abigail414's diaryland diary
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High Maintenance
Last night I was waiting to pick up a taco salad at the local Mexican restaurant and a guy asked if he could sit next to me. I jokingly said �no, I�m using all 3 chairs'. He said �yeah, you women are so high maintenance�. My answer was 'that is why I live alone' (unspoken message - so I don't have to hear that kind of judgemental shit).
Yes, I am high maintenance. No doubt about it. Yesterday I spent 4+ hours sitting at an IV infusion center getting purified mouse proteins dripped into my arm to counteract an autoimmune disease. I�ve done this every 8-10 weeks for the past 1 � years and it seems to work pretty well, except for spending a lot of time with a bunch of coughing old dying people in an enclosed room. Last night I strapped on my sleep apnea machine like I�ve done the past 8 years so I keep breathing through the night, after taking sleep meds to knock me out enough so I don't wake up screaming an hour after going to sleep (which I�ve done since I was 2 years old). Today I stood in line at the post office trying to find out what happened to an expensive package of prescription drugs that were sent to me from Michigan. Then, there's the normal girly maintenance like getting my hair colored/cut today (I'm now brunette, which matches my mood and my apparent sun allergy), plus facial and pedicure to counteract the intense dryness of the area. So yes, a large part of my two days off was spent maintaining myself, and I still have laundry to finish and bills to pay and the house is barely picked up.
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Today�s pleasant surprises � this morning I was fed up with the courtyard bushes and started whacking them back while still in my bathrobe. Good way to start the day. Then I wondered what to do with all the branches. While taking the dogs for a walk, a maintenance guy drove by (they are always gardening here) and I asked if he�d take my branches and he did. How nice. Plus, my prescription drug coverage started today and actually worked (to replace one of the missing drugs from Michigan). And, my credit card company was totally cool about my being late because they sent my bill to my Michigan address even though they had my Palm Springs address in their file. Today�s unpleasant surprises - Verizon disconnected my phone because I put a 37 cent stamp when paying my bill and it came back and I sent it again and it came back. I guess I missed the memo that postage was now 39 cents, which will cost me a disconnect and reconnect fee. Fucking monopoly. Also, my box of CD�s/DVD�s seems to have not made it from Michigan. I am hoping they are in storage b/c that box is definately worth more than $25 per pound.
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Overall, I�ve been feeling really anxious and depressed at the same time. I've been teetering on the abyss since moving out here and the case with the old lady and her pink kudjo dog may have tipped me in. Right now, it doesn�t take much to set me off. My dogs are giving me a wide berth. I shoot daggers at cheerful checkout people who want to make happy small talk instead of ringing up my items so I can get home. This all becomes more noticeable when I'm not working, but undoubtedly raises my stress level at work too. I�ve been trying to get ahold of a shrink here to get me on meds, but, like in Michigan, they don�t seem to call back. Suppose they hear the stress in my voice and run the other way? Yes, I hear the Saturday Night Live Guru saying 'meditate, meditate'. Instead, I took a valium when I got home and slapped on an estrogen patch that a friend swears made a huge difference in her crankiness. Sure hope my xanax surfaces from the USPS black hole.
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So how does today's photo relate? These are the survivors of the recent raid on the local duck population. Yesterday some brawny guys with hipwaders and nets took about 50 of them off somewhere. They left 'Maynard' the white one (others call him 'Aflac'), some big ducks with pompadors on their head, and missed a nesting pair of mallards I saw hiding under the bushes. According to my neighbor, the homeowners association has been trying to keep the duck population to about 15, but some renegade has been violating the rules and feeding them. Until now. Tonight I almost got busted and aborted my mission. Now that the population is 'sustainable' this may just be one less thing on my 'to do' list.
8:17 p.m. - 2006-02-01
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