Bringing the Drama

when i talk about work, i usually try to be as vague as possible for no other reason than to keep things as simple as possible. lately work has been stranger and stranger, but not without drama. remember when i got upset about that guy who sent out the ninja report before it should have been sent out? that same guy got to me again on tuesday. he basically told my manager that i was not helping him with some work he had to do for this Friday. problem is, he never told me he needed help or that there was a Friday meeting. he (from now on he’s White Shoes) had asked me if i was working on his part on Monday, but my priority had been for the past two weeks to work on something else that i had finished Tuesday. White Shoes knew this, i had told him multiple times, and he always seemed to be okay with it. it was not that i was ignoring his part, but that work had kind of been put on the backburner by people higher up than me, so it wasn’t like i was going off and doing my own work. anyway, so my manager calls me on Tuesday morning and tells me he’s been told i’m not helping WS with his work, and that he has a meeting on Friday he needs help getting information together. i told him i had no idea there was a Friday meeting, and what did WS need. my manager told me to go talk to WS (because he didn’t know either). i got off the phone not very happy, and walked over to WS’s desk to ask him what he needed. i think i woke him up, because he kind of roused and looked at me as if waking up from a desk slumber. his first reply to what he needed was as generic as going to a mall customer service desk and asking where the clothes were. i asked him more specifically what he would need for this Friday meeting. he couldn’t give me an answer! so i said they’re probably going to be looking for powerpoint charts, did he want that. he said that’d be fine.

i got back to my desk and told someone over IM that i was tired of him getting a free pass to be a dumbass. if he had a meeting Friday that he needed information from me for, that’s fine, but tell me instead of telling our manager that i’m not helping you. he totally sold me out for no apparent reason. it’s not as if we’re the same level and he needs to look better than me. he seems to have a Napoleonic complex where he wants to be in total control, so by holding back information from me, he kept control.

so today i was able to finish what WS was going to need, and then found out that the Friday meeting agenda was changed and he wouldn’t be talking his part. i did not find this out from him (OF COURSE) but by someone else. i went and confirmed it though and he didn’t even apologize for not keeping me in the loop. i don’t like working with him because of stuff like this. incidentally, the part i’m working on for him, i came up with pretty much everything. so not only do i have to work with him just to get my part of the story done, i’m also wanting to make sure he doesn’t screw up what i’ve already done.

and i’m not sure if this was because of the economy, but now 2 of the 8 total jobs i had applied for have been cancelled. i got an email about one of the Birmingham jobs i applied for that they are not going to fill the position. no other explanation than that. hopefully that won’t be happening with the other job apps i have left.

so i’m still going to the gym, and have had run-ins with CGG. this evening i was able to avoid him by the grace of God. he totally missed seeing me while i’m right out in the open doing some shoulder exercises. i have failed to tell you about what happened about a week and a half ago. i recounted this story at IHOP after the high school football game last week and will now document it for the internet.

on Fridays i get there earlier than the other two days i go because i’m either off work early or because i don’t have work. so it’s almost unavoidable to see CGG on Fridays. two Fridays ago, i had gone and pretty much almost finished my entire workout before having probably the creepiest yet. i had seen him walking around, but of course just kept to myself. i had finished my three sets and only had one burnout set to do. (incidentally, the burnout set idea was from when Matt the intern would workout with Andy, Chad, and I and it’s basically one set of one exercise with a lower weight, which you do until you ‘burnout’). i had gotten some water and i thought i had avoided CGG, but when i turn the corner to go back to the weight room, BAM, there he is. i had to shake his hand or something like a “hey, what’s up?” deal, and i THOUGHT that was all. i walk into the weight room, i had my hand on the bar and he comes up to me. the conversation went something like this:

