Saturday – April 20, 2013

Well readers, it’s been a few days since I’ve written anything for you folks and for that I apologize. . . Well, I sort of apologize. I started working again on Wednesday evening and this time it’s been different. Up until this point I’ve worked a full shift then had a few days off before my next full shift. I’ve labeled them “recovery days.” As I explained before I’m having some hurdles in my initial adjustment period to getting settled into my new routine. I come home every morning and I’m exhausted and sore with muscle aches. I am also fighting a new battle. That battle is called foot pain! 
To the best of my knowledge I really need some new shoes. I’ve asked some of my friends that stand at their jobs for recommendations. Unfortunately it’s going to take a few full pay periods before I have enough extra cash to just to go purchase a brand new pair of shoes. While I do understand how that may sound silly to some folks, those folks haven’t ever really lived in very hard economic situations on a daily basis. Now don’t get me wrong as tough as my financial dealings are at the moment, I am very well aware of all my blessings.
Moving on to the physical damage that my body is enduring at the hands of my shifts of handling inventory. I got the hang of how to work the telxon almost immediately. I’m still learning how to work different area or departments on a daily basis. I’m still weeks from learning the department numbers but that’s not really all that important for the purposes of my work. Ok, I’m curious about how my body is holding up so let’s review an inventory list of my work related aches and pains.
1 – Left ankle: slightly sprained from stepping down from a ladder wrong. I wore a Velcro ankle brace and that’s helping a ton. It’s also a little extra cushion on my foot so I’ll keep it on for a few days at least!
2 – Right heel: a blister slightly over an inch long on the back base of my heel. It’s huge and so very tender and painful. I’ll wear a large band-aid over it and hope that it doesn’t pop while I’m working tonight.
3 – Left knee: long time injury from back in my youth. It always hurts most during humid weather but I’ve become accustomed to that type of pain. I am NOT however familiar with pains directly linked to climbing ladders, lifting, carrying or stacking boxes of inventory. It’s not severe just what I’d call a mildly annoying or niggling little pain.
4 – Back: the muscles that make up my shoulder blades don’t start really aching until my shift is over. The muscle pain that creeps into my back is a intense mixture of soreness, cramping and burning. I am fairly certain this pain is simply because of the large number of years it’s been since I have utilized any of my back muscles for anything other then standing, walking and unloading groceries from my car. Ah well, live and learn as they say.
This seems like a remarkably short list for how tired I feel at the end of every single shift. I am still very happy I finally found a job. I do also realize every day that I miss spending all those hours with my little niece AJ. I had the best job in the world when I was AJ’s daytime caregiver. I stopped by my sister’s house this morning on my way home to see her but I’d forgotten all about it being Saturday so everyone was asleep. On top of feeling like a big jerk for waking my sister up, AJ was still asleep so I didn’t even get to see her. I’m vowing not to go to sleep tomorrow until AFTER I go to church. I’ll let you all know if I can stay true to that vow later. Take care readers and as always – have a great night!