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From Ice and Snow to Tornadoes
Feb. 22nd, 2014 02:40 pmWhat a week.
Monday, when I left for work, the roads were clear in Bloomington. After driving for a little while, I saw what looked like fog ahead, but I knew it had to be snow. And then I was in it, and it was snowing pretty hard. But then as I went south, the snow turned into sleet, which was falling on top of the snow. I slowed way down, and it took me forever to get to work, but I eventually made it. I almost had a heart attack when I got out of the car and saw how much ice I had been driving on, and my car was covered in ice.
They were working on clearing the highways during the day, so I decided to stay late at work and do homework in the hopes that the highway would be clearer by the time that I left. I left a little late, however, and the roads were starting to freeze up again. On my way to the car, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice, and shattered my travel glass. (At least the travel glass was replaceable. As I said on Facebook, better the glass than me.)
When I came to work the following morning, I slipped and fell on the same patch of ice even though I knew that it was there. When I got to the library, I asked the library director how to open a maintenance request. He opened one for me, and I told them about the patch of ice and asked them to put salt on it. They took me seriously; they promptly called me back and asked exactly where it was. Later during the day, it rained and most of the ice melted.
On Wednesday, the library director and I had a class in Champaign-Urbana. That will be my last class for a while.
On Wednesday night (?), there was a major thunderstorm. Zara loved it; she was running from window to window looking outside.
On Thursday, I had to leave work early for a doctor's appointment in Springfield. Rain came down in buckets partway there, so I slowed way down. Then the rain stopped, but the wind picked up to an alarming rate, and it really pulled at my car when I was in Springfield near my exit.
The doctor's appointment was frustrating. Both last visit and this visit, I talked about being depressed, but she isn't doing a thing about it. (Maybe the degree of my depression doesn't show; I talked to my mom on Friday night, and she said that I sounded like I was in a good place, but I had been dragging myself through the day.) I've been feeling like I have to drag myself through quicksand to get anything done, and doing anything seems pointless and hopeless anyway. I've thought about writing a note complaining about the lack of treatment to the practice that my doctor is a part of. Finding a new doctor in Bloomington would be even better, but so far, no one that I've called is taking new patients. (Moral of the story: don't have mental health issues in Central Illinois?) I also should start taking some vitamin D because part of the problem might be that I haven't been getting enough sun. Getting some exercise would help also.
I also had made an appointment with my hairdresser after my doctor's appointment, but had a little time to kill between appointments. I stopped to look at candle-making supplies at Michael's, and parked my car near a light post. When I opened the car door, the wind pulled the door out of my hand and smacked it against the concrete pillar holding the light post. Ouch. I didn't see any noticeable damage though. (My hairdresser told me that there had been tornadoes in parts of Central Illinois that day. Um, can we have some nice mild weather for a while please? Even for a day?)
After my hairdresser's appointment, I hung out in Springfield for a while in the hopes that the wind would die down. I had dinner and then hung out in Barnes and Noble. (I came out with a list of books to check out of the library, but didn't buy anything. Go me!) Then I realized that I needed to do laundry before work on Friday, so I left for Bloomington. It was still windy, but not quite as extreme as it had been earlier. I threw my laundry into the washer when I went to sleep.
Friday morning, I threw the clothes in the dryer. I was looking all over my kitchen table for my car key, but couldn't find it anywhere. When I took my clothes out of the dryer, sure enough, I had washed my key. It still opens the door manually, but the remote doesn't work. Phooey.
Friday night, I stopped at WalMart to "pick up a few things". I broke the rules by 1) going there without a list, and 2) going there hungry, so I came out with an eclectic bunch of stuff, including baked beans and frozen pineapple fruit bars. When I got home, I made dinner, but it was getting close to the time when I talk to my mom, so I went to bring the phone upstairs with me when I ate dinner. No phone. I looked all over my purse, my messenger bag, and the backpack in which I brought home my work laptop. No phone. I went upstairs and tried to eat after sending my mom a disgusted and semi-hysterical e-mail telling her that I couldn't find my phone, didn't know when I'd be able to talk to her, and was planning to drive back down to Lincoln to look for it after I ate. I discovered that the baked beans were too hot to eat, so I marched downstairs to put them in the freezer...when the phone rang. I flew into the living room and looked for the source of the sound. Apparently I had put my phone in a zippered pocket of my purse in which I never put my phone. I thought that I had looked in all the pockets of my purse, but I guess not. I answered the phone, and told my mom the situation and thanked her for helping me find my phone, and told her I'd call back as soon as I finished dinner.
I also discovered a LinkedIn invitation from someone with whom I worked over 20 years ago. She included a cheery note saying "Hi chica!" and commenting on my career change to librarianship. It made me feel good.
