long overdue update
complete with TMI moment
anyway, went downtown last Friday to pick up my loan check from Financial Aid and drop it off at Student Accounts. should be getting the direct deposit in my checking account within the next couple of days. which is a good thing...must pay rent, car insurance, and car registration. not to mention get a new parking pass. anyway, i do this trip once a semester or so, and i always combine it with a little shopping treat. the big problem for the trip on Friday, though, was that all the critical metro stops were closed! (for those of you who know, the green line between Lionel-Groulx and Berri-UQAM.) so i had to walk up from the other metro line...all up hill. then the usual walking around campus...not so bad there, but not happy on top of the other walk. then back down to Ste. Catherine for my shopping (okay, that's only a couple of blocks). then several blocks west to Crescent for dinner at Boustan.
then, because i'd misunderstood the announcement and thought that one of the stations (Atwater) was open, i walked further west to that stop...only to discover it too was closed. by then my right hip, left knee, left ankle, and right foot were in agony. and the tops of my calves from the extra uphill at the start of the trip. there was supposed to be a special bus to take people to Lionel-Groulx, but i never could figure out where to catch it. thus, i walked back down the hill to Lionel-Groulx. after a quick metro ride, i was back near my car. except i took the long route to my car (which otherwise wouldn't have been that far) 'cuz i needed to pick up some stuff from the WalMart right there. my muscles were so tired that i was shaking while standing in line at the cash. yeah, that was fun. altogether, it was only three miles or so, but with the uphill and the downhill and the bag i was carrying (not to mention the cranky joints), it felt like more. yeah, i'm such a wuss.
anyway, despite the fact that i was hobbling around, i went to the gym Saturday morning. the soreness, though, forestalled my other weekend plans of cleaning my apartment. so i was a lazy bum and sat around reading some of the seven books i bought and watching the second season of Stargate: SG-1, which i'd also picked up downtown. finished off Last Exile, too. then Sunday night, just about the time when i was actually thinking of going to bed...
...i start exhibiting the symptoms of a UTI. i've never had one before, but i know enough people who have that i had a pretty good idea what it meant when it hurt to pee...but i felt like i needed to pee at all times. apparently, i have no self control 'cuz i was in and out of the bathroom every five minutes. added on top of the breakthrough bleeding i already had (switched to a low dose pill), this did not make me happy. so i suffered for a couple of hours until the walk-in clinic that i think is closest to my apartment opened. got there to find out that they don't take my insurance (they only take national medicare...'cuz goodness knows international students never get sick) and would want me to pay in cash. uh uh. not happening. i was not in the mood to go find an ATM. the receptionist was nice enough to tell me that the hospital might take Blue Cross, so i headed across the street to the emergency room. which sorta took my insurance (the hospital does, but the physicians don't), but would let me pay with my credit card. also, the line was way shorter. i was in triage in just a few minutes and saw the actual physician within the hour. speaking of the actual physician, he was really nice and really cute. even miserable, i wanted to take him home with me. anyway, had a quick exam. was given pills. got to pee in a cup. then i had to wait for the lab results...which was the longest wait of the whole deal... before getting my prescriptions and the news that i did indeed have a UTI. nonetheless, altogether, it took me less than three hours for the whole emergency room part. yay!
i trundled off to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions filled (an antibiotic and the purple pill that makes you pee orange but feel better). picked up a giant bottle of orange juice while i was at it. got home less than four hours after i left. already feeling better for the drugs and the enforced discipline of driving and being in public and stuff. called RK to say he'd have to live without me, and went to bed. Gwen called before i was asleep and i talked to her for a while then slept until 9 pm. stayed up all night watching more Stargate: SG-1 and Saiyuki and xXxHolic and drinking huge amounts of water, cranberry juice, and orange juice. i actually felt okay by this point, but my sleep schedule was all turned around so i slept during the day Tuesday again. repeated Monday night last night, but i did manage to get myself to go to bed a little earlier. thus, i managed to come to school today. gave RK drafts of thesis chapters 4 and 5 and updated him on the case-based reasoner. and now it's almost time to go to the gym. skipped Monday of course and didn't manage to go yesterday even though i felt better. guess i'm going to have to go every day for the rest of the week to make up for it. yay.
