Oranges dangling from the tree in the backyard of our rented house on Westlund in Port Charlotte, Florida. I took this photo, and it must have been in around January of 2000.

It’s almost ten in the evening and I usually don’t like to start writing this late because it will make my brain feel as if I snorted cocaine and it will be zipping around until five in the morning.

But, I also feel the need to play a little catch up. Not ketchup. That crap is an abomination.

Monday I went to have my leg veins ultrasounded. I think I just made up that word. Oh well, it’s another of this week’s highlights. So, you see, I haven’t had too exciting a workweek. And, it WAS a workweek because I returned to my Sprouts job on Tuesday 11/30. Oh the joy.

However, let’s start with Monday.

My vascular appointment was for 8:00 am. Vickie wasn’t in the mood to drive me, so she let me take her little black Honda. I drove myself to the doctor’s office in Maitland.

I arrived 14 minutes early and the door was still locked. Hmm, they requested I arrive 15 minutes early and we can’t get in. There was an elderly lady in a wheelchair waiting to get in too. She’d had her right leg amputated and was in a manual chair. That had to suck.

I can’t wait until we can ditch the, “masks are required,” signs.

I think we got let in at 7:55 and the poor lady in the wheelchair had a hard time getting her chair over the jamb. The door opened outward and I had to hold it open for her because the door wouldn’t stay open on its own. So, I couldn’t help her over the jamb. I was about to go through the other door and ask for help when the front wheels finally rolled over the jamb and she got into the hallway.

She was called first and then a tech came and got me for my ultrasound. The ultrasound involves putting on stunning navy blue paper shorts and getting warm KY jelly (no, not for fun) over my legs and then the tech uses a handheld thingee to video what’s going on in my veins.

I’m pretty sure it’s the same kind of machine OBGYN’s use to look at babies in the womb. I’ve never been pregnant, so I’m not positive.

This is the ultrasound machine.

It turned out that I didn’t need ultrasounds done on my arteries. I was kind of relieved because those tests take longer and the cuffs that are wrapped around my legs in four places on each leg are kind of uncomfortable. They are similar to blood pressure cuffs that go around upper arms. They get inflated and feel very tight.

I had other errands to run so, I was glad I wasn’t there for two hours like I usually am for these kinds of tests. I go in about three weeks for the results. A venous ablation of the right leg is probably in my near future.

From there I went to Rothman Orthopaedics to have some return to work papers filled out and faxed Sprouts’ HR office.

That wasn’t a happy experience. I don’t have the energy to explain here. I’m kind of still processing it because it’s going to be used in a personal essay I hope to pitch to HuffPost.

At least I got my task accomplished. I have an appointment there on 12/7 with the soft tissue doctor so she can assess my tendons.

I will not be recommending Rothman to anyone.

Yeah, not thrilled with this place. I liked my actual doctor, but I saw him once.

After Rothman I drove over to Sprouts to give them copies of what got faxed to the home office. While I was there I bought some things I can’t get anywhere else that I’d been craving for three months.

On Tuesday I returned to work. My scheduled shift was 11-4. I had to get there a couple hours early because Vickie was driving both Rose and me to our jobs.

I was productive. I wrote an update for my Go Fund Me campaign and before my shift officially began, two wonderful donors had covered my rent. I am so incredibly thankful for that. I am grateful for all the donations I’ve received throughout this stressful post-collision time. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹🙏🏻🙏🏻

I am very lucky 🍀.

My cashier shift began with an inability to start because I didn’t recall my cashier password. They’d been warned. Our front end manager (I will call her Lisa), had called me just as Vickie and I were driving away from Walmart after dropping Rose off.

I told Lisa about my password problem. It was two hours before my shift began-enough time to fix that. When I got to work I was assigned to work a register that was configured so I would be scanning with my right hand. That’s another thing I mentioned to Lisa on the phone.

“Nope, can’t do register three. I have to scan with my left hand. My shoulder tendons are still healing.” They didn’t give me a hard time over that. I just got moved to register four.

We were busy on and off and I forgot a boatload of codes. I think my brain pushed them out of my memory because it really does not want to be working retail anymore.

At 3:00, Mary (not her real name), the closing head cashier came on and after saying, “Hello, it’s good to see you back,” asked, “Did you have your break yet?” “No, but I got a dirty look when I asked Lisa if I could go to the bathroom.” She rolled her eyes and said, “Geeze, I’m the only one (cashier) here, so you won’t get one now.”

Yeah, I’m so glad to be back.

I wasn’t mad at Mary-at all-I sympathized with her over not having people to work with. And, I wasn’t feeling hypoglycemic because I’d eaten a breakfast sandwich right before my shift started because I sensed the schedule was going to be fucked up, so I waited to eat right before my shift began.

All during my LOA I was hearing from work connections that management would hire new cashiers and they would almost immediately quit.

At 3:50 pm we were slammed and Mary had to call for backup cashiers (this means anyone who has cashier numbers and can run a register), so I asked Mary if I should still try to get out by 4:00 by closing myself off. She said, “Yeah, put your sign up.” So, I did and I cleaned up my space.

Then I had to return a sirloin steak that had a coupon stuck to it. I’d removed the coupon and rung up the steak and it rang at $15.49. “No, no, it’s supposed to be $6.99 a pound. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes because 90% of the time in every grocery store I’ve ever worked, the customer was wrong, when a price dispute occurred.

This was one of those times. The customer came with me to the meat department and we looked at the signs together. He’d seen the sign for the NY Strip steak that WAS $6.99. The sirloin he chose was indeed $15.49.

Now, he didn’t want it. I’d already rung the coupon too. So, when it came time for me to go I had to bring the steak and the coupon back to the meat department so they could fix that issue. I got to their counter and there was no meat associate. A deli dude came out with some cooked chickens-several minutes after I looked around for someone. I didn’t have a hairnet and didn’t even know where they were kept. So, I couldn’t go walking around to find someone.

So, I ended up dumping the steak and the coupon on the deli associate and he said he’d tell someone in the meat department.

I didn’t clock out till 4:12 pm. I’ll probably get into trouble for having a late clock out.

At least I got my return shift out of the way. I feel a little better. I still am going to need to keep my Go Fund Me campaign going because of the authorization hell that’s keeping me from finishing up my therapy. No finish that; no settlement checkie. No settlement checkie, no replacement car. I’m not even sure if the check will be enough to get a decent used car. I’m having my doubts.

I’m so over that shit.

It’s 1:02 am. Ugh, I’m going for my shower and some sleep.

I hope.