January 2020 Monthly Entry
While December has been very rainy and continued into early January, we had our first snow last Thursday night. This week though, we had snow on and off. It sucks that the next two months are going to have me on edge as I have to unavoidably drive in it. But I am grateful we got no snow in November and December as a good head start.
Even on the first day back at work from the Christmas break, I come in and find that a couple of classes were doing messy art projects which pretty much reseted all the work I did. It didn't piss me off much but was a mere slap in the face from the teachers. Last Thursday I had to scramble at both schools so I could make time to throw salt outside on the sidewalks. I found with my broken arm that I was able to lift a 50-pound pail of salt, albeit only for around 5 seconds before switching to my left hand. It can be tiring work on top of doing regular duties. I have to downplay certain tasks or downright skip them if I'm to make time to work outside. Driving this week has been stressful but keeping my speed below the posted limits and using 4-wheel drive has minimized sliding and problems braking. When the conditions are bad at night, it can take me nearly an hour to get home.
For the final week of classes before winter break, I managed to go the entire week by myself full-time and found I do have the stamina to get through the shift - for the most part. The single staff washroom on the second floor is out of order so it saves me at least 5 minutes a night, making it a little easier on me. But I feel I’m getting back into the swing of things. There is still some occasional stiffness but no pain in my arm. My appointment with the kinesiologist on Dec.17 was pretty good considering I haven’t done the exercise routine at home in awhile (which I didn’t tell her!). Due to the holidays and full bookings, I couldn't do any appointments until after the winter break when I return to afternoon shift. Even then, I'll be ending up with a different kinesiologist as my usual one is hard to pin a time for within my schedule. While I was at Rosser on Christmas Eve, I spent time outside picking up garbage around the school. It was a little hard on my arm as I had to hold a container for the garbage that was slowly getting heavier, and the picker which requires constant squeezing and repetitive moving. I would switch arms at times but even then, it was really getting to my stamina. The following Friday after Christmas, I wiped every desk on the second floor at Montecito and it didn’t affect my arm much - a good sign. Next Thursday, I spent most of the shift using a sponge and squeegee to clean most inner windows all around the school. It certainly did a work out for my arm as I had to stretch it a lot and test my range of motion a bit (again - another good sign!). Monday January 6, I had a kinesiology appointment with the other kinesiologist. She was okay, but was working with another client at the same time with me as they seemed to be squeezing us in. There was an emphasis on weight pulling and less on posture. A few exercises I had to do a quick second time before the appointment was over. I had a physio appointment on Friday and it has been awhile since the last one. I thought I was getting better given my working and being able to lift more weight with my arm but that was disproved when I failed the resistance test big time. I got extra work on my arm with a lot of painful probing and elbow massaging. With the e-stim (pic above), I was about 90% of near maximum power before it shut off. My next appointment will be February 7.
I'm not sure how far I am in The Last of Us Remastered, probably at least one-third through the main story. Maybe I could get it done before the end of the month. I've also made some progress in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX but not sure when it will be completed. Very little progress has been done in season 6 Star Trek: Voyager. I'll try to step it up a bit. There is still no date set for the debut of season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery so that will have to wait. Finally, my review of Dragon Ball will be up this weekend.
Last Movie: Avengers: Endgame (Theatrical), The Incredibles 2 (Blu-Ray)
Last Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - The Screwtape Letters
Last Game: Ys Book I & II (Wii Virtual Console - TG-16 CD)
Current Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Miracles
Current Games: The Last of Us Remastered (PS4) & The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (3DS Virtual Console - GBC)