anyway, went downtown last Friday to pick up my loan check from Financial Aid and drop it off at Student Accounts. should be getting the direct deposit in my checking account within the next couple of days. which is a good thing...must pay rent, car insurance, and car registration. not to mention get a new parking pass. anyway, i do this trip once a semester or so, and i always combine it with a little shopping treat. the big problem for the trip on Friday, though, was that all the critical metro stops were closed! (for those of you who know, the green line between Lionel-Groulx and Berri-UQAM.) so i had to walk up from the other metro line...all up hill. then the usual walking around campus...not so bad there, but not happy on top of the other walk. then back down to Ste. Catherine for my shopping (okay, that's only a couple of blocks). then several blocks west to Crescent for dinner at Boustan.
then, because i'd misunderstood the announcement and thought that one of the stations (Atwater) was open, i walked further west to that stop...only to discover it too was closed. by then my right hip, left knee, left ankle, and right foot were in agony. and the tops of my calves from the extra uphill at the start of the trip. there was supposed to be a special bus to take people to Lionel-Groulx, but i never could figure out where to catch it. thus, i walked back down the hill to Lionel-Groulx. after a quick metro ride, i was back near my car. except i took the long route to my car (which otherwise wouldn't have been that far) 'cuz i needed to pick up some stuff from the WalMart right there. my muscles were so tired that i was shaking while standing in line at the cash. yeah, that was fun. altogether, it was only three miles or so, but with the uphill and the downhill and the bag i was carrying (not to mention the cranky joints), it felt like more. yeah, i'm such a wuss.
anyway, despite the fact that i was hobbling around, i went to the gym Saturday morning. the soreness, though, forestalled my other weekend plans of cleaning my apartment. so i was a lazy bum and sat around reading some of the seven books i bought and watching the second season of Stargate: SG-1, which i'd also picked up downtown. finished off Last Exile, too. then Sunday night, just about the time when i was actually thinking of going to bed...
...i start exhibiting the symptoms of a UTI. i've never had one before, but i know enough people who have that i had a pretty good idea what it meant when it hurt to pee...but i felt like i needed to pee at all times. apparently, i have no self control 'cuz i was in and out of the bathroom every five minutes. added on top of the breakthrough bleeding i already had (switched to a low dose pill), this did not make me happy. so i suffered for a couple of hours until the walk-in clinic that i think is closest to my apartment opened. got there to find out that they don't take my insurance (they only take national medicare...'cuz goodness knows international students never get sick) and would want me to pay in cash. uh uh. not happening. i was not in the mood to go find an ATM. the receptionist was nice enough to tell me that the hospital might take Blue Cross, so i headed across the street to the emergency room. which sorta took my insurance (the hospital does, but the physicians don't), but would let me pay with my credit card. also, the line was way shorter. i was in triage in just a few minutes and saw the actual physician within the hour. speaking of the actual physician, he was really nice and really cute. even miserable, i wanted to take him home with me. anyway, had a quick exam. was given pills. got to pee in a cup. then i had to wait for the lab results...which was the longest wait of the whole deal... before getting my prescriptions and the news that i did indeed have a UTI. nonetheless, altogether, it took me less than three hours for the whole emergency room part. yay!
i trundled off to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions filled (an antibiotic and the purple pill that makes you pee orange but feel better). picked up a giant bottle of orange juice while i was at it. got home less than four hours after i left. already feeling better for the drugs and the enforced discipline of driving and being in public and stuff. called RK to say he'd have to live without me, and went to bed. Gwen called before i was asleep and i talked to her for a while then slept until 9 pm. stayed up all night watching more Stargate: SG-1 and Saiyuki and xXxHolic and drinking huge amounts of water, cranberry juice, and orange juice. i actually felt okay by this point, but my sleep schedule was all turned around so i slept during the day Tuesday again. repeated Monday night last night, but i did manage to get myself to go to bed a little earlier. thus, i managed to come to school today. gave RK drafts of thesis chapters 4 and 5 and updated him on the case-based reasoner. and now it's almost time to go to the gym. skipped Monday of course and didn't manage to go yesterday even though i felt better. guess i'm going to have to go every day for the rest of the week to make up for it. yay.