Thankful for a good doctor

“Shining a light on Rheumatoid Arthritis” by mimitalks, married w/children (Photo credit: mimitalks, married, under grace)

I’ve mentioned before that I have a relatively new doctor.  She’s the one who added up all of the symptoms I’d been experiencing and ordered the tests for autoimmune diseases.  And she’s been willing to battle the insurance company to get drugs that she thinks will help me (still waiting on that magic elixir though).  She’s been able to fit me in when I’m feeling particularly terrible.  I can’t complain about her care, that’s for sure.

Today I had to call her office to see if she could write out a statement to give to my boss about some of the things I can’t do at work right now (his request).  I left a message and her nurse called me back a couple of hours later, asked a few questions, then told me they’d have it ready for me to pick up tomorrow.  That’s some pretty good service, don’t you think?

I have to admit, I’m concerned about my job.  I know I can’t do the things I was doing even a year ago.  And I know it has to frustrate my boss.  After all, the work still has to get done.  In my defense, I am doing various tasks that aren’t part of my job description, freeing up time for other people to do some of the things I can’t do.  But I’m afraid that’ll only go so far.

I know, I know…I’m worrying about things that may never happen.  I see the specialist next week (finally) and she may be able to snap her fingers, write out a prescription or two, and have me back to my old self in no time.  Could you maybe keep your fingers crossed that it happens that way?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 104

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Another lovely day in what passes for paradise at work.  I wonder why people think they need to be really rude to get what they want?  The first couple of customers I had to deal with came in mad and continued in that vein.  I like it when I can be all sweet to them and give them what they were wanting and then they can’t think of a reason to be mad any more.  It’s like they’re almost disappointed that I didn’t argue with them…too funny!

So…that was my day at work, busy, hectic, semi-productive…but I did get in 30 minutes of walking and who knows how much additional walking at work.

I stopped at Kroger this morning before work and stocked up on some Lean Cuisines to put in the freezer at work.  So now no excuses if I don’t have (or make) the time to prepare lunch…it’s sitting right there in the freezer.  I’m not a huge fan of the frozen dinners, but they sure are convenient…and probably healthier for me than fast food or vending machine junk.

I’m going in to work early tomorrow.  Should probably be thinking about at least getting ready for bed if I’m going to manage to get a little sleep tonight.  Looking forward to having next weekend off.  I’m trying to think of something fun to do for a few hours on Saturday, or I guess  it could be on Sunday, wouldn’t matter.  I just want to do something fun…got any suggestions?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 88

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Wow…88 days…mostly good days, a few really bad days, and some just okay days.  But through it all, I’m still working toward my goal of healthier living, increased fitness, and better overall health.  There have been some days when I thought I’d just give up, go back to my old way of life…but I didn’t…I just kind of struggled through those days in the belief that I could make it to a better tomorrow.  That’s one thing I’ve kind of figured out about life, we will always have to contend with some dark, cloudy days, there will be storms that threaten to beat us down, but if we’re just strong enough to endure, the sun will shine again and we’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.  We just can’t give up, that’s the thing.  Nobody promised it would be easy, or if they did, they lied!

I went in to work at 5 again this morning…joy, joy.  I managed to get a couple of things marked off my to-do list before we opened.  I had a couple of surprises over the course of the day.  7 am came and one of the managers who was scheduled didn’t show up…I didn’t know if he was going to close, if he’d overslept, or if he’d ended up in a ditch on his way to work.  Probably around 9:30 I was informed that he was going to close, okay…wish I’d known earlier, but okay…Then I got a call on the headset that Stefanie was here for her interview…what?  Interview?  What interview?  I knew I hadn’t scheduled an interview with anyone…so I go to meet her and bring her to the office.  Then I have to apologize to her for not being prepared…not being prepared?  Heck, I couldn’t even find her application…do you think I looked like an idiot?  I finally found her application and proceeded with the interview.  I ended up hiring her.  I really liked her and have high hopes for her.  She’ll come in tomorrow to fill out paperwork (had to wait for her background check to come back) which, by the way, I have already gathered and organized…is organization an innate ability or can it be learned?

So it was another stressful, busy day at work, but my eating was decent.  I didn’t eat breakfast, just had a glass of juice and some vitamins before I left the house.  I had a lite granola bar after I got to work.  Lunch was a small hamburger with all of the veggies and a bag of Sun Chips.  Dinner was a bowl of my vegetable beef soup, a piece of whole wheat bread with olive oil and a glass of ginger peach tea.  I actually ended up with a little over 1200  calories for the day.  Again, that was without really trying to limit my eating…just a really busy day.

I walked for about 15 minutes twice today, did some upper body strength training and range of motion exercises for my shoulder this morning.  Plus a lot of running around at work, as usual.  I guess I’m just going to do the best I can with the exercise  while I’m working so much.  I have to accept that I can’t possibly do everything every day.  Balance is the goal for the rest of the year, my busy time at work.

Are you living a balanced life?  If so, how did you get to that place?  If not, is that something that you think about, work toward?