CGG: “hey scott, what kind of engineer are you at [Company Awesome]?”
me: “mechanical”
CGG: “oh yeah? and you do drawing like on the computer?”
me: “yeah”
CGG: “cool, so could you draw stuff like gym equipment?”
me: “not really. most of what i do is airplane stuff”
[i thought at the time how i wanted to go "UNLESS IT IS GETTING LAUNCHED INTO SPACE, I CAN'T DRAW IT!", but i guess me being nice helped me hold my tongue]
CGG: “oh okay”
me: “couldn’t you draw it like on paper or something?”
CGG: “oh no, my brother owns the place (and i thought “i’ll never get him fired!”) and i’m an MD but i’ve been out of practice for 4 years (i thought “i can tell you why!”) and we can’t draw anything”
me: “well, i guess you could go to a sports therapist and see where they get drawings for stuff, i have no idea”
CGG: “oh, okay, well, have a good weekend”

WTF? i could see where he was going with his questions. he was going to see if i could draw it for him, and there was no way ever that i would do that. i don’t get it. i was talking to a friend at dinner tonight, and he knows a guy who used to be a trainer at the gym i go to, who is now a trainer at a gym closer to my house. if the other gym is around the same price, i might be switching. i deal with enough ridiculous creepy stuff at work, like BO Guy’s trip to Colombia coming up in a couple of weeks (wait till i post about that!) that i would like to minimize the creepy/weird stuff as much as possible. i mean, yes, i am awesome, but at least my eye doctor only calls my cell phone for about a week after i go once a year. he doesn’t ask me about drawing new eye care equipment.

after the months of watching the campaign go from inspiring to annoying to maddening in what seemed like 10 years, we finally got to vote last Tuesday. my parents usually work at the polling places for elections, so they voted early. my dad kept bugging me about voting early, but i kept telling him and other people who were telling me to vote early that i wanted to wait until election day. i liked the feeling of community with the rest of America. besides, my precinct is basically my neighborhood, and for every other election i’ve voted in there’s never been a line. not even in 2004. i get to vote at the local “used to be cool, but now it’s awful” mall, and i think my entire time voting in the Presidential primary a few months ago was 3 minutes and most of that was taken up by the people finding my name in the roster book.

i wore a red shirt to work on Tuesday. it was not random, i wore it for a reason. nobody said anything to me at work, but i knew, and that’s all that mattered really. the carpool was down to two on Tuesday, and yes, it has turned somewhat awkward. i’m making it through though. i had mentioned to thomas about maybe leaving early, so later in the afternoon he asked if i wanted to leave an hour early. i took him up on the offer, and we left early to go vote, anticipating long lines. our site manager (three or four levels ABOVE me) had encouraged us the day before in a meeting that voting was important and if we had to take off early to do it we should. work should never be an excuse for not voting, which i’m in agreement with.

anyway, so i show up at the mall to vote, and my precinct has the longest line. there were probably 40 or maybe 50 people in front of me. the other two precincts voting at the same place either had no one in line, or 5 people. i had read Kari’s Capra-esque election day experience earlier in the day on Tuesday and wanted the place i voted to have stickers. they didn’t even have to have the Presidential seal on them. while in line i talked with the people around me and was proud i had read and written down my decisions on the 7 state constitutional amendments on a post-it note. the people in front of me were busily reading a printed out webpage explaining what they were, the same one i had read earlier.

i waited in line about 40 minutes until i got to the table where three people were in charge of finding your name on the roster and then writing it down. the guy who actually had the book was probably in his 50s. the two people on either side of him probably were in their 80s. the guy at the right side of the table was a little old man who only moved his head to hear the name being called out, then he would turn back to his sheet and write the name in cursive. the lady on the left side of the table couldn’t hear very well, so the guy in the middle turned to tell her the name. once they finished, i went to a booth. voting took me maybe 1 minute. i had the big races and the amendments, and already having my post-it note with FOR and AGAINST on it, i was good to go rather quickly. i checked my votes to make sure i didn’t hit any incorrect buttons, then hit ‘CAST VOTE’ making sure my choice for President did not change or anything. there was a rumor some of the machines were changing the President vote, but i think that was probably user error or something. i came out of the machine, and went to leave. there was no one handing out stickers! however, i did get to for the President for the 4th time in my life, on the big election day, with the rest of America, and that is the most important thing. i just wish i could have gotten a sticker!

