet in my apartment when I got home

the aquarium's little wheel was motionless; just a trickle of water fell back down. The duckweed and evaporation had left it in that state.

I put down my things, went to the bathroom (don't most people when they come home?), and the toilet wouldn't stop, so I took the lid off and was trying to glide the balloon up just a bit when the assembly came off in my hand. The only way to stop the water running was to turn it off at the tank. I did so, and will turn it in to maintenance tomorrow. But not tonight. I was on a roll and had things to do.

I turned my attention to the aquarium. First, I scooped out as much duckweed as I could, giving the fish a chance at open water. I am coming to despise the stuff. When Brenda brought me the swords with one or two pieces, I was fine. I'd always rather liked the little plant. But I'd never seen it reach to kudzu proportions like this, either. Then I treated some water and put it in. The filter waterfall immediately sprung into life. I went ahead and fed the fish for good measure. It's been several hours now and the fish are very energised. I love watching their movements.

Today had its ups and downs. Despite setting four alarms I woke up at 9:30, enough time to get to work by 10 when I had the car, but not on the bus, so I was late. I spent all day getting a tally of how much had been spent on a grant, how much needed to be spent by end of year, and what I was going to spend it on.

I left work and took the Woodhill bus out the back for a change, because I had an eye appointment. She did a recheck of the pressure in my eyes (it had been elevated six months ago). The left eye has gone down some; the right eye is still elevated. The higher pressure and differing pressure are something to not mess with, so I've been referred to an ophthalmologist who specialises in glaucoma whose equipment is more sensitive and can find out (hopefully) what's going on. She says that from what she can see, the optic nerve itself looks healthy. The new doctor may have better ways to find out.

The nice thing was since it wasn't a full-blown exam, they just charged me $10, which was a little over what I needed to get my flexible spending card turned back on. The company turned it off due to some dental expenses that had been denied, and I had to 'repay' the amount by sending in requests for compensation as I spent in order to get that amount taken care of. It's been annoying, because the dental expenses were legitimate and because I've been only able to get my absolutely necessary meds. Now I can submit the claim and they'll turn the thing back on. While I was at the Woodhill shopping centre (my doctor's office is attached to a Pal Optical), I went to Office Depot and got some canned air (I've gone on a keyboard cleaning rampage at a friend's, at work, and now my own home) and a nice monthly/weekly planner for next year that opens up to a week per two pages, but has monthly tabs that open out for further notes and planning. It's similar to mine but more compact and I really need the weekly view rather than the daily, so that was great.

To get back to where I could make the Richmond Road bus, I had to take the Woodhill bus out because it didn't come back the same way. When I made the loop, I found the bus stop I should have taken, so I'll have a shortcut for next time. I had him drop me off by the pharmacy and then went inside to get some lancets for blood sugar testing and a travel version of my contact lens cleaner to keep in my purse. Those are also both flexible spending items, so at least I'll get the money back once I submit the claim.

I caught the Richmond Road bus from there (although it took me so little time in the pharmacy, I wound up waiting nearly the full thirty minutes) and got off at the shopping centre where I work. (I was really putting that unlimited bus pass to work). I ate at Subway (I'd gotten very hungry after all that). I stayed there for awhile finishing the book The Brief History of the Dead. I'd first tried to access it as a downloadable e-book from the library, but the copyright protection issues made it unplayable on either computer or on my phone. So I'd checked out the print and gone the traditional route. I'm glad I did. The book is beautifully written. There's not much in the way of action--it's virtually 100% description--but the language is very well done, and it quickly lured me in. The premiss is that there exists a city of the dead where those newly dead stay as long as someone on Earth remembers them (tying in with the ancient Greek idea of immortality, in a sense). As a pandemic rages on Earth, the city swells, then empties, as there remain few people to remember anyone. One survivor, Laura Byrd, is alone in the Antarctic, fighting her own battle for survival with the elements and discovering slowly that she may be the last one on Earth. The denizens of the city come to realise that those remain are connected with her, and even in death their fate is tied to her. The ending was very much an elegy on humanity, on its frailty, and on the memories that bind us together. It was somewhat depressing, I suppose, and I can't imagine it working as a movie in America because, after all, there's no desperate action by some sort of hero that turns back the spiral into oblivion and save humanity in the end. There are no explosions, no aliens, nothing of that sort, to spur movie audiences to see it. The experience of the book is in the reflection, the thoughts, the idea that death can come in hours and yet you can live a lifetime beyond death, but that there is an end to every dance. It's certainly one of the better books I've read in a long while.

I walked to the library, where I had a book due and returned it and the one I'd just finished. I picked up three more:

Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper

Despite being an animal lover, I don't normally read animal tales (although James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small series enchanted me when I was young). Plus, I don't normally pick up 14-day books. But this one just called to me. It is the story of a cat no one wanted, whose life was saved as a kitten at the expense of his eyes (and therefore vision), who should have spent his life meekly bumping into things but instead taught his human companion a lot about how to live. From what little I've read so far, Cooper's writing really draws you in as well. I'm looking forward to reading about Homer.

Sorcerer by James Byron Huggins

I couldn't resist. It's set in New England where a retired detective searching for a normal life instead is drawn into a plot involving an evil sorcerer. It even includes a sect of holy warriors. It had enough elements that match our Cthulhu game I had to give it a try.

The Whisperer and Other Voices by Brian Lumley

Speaking of Cthulhu, this is a collection of Lovecraftian short stories. I've read several of Lumley's Necroscope series, and I knew that he had contributed to the Cthulhu Mythos, but I haven't read any of those stories yet, so I thought I'd give this a shot. Apparently our library system segregates sci-fi and mystery into their own section, but files horror in with the general fiction and then puts a label on it marking it so. Hmm.

I checked the news and did some things around the house, then went to bed for awhile. Riding around on buses tires me out, and I didn't get home until after 8 pm. I meant to do my laundry; I'll try to get up early (hah!) and do some. For some reason I asked for a dollar in change because I was thinking of laundry. But you need a dollar to wash and one to dry. I already have two dollars reserved for it, but a third won't help me do another load. I'll check my purse; I may have another dollar in quarters, but I can't for the life of me figure out what I was thinking then.

That's all for now. I'd like to tell you about the giant squid, water on the moon, an HIV vaccine that cuts infection by 31%, one child, one telescope, and the census worker they found hanged here in Kentucky, but you'll just have to follow the links for yourself.