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Break room etiquette

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If you work outside the home and share a break room with your co-workers, there are a few simple rules of etiquette that you (and they) should follow to make your breaks more enjoyable.

1. Clean up after yourself.  Now wouldn’t you think that everyone would understand this one?  Apparently there are a lot of people in the work force who think their mother  is going to come in and clean up their mess.  That’s the only thing I can think of, otherwise why would anyone leave food or beverage spills on the table?  Or a mess in the microwave?

2.  Push your chair back under the table when you finish.  Okay, this may just be one of my pet peeves, but our break room is small and, if the chairs are left in the middle of the floor, you have to shove them out of the way.  So just do everyone else a favor and slide your chair under the table when you get up.

3.  Don’t bring stinky food to work with you.  I’m thinking fish, but I’ve also smelled particularly strong garlic odors…so strong that you can smell them throughout the store.

4.  Don’t spread your stuff all over the break room table…other people need to use that space too…it’s not your personal table, it’s a shared space.

5.  Don’t eat someone else’s food.  Again, you would think this would go without saying, but you’d be surprised how often I have to listen to someone complain that their food has disappeared.

6.  If you bring food to share with your co-workers, bring enough for everyone.  People tend to get their feelings hurt when someone brings food to share with everyone except them.

7.  If you bring food to share, make sure it’s still good…don’t bring something in that’s past its expiration date….yuck!

8.  Take your lunch bag, containers, coffee mugs, water bottles, etc home with you at the end of the day.

9.  Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter or table. 

10. Don’t leave shared food that needs to be refrigerated out on the table.  Surely you don’t want to make anyone sick…right?  Right?

11. And last, but definitely not least, clean up after yourself.  Oh, I already mentioned that?  Well, it bears repeating…as far as I know, your mama doesn’t work here!

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 80

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Sweet…80 days..and today was a pretty good day on the eating and exercising front.  Maybe, just maybe, I’ve got this thing turned around again.

I walked, biked, did core strength training and some stretches today…oh yeah, and worked a truck…lots of ladder climbing, running around and lifting heavy (and some not so heavy) boxes.

I also ate well today.  I have tomorrow’s meals and snacks packed.  Yes, you heard me…tomorrow…Chris said he needed me to come in for a while tomorrow so I went ahead and packed up my healthier food options.  We’re going in at 5 am and I can guarantee you I won’t feel like cutting up cantaloupe before I go.

This is going to have to be super short tonight because I really, really need to get some sleep.  How was everyone’s day after Labor Day?

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Labor Day, 2013

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Today, despite country-wide protests from workers, President Palin signed an executive order which effectively changes the meaning of Labor Day.  From this day forward, anyone in the work force who earns less than $100,000 per year will be required to work on Labor Day for no compensation.  The president explained her decision about this change…”There are too many people in our great country who are leeches, don’t you know?  It’s time for the people who have been standing around with their hands out expecting businesses to just give them, you know, things like money when they really aren’t doing anything all that special to earn that money, it’s time for those people to help our county by working one day for free.  That money will be put to better use if we allow the wealthy and big businesses to do whatever they want with it.  Our country has always been about business and making money, not about taking care of the poor.  If you remember your history lessons, you’ll remember it was Paul Revere who made the first silver dollar right after he rang the Liberty Bell and  told the British invaders that we had guns and weren’t afraid to use them.  So if  Paul Revere could make money, why can’t all these other people go out there and do the same thing?  This is America, people.  Wake up!  Labor Day is about business, it always has been.  And business is like Paul Revere, interested in making money.  So we will help those businesses make money.  All of those people who have been taking and taking are now going to have to give some back.  That’s what America is about. ”  (wink, wink)

On a side note, when reporters asked President Palin to explain her desire to invade Canada, she replied, “Now you liberal, do-gooders in the media don’t want to talk about this, but you know that there are a lot of terrorists hiding out in Canada.  You might not believe it, but it’s true, just ask my good buddy, Vice President Dick Cheney.”

Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt…is that my alarm? What day is this?  What year is it?  Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it’s 2011…what a nightmare…

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 79

Image by Bob Jagendorf via Flickr

This was a good day as far as exercise and eating goes, everything concerned with work?  Well, that’s another story.  It was crazy busy today and that kept me from accomplishing much of anything and we have so much we need to get done.  Just take a deep breath, it’ll happen.  Just not today.

For exercise, I walked and did lower body strength training this morning before work.  Then I rode the exercise bike this evening.  I was never so thrilled as I was when the timer went off tonight…okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you know what I’m saying.  That’s why I like to work out before work, because I’m always just so darn tired after work.  But I did it…good for me~

I ate exactly what I’d planned, nothing from the vending machine.  I have to admit, one time I walked back into the break room and would have bought something from the vending machine but I didn’t have any ones in my pocket.  That’s one way to avoid buying that stuff, just don’t keep any money on you.  So I just sat down and talked for a few minutes.  That was just as good as chocolate…hahaha!!!

The temps here have finally cooled down.  I actually wore a jacket to work this morning.  And needed it.  I think it’ll be down in the 50s every night this week and just in the 70s during the day.  I love this!

