Och! My aching back!

Och! Some much for my idea of doing 500 words per day for blog posts. Damn. I am so far behind on that. And it is not laziness or other obligations getting in the way. Well, okay, maybe a little bit of laziness, but for the most part not. Shortly after I decided to do this little project I wound up hurting myself at work. I had gotten tired of the condition of the cooler and decided to do something about it.

Yea. Very good idea on my part. REALLY! First thing I did was pick up a nearly empty milk crate, it has like four quarts of heavy whipping cream, and I felt the muscles in my lower back spasm and a do a little ripple across the spine. Now, I should have known that that was a clue not to do any more lifting that shift. Or at least not as much as I proceeded to do. But I was in a snit and wanted to do something to work off my frustration.

By the time I was done in the cooler you could see the floor from one end to the other. Everything was neatly put away on proper shelving, and the reach-in shelves were stocked completely.  Not very often I get to do that from start to finish in one shift, so I was quite pleased with myself. Unfortunately, it didn't take but a day or two for the cooler to turn into a complete again, but it was done. (Seems the boss got a wild hair that same week to recorganize the back room....and he did the same thing to his back.)

So, standing, sitting, laying down. They all hurt after a while. And taking ibuprofen or other pain relievers is not doing much good anymore. I either have to live with it or break down and go to a doctor about it. It may have been work related, but after two weeks there is no way I convince them to cover the bill. So I am SOL on that end. No insurance right now, so I think I will live with it and hope that I do something to put everything back in place. Yes, I am stubborn.

I do take ibuprofen and or tylenol on a regular basis right now to deal with the pain, but it does little good.  I have been wearing a lumbar belt whenever doing any required lifting at work. Damned things just as big of a pain to wear as it is to go without, but I do feel it keeping things where they are....if that is what I really want. I dunno. I suppose it would help even more if I managed not to fall asleep on the sofa every day this past week.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda...but didna.

/thud/
I was laid off from a retail hobby store in January of this year. Finally, after MONTHS of hunting for work, I went back to a former employer with my hat in hand and tail between my legs. Here is a basic run down of the conversation last Thursday:

"Hey, Sandi, I brought my friend Michael in to apply with you and I thought I would see if I could talk to you."

"Let's go back to the conference room."

"Okay." And we go into the conference room.

"Dr. Phil, what can I do for you?"

So I told her the story and we talked about what happened when I left the previous time I worked for them. Confusing thing, that. No one really knows what happened. I went in to work, was told by the receptionist that they were under the impression I didn't work there anymore. They called their boss and I called mine. My boss said the client fired me, their boss said I was still able to work there. So no one really knows.

"I'll have to talk it over with Jon and get back with you."

We return to the lobby and Michael is ready to turn in his application. Jon comes out of his office, "Hey, Dr. Phil, what's new with you." And I told him briefly. He couldn't remember what happened but said for me to go ahead and fill out an application. So I did.

Less than half an hour ago I got off the phone with Sandi. I go in tomorrow morning at 10 to fill out my rehire paperwork.

Woot!

Now, I shoulda gone in back in January. I probably woulda been working this whole time. But I didn't know if I woulda been hired back, coulda at least tried. But I didna until now.

Oh, well. Back to work. Janitorial services at a manufacturing plant. Not the most glamorous job, but it is a pay check and I get to work with some neat people!