The Sorcerer's Progress (Page 36 of 62)

Ever watch a show like Law & Order?  Characters are shown buying cups of coffee and hot dogs.  The vendors, waitresses, etc., never say anything because they are extras, represented by a different union from the actors, and paid on a different scale.  Once you say a word, you are ineligible and must go to the big boys' union.

I want to keep my extras extras.

Try listening to this.

I've been unproductive of late, occasioned in part by a problem.

In the last of my recurring rounds of illness, I had a 20-day course of Levaquin.  I've taken it before without problems.  Not this time.  And I was given prednisone to take at the same time, to rein in a persistent scalp problem.  (Same doc.)  I got the meds late in the day, and decided to start the prednisone the next day so I wasn't taking it all at once.  (It has a declining dosage schedule.)  And then forgot the next day, so I started the steroid two days later.  After I was on the prednisone for two days, the problem turned up--but I didn't realize that Levaquin is in the same family as Cipro, and can cause the same problems.  (My father suffered a muscle tear on Cipro--about four months before the FDA put the notice out on it.  It was prescribed as a precaution.  He was one of the first non-rescue/recovery people into the WTC after 9/11, checking Transit Authority infrastructure.)

When I did learn that Levaquin might be the problem, I was two days from the end of the course, and had been clear of symptoms for just over two days.  I preferred to risk the next two days.

So I had muscle damage in the big thigh muscles, and a little below the knee.  But mostly the glutes and the balance muscles on the outside, and a little on the knee extensors.  Maybe a little on the ankle extensors too, but I still have the strength to stand on my toes without pain or soreness.  No balance on my toes now, though.

I was recovering nicely for a week or so.  I took a drive into southern Queens, and (after about six hours of rest and mild activity) back without noticing any problems.  The next day I was no worse than before, and I was getting better bit by bit.  With a cane, I could handle my normal load of two heavy three-section shoulder-strap briefcases, and even the battery pack (a portable jump-start pack with a bigger and better battery).

I should add that I've had a cane in the car since I put it there as a spare for Mom.  I was glad I had it.

I decided to stretch things with a 2+ hr drive out, and back.  To make matters worse, I found a parking problem involving half a commercial flight of stairs and about a thousand-foot walk.  I was a bit sore that evening, but the extra soreness was gone the next day.

So, having found no ill effects from driving, I pushed things harder.  This trip was 5 hours out, and some time sitting.  After that, I had a very hard time getting back to the car.  Not wanting to have to pump gas, I drove slowly to get back to NJ on the rest of the tank (NJ has only full-serve), making it a 6-hour drive to the gas station (where I also made it to the men's room and back) and another 40 minutes to home.

When I got home I had real trouble getting up the stairs to my apartment.  And the next day, I was worse.  Much worse.  I managed trips to the couch, the bathroom, and the refrigerator.

That was 11 days ago.  Today I had to take a (partial) load of laundry out--no choice!  Getting back up the stairs was hard, even with cane and railing.  (To make matters worse, the neighbors downstairs have a dog that was rescued in Katrina and reacts VERY badly to canes.  I asked the manager's office to send word, telling them that the dog is afraid of canes--true, but incomplete.)

So, with the right mix of rest and activity, and plenty of protein in my diet, I figure it will be five or six weeks before I can move normally with the cane, and a like period before I'm at 95% strength.  I also figure that improvement will come on a logistic curve, since muscle growth depends on having damage from stress--but not so much that the damage outstrips the rebuilding.  (I'm estimating that the worst muscles--right glutes--are at around 65% strength.)  I'm drinking plenty of water to keep my kidneys flushed, and trying not to take too much ibuprofen.

With the reduced activity, my compression stockings have squeezed my feet almost to their proper size--a size smaller than my shoes--which makes movement outside harder.