i was invited to a Halloween party at my aunt and uncle’s in Chalmette last night. seeing as how i could stay home and face a ton of kids coming to my house, or go to a party where other people faced a ton of kids, i went to the party. i didn’t have anything planned to wear as a costume, but i had considered it. i had gone to a local party supply store, but some of their costumes were $50 and $60. i didn’t want to spend that much. i kind of wanted a Jedi robe, but they didn’t have that either. so i planned to go to the party and not dress up. then yesterday afternoon, i figured i could dress up like Jim from The Office. i called my superfan Office friends Alisa and Kari about what kind of things i’d have to put on to make sure i got the look right. Kari suggested a messenger bag (which i had!), then Alisa told me i should dress up like 3 hole punch Jim (which i could make!). unfortunately, only one person at the party knew what i was dressed as, everyone else was trying to figure out why i had 3 black circles on my shirt, even after i said it was from The Office. very few people at the party even watched The Office and some had never heard of it. (I KNOW!) the one guy who knew it immediately and i shared a fist bump. i felt validated at last!

the party was great. there were a lot of people, and we all stood outside at one time or another to watch all the kids come up to my aunt for candy. we encouraged the kids to put their masks on if they didn’t have them on. it doesn’t count as Darth Vader if there’s no mask. with no mask it’s just a black robe with some buttons on the front.

a couple of my uncles put together a ‘haunted house’ in the garage, but some of the music didn’t really fit the mood. the Ghostbusters theme song didn’t really make you scared of anything. when the music was changed to the more ominous Halloween themed music, then everything worked out better. the battery powered bat my uncle had bought was a hit with some of the kids, who walked right underneath it to watch it fly around. the bat was too fast to capture in the picture, but trust me, it was there.

the only people dressed up at the party were me, and then my cousin and his g/f. they dressed as the Flintstones, with my cousin wearing plastic feet with only three toes.

we saw plenty of kids dressed up last night with no one costume leading all others. we saw Batman, Iron Man, Darth Vader, random skeletons, Snow White, but i think the best costume was the girl dressed up as Dorothy, complete with a Toto. also, some of the adults who were taking their kids around were also dressed up. did you know Velma smoked and drank? the one i saw last night did.

there were a lot of older kids out there, which wasn’t nearly as odd as the lady who came up with a couple of kids, but then had her own bag. she said that bag was for the baby at home who was sick. alright, babies can’t eat candy, and really, the baby was at home sick? who’s going to be eating that candy? we reluctantly gave her candy anyway, then laughed and speculated she made up the whole thing so she could get candy for herself.

Ryan Adams road trip 2008 Night 2, 10/17/2008

so the morning of the ATL show, i drove up to Birmingham to meet up with my friend Susan and then drive to ATL. in order to waste time, i ate at a Subway near her house (have y’all tried the chicken pizzalorio [pizaloria, pizzaiola?] yet? it’s a $5 foot long and worth every penny). then i sat in my car, read my Bible, sent texts, then called someone to gush about the show the previous night. i could not stop thinking about the new songs. Susan called me to let me know she finally got home, i met her at the house, and we left, with what we thought was PLENTY of time to get to Atlanta. little did we know how things would change.

i drove her car so that she could catch up on sleep, and everything’s going fine. traffic is moving well, i was on my way to another Ryan Adams show, what could go wrong? i’ll tell you what could go wrong! traffic came to a stand still somewhere around Anniston, and for the next hour, we were basically stopped. STOPPED! i must say on my drive from home up to Tuscaloosa the previous day i saw two 18 wheeler wrecks, one in which the truck had flipped off into the trees in the median, and another where the truck had turned over spilling what looked to be bags of rice. both of these accidents were on a sunny day, last Friday was kind of dreary. i figured with the traffic stopped, there must be something major. after an hour, we finally got moving, and the way the interstate was set up, the three lanes merged to two for construction. normally this is not a major deal until there is an older man in a white minivan who is stalled in the right lane. STALLED IN THE RIGHT LANE IN A CONSTRUCTION AREA! this man appeared to not know the rules of trying to move your car off of the roadway when we passed. i blew the horn at him. Susan called the stalled vehicle in to the highway patrol so they could maybe GET HIM OFF THE ROAD! as we went further down the road we saw a massive accident of i think two 18 wheelers which was pulled off into the median. the traffic going the other way was at a crawl, but eastbound I-20 was moving smoothly. we deserved it!

