The Week In Review

My last post was a mere snapshot of events I wanted to discuss but had no real context. So, I'll go over some of those today and I'll fill you in on what has happened since then.

I was mildly excited about the city-wide garage sale in Cushing last weekend but I didn't make it. I woke up way too early and was extremely tired. I decided to hit a couple of local sales before heading to Cushing. As I was driving between sales, I got this really odd feeling of dread. It was more an anxiety attack than anything else but it hit me out of the blue. For that reason, I decided to stay local.

As I normally do, I grabbed breakfast at Carl's Jr for the wife and I before going home. I finished breakfast and all but passed out I was so tired. I slept for a couple of hours and woke up with a headache that felt like someone had stuffed my sinuses with lead. I already had a heat rash that I knew was caused by a mild infection so I headed to the walk-in clinic where we decided that I had a sinus infection.

The doctor prescribed Doxycycline because it would treat the sinus infection but is also secreted through the skin and would help the rash. One of the side effects is that it also makes you photosensitive. So, Sunday I was out mowing the lawn. I was taking breaks more frequently than I usually do and was staying inside longer to cool down more before going outside and continuing. Plus, I was drinking plenty of water.

About half way through the back yard, I decide to come in for a break. I'm not feeling especially ill or hot or anything, just a little fatigued. No sooner did I sit down and take a couple of drinks of water than I noticed I had a monster headache... at the base of my jaw.

Of course, the very next thing I did was to make sure I didn't have any chest tightness or numbness in my arms... nope, good there. It felt like someone had dug their thumbs under both sides of my jawbone at the bend and the pain was radiating through my entire head. It was a bit unnerving. I stayed inside and waited about four hours before stepping outside to put the mower away. Now I have this big patch of tall grass in the center of my back yard... I really gotta get a self-propelled mower.

The wife had gone shopping with a friend and called me to tell me there was a vacuum cleaner on sale. She had told me our current vacuum was not working properly. I checked the one in the house. Suction on the hose: Check. Beater bar rotates: Check. Bag not full: Check. Suction from the bottom of the vacuum: Check. Picks stuff up off the floor: Nope. Best I could figure (after she'd bought the new one) was the brush roller is worn out and doesn't actually come into contact with the carpet anymore.

Anyway, she bought a Kenmore Quick Clean bagless upright. I had spilled something dry but small onto the floor Sunday so I decided to give the new vacuum a test. I vacuumed a two square foot area that didn't *look* terribly dirty. When I checked the canister, there was enough pet hair to knit a small kitten! I was immediately sold.

The week started out normally. Monday and Tuesday passed without generating anything worth mentioning. As I was drying myself off after my shower on Wednesday, I got a sharp pain in the upper part of the left side of my neck. My right shoulder was already hurting right where the shoulder meets the neck so I was suddenly in some serious pain. I could barely move without getting another sharp stab of pain.

I called in sick and laid down until the doctor's office opened. I made an appointment but had to wait another 90 minutes or so. By this time, my neck had loosened up some and it wasn't quite as horrific but I was still walking around with my head tilted to the right like a curious dog becouse I couldn't straighten up my head.

Three hours after arriving at the doctors office, I walk out with a tired neck, a couple of new x-rays in my file, an anti-inflamatory injection (Deposomtherin, I don't recall exactly), samples of a muscle relaxer (Skelaxin - good stuff! Effective but doesn't gork me out), and a prescription for Mobic (an anti-inflamatory). I spent most of the rest of the day in bed.

Thursday morning came but I was still hesitant to drive the hour to work and sit in a mid-back task chair holding my head up all day. There were a couple of points during the morning that I felt foolish about my decision but it turned out to be a good thing I stayed home. I ran to the store to pick up a few things we were out of. I wasn't out more than an hour and I had a huge headache and stiff neck by the time I got back.

I made it to work on Friday and was extremely glad I had those drugs. There were a couple of points where I squished down in my chair such that my back and legs were definitely in a non-ergonomic position but I could rest my head against the back of the chair. I also found out that we had done some realignment within our group and I was now working for a newly hired manager. Same job, same desk, same pay, just reporting to a different person.

I woke up early again this morning but managed to get back to sleep for another hour or so and was pretty well rested. I managed to complete many of the items on my weekend to-do list. The sales were decent to me this morning and I picked up a few things with the wife in mind. I almost bought a pocket-sized digital camera and gave serious thought to a Palm Zire 21 (about the same as my m105 but it has a rechargeable battery) and a set of 4.1 computer speakers... but I kept my money in my pocket on those items.

Well, I think it's about time for another round of medicine so I will leave you all to have a nice rest of the weekend.

OH! I almost forgot... Tomorrow, June 29, is my parents' FORTY-FIFTH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!