The problem for my writing is that I work best out of the apartment.  Reviews are okay here, but original work suffers from all the stuff surrounding me.  However--I was able to work out notes for the next chapter (and mark up the last three per reviews).  I'll type up and print out the notes (I can only carry a couple of notebooks with me, not the computer, the 22 Ah Pb-acid battery pack, or the second bag with the printed copies of all my work and very incomplete 'bibles'--and the tote bag with thesaurus, Big Red Pittman dictionary, and a few other things).  With the notes in print (close version for tinkering with order, well-spaced version for writing in details) I should be productive for a day or two.

Tomorrow I have to drive across the parking lot to the community mailbox.  (Drat Drat DRAT the USPS!)  Friday I have to get into the supermarket to get a prescription refilled.  I need a couple of other things, which maybe I'll be able to get.

And that's why Paddy won't be at work today ...

Oh, one capper.  My Visa card numbers got nabbed by fraudsters and the card had to be cancelled.  The bank caught it and was good enough to overnight the new card (though it came in around 15:00; still, pretty good).  I'm worried that the problem might have occurred at the 'last gas in NJ', where I filled up going out and coming back.  But I can't be sure of anything, so I'll be using PayPal when I can, and paying cash next time at that station.

Personally, I think that people who make their livelihood committing fraud on strangers are no better than highway robbers.  We used to hang them, back in the day.  I suspect that some countries still would--though perhaps they would use a less elaborate method.

Now I have to shuffle slowly to the bathroom, and after that I'll indulge in a dose of ibuprofen and maybe a slice of meat-heavy pizza from the fridge.  Later I have to get the laundry to the bedroom.

Oh, and if someone with a cane asks you to let them handle that door, please do as they ask.  They know best, and they may feel rushed if you're standing there holding it for a minute and a half--and feeling rushed is inviting a fall.  Which is not to say you shouldn't offer--but don't feel offended if they decline.  They know best.

If you just have to be helpful, let the door close but hang around unobtrusively until they near the door.  Then open it, or offer to.  And if they'd prefer to handle it themselves--THEY KNOW BEST!  (Dammit!)

While tangling with other stuff, I've had a Blinding Flash of the Obvious about Merran's training in Book 1.  I've got to get Merran to and through an adventure in B2, and Melayne maybe to a decision point, and then I have to work on B1.

Keep the flame burning, old man! (Alda's line. Not mine:-)

Merran and Jamen have spent a day (and a night) with Maurand's very extended household.  They will leave on the morning of Day Seven (and Merran will get her first lesson driving horses--which will help Momma to realize that she over-sheltered her daughter).  In between I've got far too much material.  Even trimmed, I think Days 2 through Six will need two chapters.  I've got to set some character stuff up.  I think the not-quite-outline will take me into Sunday, and then I can finally start on a preliminary version of Day 2, and maybe Day 3.

I put down Acts for a good 6 months. It has done wonders for clarity.

This summer is guaranteed to be limited in my ability to travel. I'm going to pay the mouse tax in Florida at the beginning of June. And I'm going to War for a week or so in August. Other than that, I think I'm working most if not all the days in between. Such are the trials of being shorthanded at work.

Poor me. 

OK, pity party is over. I'm going to a rummage sale and I'm going to drown my son's preschool teachers with craft materials. I might buy a picture for one of my coworkers because she doesn't know how to cover her walls with art. I helped the rummage people sort and size yesterday, so I cheated and pre-shopped. My boys are going to have more clothes and jeans.

I might buy a dollhouse. It is too small, but will have to do. My goal is to have Wayne Mansion. Someday (when I'm rich and can afford a bigger home...note that I bought a house that was too small so my mother couldn't move in with us), I'll have a room so I can put the mansion in so I can walk around it from all sides. Then, I'm going to change out the furniture and have a Christmas house, change it to a Halloween house with drapes over the furniture, and then have a Batcave under the house with platforms that rise and put the different vehicles into place. (when there aren't any holidays to decorate)

Someday...

Until then...let the shopping begin!

Don't worry about us! Look after yourself first. We'll be here waiting once you're sorted. Hope it's soon though!

Going to try to get the next chapter laid out.  All the little things I've listed have to fall into place, and so I need to get them in order.  This may be a sticky-notes problem.

Is that squire on the fire?