because of the traffic mishap, we had to skip stopping at Jeff and Adriene’s and went straight to the venue. we stopped for Chick-Fil-A at the same exit we were getting off at, and got to the parking lot at 8:20 (or something like that). we made our way inside, and i stopped at the merch booth to get my poster. while in line i was able to weigh in on a conversation about the new songs with the people in front of me. i thought they were cool, until the couple in front of me decided to buy 2 shirts, and have to check sizes on each, and then kind of also think about getting a poster, but then not, then rethink if one of the shirts they got was the right size OMG JUST BUY YOUR STUFF AND MOVE! it was 8:32 by this point, i was trying to play it cool and not freak out, but these people, seriously were pushing on my nerves. the guy behind me had been making comments to me about if i was going to be able to buy my stuff and move ASAP when i got to the front, and i told him i was ready. i also bought a shirt, and i knew the size when i got to the front. also, the guy asked me if i was on the Archive, which i told him i was. we exchanged user names, but i honestly forgot his. his g/f (i guess?) kind of rolled her eyes at us. i thought meeting people from the internet was not considered weird anymore? i made my way to my seat with about a minute to spare.

the show started and the band sounded spectacular. the venue was an open air ampitheatre which seemed to have been built recently, so the acoustics were great.

they started with Born Into A Light and kept rolling with a fantastic Cobwebs. when i first had heard that song, i didn’t really know what to think, but after seeing it live i really started to love it. the show kept building though, Bartering Lines was insane. Wonderwall was AMAZING! i was a little distracted in Tuscaloosa for this song, because ‘that’ girl got up twice DURING the song, but in ATL, all the people around me were staying in their seats. it was awesome. after they did Off Broadway, Ryan said something about his voice going out, and he was sorry, but they were going to do their best. this was the last show of the US headlining tour, i was hoping they were going to play extra long, so the voice thing didn’t sound too good. the weird thing was, then they played The Sun Also Sets, which is a hard song to sing the way he does live. i didn’t understand, but i appreciated the effort to give us the full experience. between songs Ryan mentioned the voice thing, which after being repeated, i started to feel the show was going to be cut short. after Shakedown, he finally apologized for what seemed like the 20th time, and said he felt humiliated, but he was not going to be able to go on. i felt bad for him, because he kept apologizing, and his posture was just one of defeat. when he said that was it, the band kind of looked at him puzzled, and reluctantly followed his lead and left the stage.

Susan and i figured maybe he’d go drink some tea with honey, or the band would convince him to come back on and sing quieter songs that wouldn’t be so taxing on his voice. he had sung the regular songs without changing the setlist in spite of his voice issues, which made me wonder why he did that. people started booing. and then it got louder. we were going to wait until they started taking everything apart though, which they hadn’t yet. i figure it was about 10 minutes or so before the houselights came on. the roses on the backdrop were still lit though, and we figured once they turned those off that would be the end for real. the people booing kept saying things like they wanted a refund, or that they should have known this would happen. i was more sad about what could have happened than what should have happened. they had sounded so great, i was disappointed for it to end like that. about 15 minutes after the band left the stage, they turned the roses off, which signaled our time to leave.