Well, tonight it’s going to be early to bed for me.  We have a truck tomorrow and I need some sleep.  I hope you all are having pleasant weather as well as pleasant dreams!

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Are you looking for a job?

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With the economy still struggling from the recent recession, a lot of people are looking for any job they can find….part-time, something they may be over-qualified for, just anything to bring in some money.  Knowing this is the case, knowing that there are literally hundreds of people applying for every job opening, why would you not do everything possible to make a good first impression?  After all, in this job market, that first impression may be the only chance you get to make any kind of impression.

I speak with job applicants almost every day, most of the time on the phone, but there are the people who just walk in and want to talk about employment.  If you’re just going to show up and expect to talk with us about hiring you, there are a few things you might want to consider.  First, and possibly one of the most important things for you to do on any job hunt, dress appropriately.  Don’t show up wearing shorts and flip-flops.  Don’t come in wearing dirty clothes or with your hair oily and stringy.  I can guarantee you we will not hire someone who comes in looking like that…if you can’t be bothered doing some basic grooming before you come in to ask us for a job, why would we assume you’d do so after we hired you?

Don’t tell us you’re looking for any job you can find, even if that’s the truth.  Be able to tell us why you want to work for us, what you can contribute to our company, why you’d be a good fit.  Yes, this takes some time on your part, but you need to be prepared before going to any job interview.  You will be asked those types of questions.  Saying, “I don’t know.” or mumbling some evasive answer won’t get you the job.  Being able to tell us how we can benefit from hiring you will at least get you considered for a position.

Open availability is a plus.  Don’t come in and tell us you can only work weekdays…this is retail.  We all work weekends and holidays…that’s what you do in retail.  On the other hand, don’t lie to us and tell us you can work any time and then change that once we hire you.  You’ll find yourself with very few hours in that situation.

Speak up.  Shake hands with a firm grip.  Make eye contact.  Smile.  Speak intelligently.  We want to hire you if you can show us that you would be an asset to our company.  Believe me, we see so many people that we wouldn’t hire under any circumstances, that to see someone who manages to impress us is a treat. 

We’re looking for good help.  Have you ever heard that good help is hard to find?  Believe me, it is.    And the sad thing is that it’s really not that difficult to convince us that you can be that good help, but so few people are willing to take the necessary steps.   

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Early morning solitude

Image by me'nthedogs via Flickr

I’m sitting here right now listening to the crickets.  It’s such a soothing sound.  See, I usually miss that in the morning because I turn on the tv to catch the morning news…you never know what might have happened while you were sleeping….heck, the conservatives might have overthrown the liberal government in the town where I live (not likely to happen, thank goodness, but if it happened while I was sleeping, I’d like to know about it before venturing out into a world where everyone is carrying loaded handguns and insisting that everyone pray to their God, rather than to whatever God you might choose to worship), the stock market could have made a miraculous recovery and my 401K could be worth millions this morning (I’d hate to find that out after I got to work  because I’m not sure how I’d explain to my boss that now that I’m a millionaire, I’m taking early retirement, so “see ya”…hmm…I guess that’s exactly how I could tell him), or the rest of the world could have been destroyed by that perilously close meteorite, which, I guess, as long as I’m hearing it on the morning news, would mean that my little corner of the world missed the destruction part of the meteorite hit so what would I be worried about…well, other than the loss of life and stuff in other areas of the world.

So anyhow, I guess this is my way of expressing how I’m glad I  took the time to listen to the crickets this morning…of course, if one manages to find its way into the house, Spooky will literally tear it limb from limb…not a particularly peaceful beginning to the day for the cricket, is it?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 47

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Ah, sheesh…I really didn’t want to have to post this…I ate a cherry pie from the vending machine at work today.  I was hungry (no food left in my lunch bag), tired and stressed…not a good combination for me, and I caved…and that’s not even the worst of it.  I was going to get a bottle of water from the Coke machine (I know that’s not the green way, but I really wanted it), put my money in only to find out that the water was empty.  Unfortunately, this machine won’t return your money…stupid machine.  I guess I could have walked away and just considered the dollar to be a  random act of kindness, but I didn’t (wasn’t feeling all that kind by that time), so I pushed the button for the diet Coke.  I don’t even really care for diet Coke that much.  I drank about a third of the bottle, so at least that’s something.  I’m trying to put a positive spin on this so that I don’t get too angry with myself, but it’s hard.  I’ve been doing so well and didn’t continue that streak today.  So, it’s time to start a new streak…I’m going to do it.

I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep last night.  I simply stayed up too late writing.  Better than staying up too late eating, right?  Then I went in to work an hour and a half earlier than normal, so didn’t work out before work, which I knew I wasn’t going to do.  Worked like a maniac on the truck though…that’s a pretty good, day long workout.

So, my goals for tomorrow…eat only what I bring to work (and make sure I actually bring enough to eat), get at least a short workout in, and get at least 7 hours of sleep.  Nothing too  difficult, I should be able to do it all. 

What about you?  Do you have a difficult time forgiving yourself for your slip-ups?  Do you allow those slip-ups to completely derail you or are you able to just shrug them off and continue moving forward?

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