Then I collapsed....
Monday, when I left for work, the roads were clear in Bloomington. After driving for a little while, I saw what looked like fog ahead, but I knew it had to be snow. And then I was in it, and it was snowing pretty hard. But then as I went south, the snow turned into sleet, which was falling on top of the snow. I slowed way down, and it took me forever to get to work, but I eventually made it. I almost had a heart attack when I got out of the car and saw how much ice I had been driving on, and my car was covered in ice.
They were working on clearing the highways during the day, so I decided to stay late at work and do homework in the hopes that the highway would be clearer by the time that I left. I left a little late, however, and the roads were starting to freeze up again. On my way to the car, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice, and shattered my travel glass. (At least the travel glass was replaceable. As I said on Facebook, better the glass than me.)
When I came to work the following morning, I slipped and fell on the same patch of ice even though I knew that it was there. When I got to the library, I asked the library director how to open a maintenance request. He opened one for me, and I told them about the patch of ice and asked them to put salt on it. They took me seriously; they promptly called me back and asked exactly where it was. Later during the day, it rained and most of the ice melted.
On Wednesday, the library director and I had a class in Champaign-Urbana. That will be my last class for a while.
On Wednesday night (?), there was a major thunderstorm. Zara loved it; she was running from window to window looking outside.
On Thursday, I had to leave work early for a doctor's appointment in Springfield. Rain came down in buckets partway there, so I slowed way down. Then the rain stopped, but the wind picked up to an alarming rate, and it really pulled at my car when I was in Springfield near my exit.
The doctor's appointment was frustrating. Both last visit and this visit, I talked about being depressed, but she isn't doing a thing about it. (Maybe the degree of my depression doesn't show; I talked to my mom on Friday night, and she said that I sounded like I was in a good place, but I had been dragging myself through the day.) I've been feeling like I have to drag myself through quicksand to get anything done, and doing anything seems pointless and hopeless anyway. I've thought about writing a note complaining about the lack of treatment to the practice that my doctor is a part of. Finding a new doctor in Bloomington would be even better, but so far, no one that I've called is taking new patients. (Moral of the story: don't have mental health issues in Central Illinois?) I also should start taking some vitamin D because part of the problem might be that I haven't been getting enough sun. Getting some exercise would help also.
I also had made an appointment with my hairdresser after my doctor's appointment, but had a little time to kill between appointments. I stopped to look at candle-making supplies at Michael's, and parked my car near a light post. When I opened the car door, the wind pulled the door out of my hand and smacked it against the concrete pillar holding the light post. Ouch. I didn't see any noticeable damage though. (My hairdresser told me that there had been tornadoes in parts of Central Illinois that day. Um, can we have some nice mild weather for a while please? Even for a day?)
After my hairdresser's appointment, I hung out in Springfield for a while in the hopes that the wind would die down. I had dinner and then hung out in Barnes and Noble. (I came out with a list of books to check out of the library, but didn't buy anything. Go me!) Then I realized that I needed to do laundry before work on Friday, so I left for Bloomington. It was still windy, but not quite as extreme as it had been earlier. I threw my laundry into the washer when I went to sleep.
Friday morning, I threw the clothes in the dryer. I was looking all over my kitchen table for my car key, but couldn't find it anywhere. When I took my clothes out of the dryer, sure enough, I had washed my key. It still opens the door manually, but the remote doesn't work. Phooey.
Friday night, I stopped at WalMart to "pick up a few things". I broke the rules by 1) going there without a list, and 2) going there hungry, so I came out with an eclectic bunch of stuff, including baked beans and frozen pineapple fruit bars. When I got home, I made dinner, but it was getting close to the time when I talk to my mom, so I went to bring the phone upstairs with me when I ate dinner. No phone. I looked all over my purse, my messenger bag, and the backpack in which I brought home my work laptop. No phone. I went upstairs and tried to eat after sending my mom a disgusted and semi-hysterical e-mail telling her that I couldn't find my phone, didn't know when I'd be able to talk to her, and was planning to drive back down to Lincoln to look for it after I ate. I discovered that the baked beans were too hot to eat, so I marched downstairs to put them in the freezer...when the phone rang. I flew into the living room and looked for the source of the sound. Apparently I had put my phone in a zippered pocket of my purse in which I never put my phone. I thought that I had looked in all the pockets of my purse, but I guess not. I answered the phone, and told my mom the situation and thanked her for helping me find my phone, and told her I'd call back as soon as I finished dinner.
I also discovered a LinkedIn invitation from someone with whom I worked over 20 years ago. She included a cheery note saying "Hi chica!" and commenting on my career change to librarianship. It made me feel good.
Then I collapsed....