Ryan Adams road trip 2008 Night 1, 10/16/2008

i left last Thursday for Tuscaloosa and arrived in time to eat dinner with two of the people i had had lunch with in Birmingham last month. the restaurant was taking FOREVER with our food, but we were able to scarf down our food and make it to the show with about 7 minutes to spare. none of us had been to the theatre before, so we made our way through the throng of people who were trying to get that last mixed drink or can of beer (they had CANS of beer) before the lights went down. i bought my poster for the night and made my way down to the 2nd row.

the first set was good, and i really liked the new songs, especially Born Into A Light and Sink Ships. my friend David had gone to the Dallas show, and told me how much he liked Stop, but when they played it i didn’t really like it that much. the organ they used sounded like a baseball organ, and i couldn’t hear the lyrics very well. upon hearing the studio version (legally!) i have changed my opinion. it’s so heartwrenching! btw, i thought the steel guitar during Shakedown was brilliant.

the people next to me did not show up until the 3rd or 4th song. how does that happen? if you have 1st or 2nd row for a show, why would you show up that late? it was a guy and a girl, and the girl kept climbing over me to go get another drink, and when she’d come back, she’d try to pretend fall on her b/f(?), but she also kept falling on me. i didn’t get it, but i guess after the 6th time, she apologized, as if at that point an apology meant anything. i didn’t ask them about their tickets, and once everyone stood up and moved up front for the 2nd half, they were gone.

about the moving up, when the band came out for the 2nd set, Ryan said something like if it was okay with security, everyone should come up to the front and fill in the space between the front row and the stage (which was probably 10 feet). of course as soon as he said that, everyone did, i just moved further towards the middle of the 2nd row. i’m kind of over the standing amongst a large group of people if i don’t have to.

one of the highlights of the 2nd set was Meadowlake Street. the way it started off so slow and soft and then crested with the entire band was amazing. they also played Note To Self, which was one of my favorites off of Rocknroll, and i loved hearing it live. Cold Roses also was great, esp when Ryan hit his guitar pedal for the last solo. they ended with Crossed Out Name and that was it, two and a half (roughly) hours later. seriously great stuff.

you can listen to any and all of the Tuscaloosa show here.

the three teams i care most about in football are the Saints, Clemson, and LSU. before Sunday, i had to endure all three losing in excruciating fashion, especially the first two. the Saints game last Monday night was at the time one of the worst games i’ve seen in a long time. they made SO MANY mistakes, and then still, in spite of the mistakes and the bad calls from the officials, had a chance to win at the end. unfortunately they did not. i still had hope, because Clemson was playing on Thursday and they had beaten Wake Forest two years in a row. however, they came out and looked AWFUL. the entire game was a train wreck. neither team could do anything. then Clemson scored a TD to take a 7-3 lead, but ultimately fell 12-7. awful. and now they are pretty much out of the ACC title hunt. also, now the fans are in turmoil with all the controversy surrounding the coaching staff. okay, that’s fine, because LSU still had to play. LSU looked the worst of the three teams and lost by 30. THIRTY! ugh.

yesterday’s Saints game made up for a lot, because they looked great, offensively and defensively. it didn’t exactly make me feel like a couple of weeks ago, but it makes me think they are geniunely one of the better 3-3 teams. look out Carolina!

today Clemson’s head coach stepped down. i was a little distraught after the Alabama game, but got over it. after the Maryland game, i really was upset with the offensive coordinator, but also the QB. after Wake though, i wanted someone fired. esp after Auburn fired their OC. why couldn’t Clemson do the same? the timing of today’s announcement surprised me, but not the result. if it turns out that they can get the new coach they want, then that’s cool. the most upsetting thing is the whiny comments from the former starting QB who was benched the other day, but with the head coaching change, may be restored to being starter. i would hope not, because a leader who’s into kicking someone when they’re down and not taking responsibility is not someone i want leading my team.

so long Coach Bowden. i’ll always remember the first game against Marshall in 1999. the 62-9 win over Missouri. the heartbreak i felt after GT in 2000. the euphoria after “the catch” in 2000. the OT win over GT in 2001. (MCKELVEY……TOUCHDOWN!) the miraculous win over FSU in 2003. 63-17. the 2004 Peach Bowl. 1st and 35. the incredible games in 2006. 7-2 against the gamecocks. thanks for all you’ve done for my school.

