I can't stand cold (snow) weather, but honestly I can think of worse things to complain about

The Winter has finally hit us in Michigan, and it is hitting pretty hard. It's hitting me especially hard because I don't have a car, and each morning consists of a half hour walk before I can get to the bus that drives me the rest of the distance to work. The walk sucks, and the waiting for the bus sucks. But having said that, it's really not the worst thing in the world.

This morning it was about 18 degrees out, and it's probably going to get a lot colder. I was freezing. I have a pretty good jacket I bought so that worked well, and the hood on it actually covered most of my head pretty well. But my face was freaking freezing. Freeeeeeeeeezing. Must figure out a way to compensate for that. What was really bad was that there's no sidewalk anymore, so I have to walk through tromping snow, which means I'm exhausted by the time I reach the bus. I can't figure out a way around that, as the city likes to plow the street but doesn't think too much about the sidewalks. Not too many people walk, as I can tell from the very few sets of footprints on the ground (there were none this morning and only one set yesterday).

When I reached the bus stop this morning, as I was watching the cars slowly drive by (the drivers scared of any speed in this near blizzard condition...does near Blizzard mean "near World of Warcraft"?...but I digress), I started to think to myself that "yes, Self, it does suck that we're freezing out here and don't have a car, but, Self, would you really want to be driving in THAT?" By THAT, I meant the near World of Warcraft conditions, or blizzard conditions. I would not want to be driving in that, and when the bus finally arrived, all I could think to myself was "now someone else gets to drive the rest of the way." Actually, that wasn't all I could think to myself at that time. I was also thinking about how hot Shania Twain is, and I was also wondering how come people who talk to their stuffed animals are considered sane, but those who are spoken to by their stuffed animals are considered insane. But, again, I digress....

So, I got to work, and I was glad to finally be in a warm place. I started smiling as other people started reporting through email and such that they could not make it into work because the conditions were so bad that they didn't feel safe driving in it. I guess when it comes to comparisons, they really don't have much ground to stand on, but it's not always about comparisons. Like, when I was in the elevator, there was a woman telling another woman: "I can't believe I had to come into work today. Omigod, it took me ten minutes to warm up the heat in my car. I so should not have to come to work under such conditions. This place is so lucky I came in." So, I guess everyone has his or her own dilemma and extreme to report. Sometimes, it's worth showing up just to listen to everyone else's. Kind of the whole walk a mile in someone else's shoes, or "I wanted to complain about walking a mile without shoes, but then I met a man with no feet" or other such fun analogies.

Anyway, so I'm at work now, and it's okay. The weather sucks. And it will get worse. I remember my first winter here in Michigan when I first came to do my PhD at Western Michigan University. Everyone said the winters were HORRIBLE. And the first one was the mildest one in decades. So I laughed. And then the next Winter, it was the worst Winter they'd had in decades. Or second worst. And it sucked. So I then realized it was like to be a man with no feet. Or something like that.

Stumble It!

It's really the little things....

Little by little, I'm acclimating to Michigan and my new life here. For some reason, I thought I would be regretting the move across the country, but I don't. Not even a little. Sure, I'm freezing in the mornings because I don't own a coat, or I own one but have no access to it as it is in California. Unfortunately, the coat I had was a one of a kind type, and it is very hard to find anything similar here. Sizes are hard to match, and that one was just a perfect coat. I haven't found anything here. It seems like the stores realize there's a Winter coming up, but all the jackets seem geared for Spring. Or they're just stupid looking. Anyway.

I have a few pieces of furniture now. Nothing spectacular, but I have a table, which I'm using for a desk (it was delivered a few minutes ago). The desk/table cost me $25 (which included delivery), and it is perfect for my needs. I'm buying another smaller one from her to hold my TV, which is another thing I bought a few days ago for $40. I am finding most of my stuff on Craigslist, and I think it's great. My 20 inch Magnavox TV is pretty nice, and it's nice to have access to television again. My apartment includes free cable, so now I can take advantage of it. I thought the ScyFy channel was missing (it says channel 22, and I have no signal for 22) but it turns out the channel is 73, and I've been able to watch Stargate Universe on my own TV finally.

Little by little, I'm getting on the right medications. Dealt with a PA the other day who didn't understand that I didn't understand what she meant when she read back my lab results in doctor speak. I kept asking her what she was talking about, and she would explain with more doctor speak. NOT a very customer centered PA. One of the first lessons in communication is making sure the person you're talking to you has a clue what you're talking about. Therefore, you don't speak in jargon to someone who is not someone in your field. So far, this doctor's office hasn't impressed me that much. I called on Friday stating I am out of medication, so I need the doctor to call in the prescription. I explained the urgency. Nothing happened. Little things like that. The doctor is okay; her staff is not.

I'm getting ready for the national month of writing, or whatever it's called. I still haven't decided what novel I'm going to write in November, but I have to do that soon because once November comes, I don't have a lot of time to think about it after that. I need to be writing. But that's something I'm looking forward to.

All of my stuffed animals are here now. They don't seem all that grumpy, even though some have been traveling a lot, and others have been at my sister's house just stored in boxes. I promised them we're home for awhile now. No more traveling or storage.

I keep forgetting I don't have the eating capacity I used to have before. I bought some cheese and chicken quesadillas from Costco yesterday, and microwaved two of them for lunch today. Could barely finish one of them. Every time I eat, I think with my eyes, not my stomach. So I ended up wasting a whole quesadilla. I guess in the old days I would have forced myself to eat it. At least I'm not making that mistake anymore.

Well, that's all for now.

Stumble It!