Surviving Christmas

Well, I survived. It has been a rough week, but it is finished and I can say I survived a second Christmas at the Post Office.

I had a minor accident at work last Saturday (the day I was referring to in my last post) The day started out okay, but then the transmission on the truck I was driving went out. I did manage to get the truck back to the post office, and my boss managed to locate a replacement truck for me to use, but I had to wait for it to get to the island, so I delivered parcels in my car for a while. After a new truck was delivered, I loaded it up and finally got going on the route I was carrying. About an hour into delivery (and around 4pm already) I fell off the side of someone's driveway while backing out (I couldn't turn around in the driveway because their dog kept running into the path of the truck) and became stuck in mud up to my axles. I quickly figured out that I would need to be towed out. I called my supervisor and he arranged to have a tow truck come rescue me. By the time I got towed out it was nearly 5 pm and I still had several hours of mail to deliver. My supervisor sent someone to take some mail from me, and I gave her the mail from the end of the route because she said she knew it best and because it is one of the harder areas for me to deliver to after dark. Almost an hour after I was freed from the mud, I completed a street and needed to make a 3 point turn to continue my route. After completing the turn, I accelerated out of the turn, and suddenly found myself in a roadside ditch. After realizing I was basically okay, I escape the truck which is perched precariously on the edge of the ditch. And do a quick surveillance of the area. The rear wheels of my rear wheel drive truck are about a foot off of the ground. I quickly realized that there was no way I was going to be able to unstick myself. I called my supervisor again (sobbing this time, both because I was shaken up by the crash, and because I knew I was going to be in trouble for needing a second tow in one day) After a stressful conversation (in which he does make sure I am not in need of any urgent medical attention), he says he will call me back with a plan. A little while later he called me back and said he was sending other carriers to get my mail, and that I was done for the day, and to return with the tow truck driver. While I am waiting for the tow truck, I realize a few things: I can't wait in the truck, because it was in danger of tipping on its side. It is incredibly dark where I am, and I can hear animals in the bushes. The island is notorious for coyotes and extremely aggressive raccoons, so I was a bit worried, thankfully the other carriers all came to get my mail, and the tow truck driver arrived to get me out of there. After towing me out, he had a hard time turning in the same location so I was very excited when we finally arrived back at the post office. I also realized that I was in pain, and that it was slowly increasing.

I returned to work the next day where I had to explain the whole thing to my manager. We also discussed the fact that I needed to see a doctor. We planned for me to try to see my doctor, but knowing that it was the week before Christmas had a backup plan of me going to the Urgent Care at the Clinic where my doctor practices (at least they would have all my records) On Monday, I was able to get an appointment with my doctor, who determined that I had suffered injuries to my neck, shoulders, and back. I had physical therapy prescribed in addition to some regular dosing of ibuprofen (to be taken always with food because I have a picky stomach) Today was my first PT appointment and she did some tractioning on my neck, and I can already tell you that it felt amazing. I also have exercises to do to stretch certain muscles and strengthen others. Additionally, she feels I may have a small tear in my rotator cuff, but that we will re-evaluate it after my first week.

One good thing about having to go see my doctor a few weeks early, was that I was able to find out that my goal to have my BMI be under 30 has finally come to pass. For the first time in my life (since very early childhood) I am not considered obese. I am still overweight, but no longer obese. I have a few more pounds to lose before my mid-late January diabetic checkup to be at the goal I set for myself, but no longer being obese was my main goal.

My yesterday was supposed to have me carrying a rural route that I am pretty good at, but a minor workplace emergency had me carrying my old route on the city side. It was nice seeing my customers, and I was even given a few Christmas gifts too! :)

My today was quite enjoyable. I cased some mail for Friday, delivered some express parcels, and was on hold to possibly deliver a late truck of potential parcels from Amazon, but we found out in the early afternoon that there wasn't going to be a late truck. I hung out at work for a while, enjoyed wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and finally headed home a few hours ago. Where I was able to make myself dinner for the first time in about a month. I have no need to absorb as much sleep as possible so I was able to take the time and made a yummy BLAT sandwich. I have watched some TV while typing, and am now getting ready to head to bed.

 My plans for tomorrow include sleeping in as late as I can, making a batch of meatballs, and opening gifts while watching A Christmas Story. It should be a very relaxing day. I hope everyone has a very lovely Christmas!