[shoulder update: i went for my 2nd appointment at the orthopedist on Wednesday and he recommended another month of PT. i had talked it over with the PT i had been seeing, and decided i would ask for an MRI if he did not recommend it first. i asked him about getting an MRI done now, because of the job possibilities (nothing yet, but i don't want the shoulder thing hanging out there if i don't have to) and a limit on PT visits in a year. he understood, and i have an MRI scheduled for next week.]

ever since i started going to PT for my shoulder, i’ve been going to the gym three times a week to lift weights and stuff. the PT place is at the gym, so i figured i had no excuse to not go lift weights afterward because IT IS RIGHT THERE! anyway, i am able to do everything that doesn’t involve lifting something over my head or machines where my arm is lifted. one of the first times i started going, this gym employee kind of startled me because i was reading something on a bulletin board, and this guy walks right by me and goes “hey” as i’m turning around. he kind of sideled up to me because i had no idea he was going to be right there. we had this awkward “i didn’t mean to scare you/oh don’t worry, it’s okay” conversation. now though, every time since that i’ve seen him, he makes sure to say hey. it’s kind of creepy. when i go to the gym, i just want to work out, i don’t want to have awkward head nods or conversations.

fast forward to today…..i walk up to get my keychain scanned by one of the people at the desk and there’s the guy! and as the girl behind the desk starts to walk over, he goes “no, i got this one” (creepy). apparently he thinks he’s my friend. so he scans my keychain which pulls up my info and he says “have a good workout scott”. i hate that! they used to have the scanner where you could scan the keychain yourself, but they changed it a few months ago, and now you have to have one of the employees scan it. so sometimes they use your name which bugs me because i don’t know their name, but they are telling me to have a good workout. anyway, so i go change clothes and start doing PT on my shoulder (i’ve stopped going to actual PT until i get MRI results) and Creepy Gym Guy comes up to me. he says “looks like you’re rehabbing your shoulder, what’d you do to it?” so i had to tell him how i didn’t know, and it might be a torn labrum or an impinged muscle, they don’t know, i won’t know until i get an MRI, etc. nothing i wanted to talk about with someone i didn’t know, i just wanted to pull the handle on this machine down 25 times and move on. so then he starts saying how he messed up his shoulder and he had to do rehab and how he missed playing golf, then he asked me if i played golf. i was wishing the guy would leave me alone. i get it, i get that he wants to be friendly, but i don’t want to talk to him. he asked me where i played golf, and i told him the course out by my house, but only cause it’s the cheapest. he said he knows a guy that lives out there, and if i know him. (there’s like 500 people in that neighborhood, i don’t know anyone) i told him i didn’t, so he says “oh, he’s probably 10 years older than you, what are you like 28?” i answered “yeah, something like that.” after that exchange i guess he had to go wash some towels or something.

this was not the only awkward conversation i had of the day….when i got to work this morning, i noticed BO Guy was already there. he usually gets there about 8:00 am with his rolling briefcase. i acknowledged him by saying “hey, you’re here early”. uh oh. then i had to have a 10 minute conversation where i learned when he lived in California, he would wake up at 4 am, start the broiler (not sure what was on the broiler), go run 2 and a quarter miles, then come home, flip the broiler, then take a shower. he would leave his house by 6:30 to get to work by 6:50. the whole time i was going “dude, i didn’t want to get into all of this.” so weird.

on Saturday i went into NOLA with some youth group people to participate in some mission work. it was me, one other adult, and three kids from our church. we were meeting up with people from other youth groups to do some stuff in the 9th ward. they broke us up into different groups to go do 4 different projects and mixed up the groups so different people from different youth groups would meet each other. i led three other guys to go move mattresses in preparation for a giveaway next week. basically we showed up at a flooded out gym at a church, and moved mattresses and box springs inside to stack up against the wall. the mattresses were donated from a hotel in Dallas and are going to be given away to people in the neighborhood in the next week. initially we started with an 18 wheeler full, so it was a daunting task at first to see what looked like an endless trailer full. in addition, there were supposed to be 10 people to do the job, but we only had four due to the small number of people helping today. we got it done though, even though we were undermanned, and had some fun along the way.

