Garbage Day (in oh, so many ways...)

I hit the snooze button on the alarm once, but then got up when I remembered it was garbage day. I put on two cups of coffee, shaved and showered and then got dressed.

I gathered up the last of last night's trash and took three bags out to the road. Now, I normally only have two on the days I don't replace the kitty litter, but the third bag came from the garage cleaning and sorting last week.

Back inside, I got a cup of coffee and watched the Today show for a bit. Then I went into work.

When I left work at lunch, it was sprinkling. The first thing I did was to grab a garden rake and my bag of grass seed. I took those out back and heavily seeded the ground-up stump area. I raked the seed in and then went inside to make some lunch. It's supposed to rain off and on for the next several days, so maybe I can get the new lawn to take without too much watering (and expense) on my part.

By the time I left for my physical therapy appointment, the sun had come back out. At rehab, I was reunited with my old physical therapist, Maureen (see "National Physical Therapy Month" in the Poems section of this website).

She was thrilled to see me again, but I told her, "You are a dear, dear woman to me, but I really hoped I'd never see you again!" She laughed...

So, my doctor had ordered only passive arm movement above my shoulder (active being if I pick it up, passive if she picks it up, you see). She seemed a bit concerned with the length of time between my surgery and the rehab (apparently that's like "old school" thinking). But, after I did the "below my shoulder exercises" I laid down and she slowly raised my arm above my shoulder (first time in almost eight weeks). She said to sing out when I felt pain.

Oddly enough, no matter what she did, it never hurt! She said, "Damn, he is a good doctor!" I reminded her he did my second knee replacement. While we were working, we caught each other up on our lives (it's been like over four years or so). The yearly Irish woman's fund raiser (named after her mother) was last Sunday (It's a chocolate tasting event) and was a big success (although she's still exhausted from it) and her brother (who has Parkinson's and MS) fell and broke his hip two weeks ago.

I forgot to ask her if she ever married her Lithuanian boyfriend, but I have time, I guess...

So, I went back to work. I left there about 3:45 PM to go to a meeting with Human Resources to find out the implications of my recent change of status. It was as I feared: no more benefits, no sick pay, no vacation accumulation, no Holiday pay and a monthly cost for Cobra (to maintain my healthcare for only the next 18 months) of around $400.00 per month.

I walked upstairs after the meeting to the Facilities department. My old friend and ex-employee Michele had written an email to Jake late last week, asking him to contact me and see when she could stop over at lunchtime. He told her I was now back at work.

We had a wonderful hug and exchange of greeting and then she proudly went to a fridge to give me a container of pumpkin soup she wanted to drop off (if you remember, we often swap foods we make). I told her of my new situation and she commiserated. Her husband had his hours and benefits cut just two weeks ago, as well.

When I left there, a bit (no a lot) discouraged (other than that hug), it was raining like hell. So, I slowly drove through standing water and got home about 4:45 PM.

I had plans to do more work around the house, but I really didn't feel like doing it. My shoulder didn't really "hurt" from that workout, but it was sore.

I made Sloppy Joes for dinner and ate them on a couple of sour dough English muffins (I have convinced myself they are healthier than regular hamburger buns). I talked with B___ for a bit, watched some TV and went to bed early.