(no subject)
Been working both outside and inside because the weather fluctuates between too wet, too hot, or just right for working outside. On the inside days, I started to reach and pull out my blazers & jackets from the back end of the one closet, only to discover that the cats (one small black one in particular, I’m sure) have been pulling the jackets down off the hangers, making a nest of them, and pissing and shitting in them. It is gross beyond imagining. I hadn’t been into that part of the closet since last winter, so this was an unwelcome surprise. This explains the unholy stench in the area which I was blaming on the litter box, even though Tim was keeping the box clean. So I’ve been reaching in and grabbing stuff (access is mostly blocked by a chair (living room style, not a dining chair) and boxes of things and there is no room to move those things. Grab the stuff, unfold back up and out, and put the items in one plastic bag or another, for throw away instantly or try and wash. Then wash, using Febreze laundry stuff, Oxiclean, Borax, and detergent. Run through rinse a couple of times. Hang on line so they dry in the sun. Then carefully sniff each and every item as it comes off the line. Place in giant pile growing on sofa for ironing, after the closet is completely cleaned and un-stenched. Things that can slip off hangers will be clothes pinned to the hanger, so the cat cannot pull it down. I blame this on Small Natasha, the evil creature, who likes to make nests in hidden places, and, when she gets tired to sleeping in them, shits in them. This is, however, the first time she’s done this kind of damage. Also, I will no longer go months between looking into closets or any other spot.
As if this doesn’t sound bad enough, what with the washing and tossing and taking a screaming hot shower and scrubbing my skin raw, yesterday I was reaching for something in the far back of the floor, and more than half my body weight was on the 1 ½” wide chair back, kind of balancing as I reached. Suddenly, my ribs… moved. Now, I’ve had this happen before; the first time I was still in elementary school and I was taken to the doctor that time. I had always assumed it was the floating ribs, but this time it is definitely higher up. No idea those could move. But move it did, and it hurts like hell. And it’s a different kind of pain from broken ribs. I’ve done that, too, and it hurts like hell but in a different way. That was yesterday afternoon, and I’ve been being very careful how I move, lean on things, etc. It’s better now than it was yesterday at this time, but that’s not saying a whole lot. It’ll heal on its own over a few days; I just have to be careful not to fuck it up again.
Meanwhile, the CGM arrived in the mail, and I had an appointment at the doctor’s office to get me going with it. The thing has a needle in it that stays in you for the entire life of the sensor (which are changed every two weeks), so you don’t want to screw up applying it. You put it in this applicator and push it down on the back of your arm HARD to make sure it seals to your skin and the needle goes all the way in. She has me do that in front of her; all goes well. Activate it with the reader, a little device like a small phone, and then you wait an hour before it’s ready to read. One hour goes by, I try to scan, and lo! It works! I scan it a couple more times in the next few minutes and then… it quits working. And it cannot be restarted. When I call the doctor’s office, I’m informed that there is about a 25% failure rate on the sensors- no matter what the brand is. So I have to pry the failed one off, and that’s fun because the adhesive is really strong. My arm looks like I was attacked by a giant squid. Apply new sensor on the other arm. We shall see if it works better or longer.
This has not been the best my life has ever been.