however, it wasn’t all total awesome fun time. we’re a united methodist youth group because we’re at a UM church. i get that. we got shirts today with a GIANT UM logo. at lunch we had to read these devotionals that were like a page and a half long. then when we got back to the church we originated from, they had a whole worship service, complete with communion. it just seemed too complicated to me. the shirts, i can deal with a logo on the shirt, but a huge logo? the devotional at lunch, reading that sheet of paper, just seemed a little much. when we finally got to the prayer, the kid that said it said a great one. why couldn’t we just have gone with that? then after, the worship service, we had been out all day doing work, we were tired, and yet i felt like i was sitting through a service that was for the leaders to make themselves feel good at leading worship. the first song had lyrics like “I am free indeed” and yet i was sitting there thinking i was trapped and not free! there was also this part of the service where the different groups got up to the front to talk about their project, so i went up there when my group did. the leading pastor asked us a trick question almost. we’re up there and all talked about our day and how hard we worked, and the guy asks us if any of the people there at the old gym were members of the church we were at. we had no idea, but we didn’t think so, which we responded with, but then he says “well, there was one lady who was a member of the church.” dude, what was that for? i should have asked him that. we finally were able to leave at 4:30.

the main thing though was going out there helping people. i was proud of the guys i worked with, and of all the other kids who showed up. i just wish the adults involved wouldn’t have made the rest of the day so jampacked with irrelevant stuff.

so an update on my shoulder….i started going to PT on Monday and the PT assigned to my case examined me and took her time, a little more than the orthopedist did. she doesn’t think i have a torn labrum, but rather an impinged muscle. specifically, she thinks it’s possible the supraspinatus muscle could be impinged. she said it could have happened when i had a small irritation, then gotten painful when i did something like boxing. (we had a fight night [with gloves and mouthpieces], and explaining that was a bit awkward. “were you punching a bag?” “no, i was punching a person”. i suspect that night i could have really hurt it, because i was swinging hard (and missing mostly) but i don’t specifically remember feeling anything other than soreness). she gave me rehab exercises to do at home and so far i think they have helped a lot. on Wednesday i had my first real PT session, and she had me use weight machines and free weights to work my shoulder. then she massaged all the muscles around to get blood flow going. it was a little painful, but it felt great after. i need to do my rehab exercises before i go to bed tonight actually. i have my next appointment tomorrow right before lunch and don’t want to disappoint! the good thing about the impinged muscle is obviously it probably will not involve surgery, just some PT. i’m still in line to go back to the orthopedist the first full week of October, so hopefully i’ll have a definitive answer of a diagnosis one way or the other after that.

last weekend, i moved any and all hurricane debris out to the edge of the street to be picked up. this included the branches that fell during Gustav AND the branches and fence pieces that fell during Katrina that i always thought i would burn in my firepit that i never got around to. the parish came and picked up the stuff yesterday, so my yard looks much better, and i don’t have a pile of old wood in my backyard anymore.

today at work was another episode out of a tv show. the BO guy sits behind me by about 10 feet now, and normally it’s fine. he sometimes is on the phone a lot, but lately it’s been okay. today though he called IT…..ON SPEAKERPHONE. he was on the phone for at least an hour on speakerphone, and at one point had two IT people on the phone with him, so it was like a 3 person teleconference. i think it was something about his password, but i wasn’t sure. we don’t have a complicated operation going on to login to the computer. you log on to the computer with one password, then log on to the network with a different password. this simple concept is lost on the older people at our office sometimes, most recently today. i’m definitely getting tired of the circus that’s been going on lately. things are in the works though like resumes being sent out, so we’ll see what happens soon.