Colonoscopy

 

Recently, I had to take a friend in for a colonoscopy.  It's not the most pleasant experience to have, but it is usually not the worst.  When I had mine, they found a couple of non-cancerous polyps which were removed by the surgeon.  My friend had a similar result.

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Normally, I don't get up until 9:00 am (or later).  Today, I had set my alarms to wake me up a little before 6:00 am, but I was still very tired from the lack of sleep the night before.  This was a major factor in me deciding to see my friend presenting as Mario.  I was out the door at 6:30, and arrived at her house 10 minutes early.  Although construction blocked the road I'd normally use to get from her house to the hospital, I was still able to get her to the hospital on time for her procedure.  And then, it was off to the local diner for breakfast and a mega dose of caffeine. 

Two and a half hours later, I received a call saying that my friend could be picked up at the main entrance.  I drove to the hospital, waited for 10 minutes, and my friend was free to have breakfast.  So, it was off to the diner, and I had decaf while my friend had breakfast.  Once I dropped her off at home, it was time for a nap - and I was out for the rest of the afternoon.

When I was last scheduled for a colonoscopy, the pandemic hit and I didn't have anyone to drive me to and from the hospital.  So, the appointment ended up not being scheduled.  Two and a half years later, I still haven't had the procedure done.  Sooner or later, I will need to have this procedure done.  But until then, I have other things to take care of first.

 

I feel like I've been running on empty for a while.

 

If I can say anything about my life lately, it's that I always to feel sleep deprived during the week.  For the past two days, I've taken a nap shortly after I got home and have awakened too late to get much of anything done.  Luckily, I had enough broken sleep to have enough energy to get through the day without feeling that I need a nap while at work.

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Strangely enough, I will miss having a place to go to when I eventually leave my job.  The people are a nice bunch, even though they don't have much time to be social. The place is LGBT friendly, and I have never noticed anyone saying negative about me or others in the LGBT community that is related to our gender issues.   Yet, I will enjoy having time back in my life to do things.  And, even more importantly, I will be able to enjoy reading books again.

I've noticed changes affecting my health that I want to discuss with my doctor next week.  These changes are likely related to two things: my age, and the toll that an 8 hour/day grunt job does to my body.  Last year at this time, I'd have no problem going on a hike with DS.  Today, I think I'd feel winded early on.  This bothers me a bit.  I'd like to break the habit of drinking 4+ cups of coffee (or its equivalent) on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, I can't do this while I need caffeine's stimulant effect to make it through the work day.

Sooner or later, something's got to give.  And I'm hoping that I will feel comfortable bailing out of my job before that time comes....

Lots to do, but doing little - another short entry.

 

Although the above picture has nothing to do with this entry, I like how the curtain looked in the theater in which it hangs, and wanted a chance to post this picture of the curtain....

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It may be the cold weather outside, it may be the work I do during the week, and it may be a need to recharge by doing nothing.  But by the time Saturday comes around, I feel drained and need to rest. So I'm glad that I didn't rush to hang out with FH for the day.

By the time I got out of bed, it was about 11 am.  And I had a choice to make.  Did I want to go out as Marian?  Or, did I want to switch over to Mario mode for the rest of the weekend?  Since I stalled by watching YouTube.videos on the Disney corporation, its theme parks, and Jim Henson productions, it took me a while to get showered, get dressed, go to the supermarket, and finally do some laundry. 

One thing that I know helps a lot is COFFEE.  Normally, when I get up in the morning, I try to drink at least 2 cups of coffee before starting work.  Today, I didn't start having any energy until I had my first cup - around 4 pm.  If it weren't for that, I never would have accomplished anything today AND I'd be in a rush to get home on Sunday, to be ready for work on Monday....

As I noted on top, I didn't have much to say today.   See you tomorrow.

You know you're tired when....

 

You know you're tired when you skip lunch at work to close your eyes and rest for 30 minutes.  I was fighting hard to stay awake, and was using every trick in the book to stay awake enough to do my job until quitting time.  Luckily, I was able to catch a second wind with the help of coffee, and catch up on things before leaving for the day. By the time I got home, I was ready to fall asleep.  Yet, I couldn't pass out until talking with MWL.  And even, half asleep, I was able to make plans with her and CWS for the weekend.

By the time I fell asleep for the first time at night, it was roughly 9pm.  But I kept waking up several times during the night.  Hopefully, I'll be able to be wide awake for work during the day....

Another Short Post

 

I don't have much to say today, save that I was fighting to stay awake after my third cup of coffee wore off.  Somehow, it's either my costume jewelry or my outfits that are getting positive comments from women, and I'm glad to receive them.  My sense of style is maturing, and I'm glad to be out there in the world.

With this being said, I decided to go through some storage containers to look for some dresses I received in Universal Standard's yearly Mystery Box sale.  I figure that I'll wear one of them to work in the morning (with a pair of leggings).  But if I don't like what I see, I'll switch to one of the dresses I've already worn with leggings, and enjoy the rest of the day.

Right now, I figure that I can safely wear dresses as over long tunics and fit in.  This is not the kind of place where women wear dresses in the winter - except, maybe, the way I'll be wearing them for a few weeks.  After that, it's back to trouser like garments again, with tunic tops above.

Thankfully, I'll be back in dresses for my next cruise....

My arm was stuck again, and I'm feeling great ...so far

 

There is no way I'm going to post MY vaccination card online.  A completed card (unlike the one in the above photo) will note who gave you the shot, when the shot was given, which vaccine was used for the shot, and which lot number the shot came from.  In my case, I have given two doses of the Pfizer vaccine that were given at the Yonkers Armory, 3 weeks apart.  Soon, I'll be able to meet with some friends (already vaccinated) that I haven't seen in way too many months.

But first, I have to deal with going to work every morning, when I don't really want to get out of bed....  

 

Today started with me waking up later than usual.  I had told my boss that I'd be coming in after I'd been vaccinated, and this allowed me the luxury of getting up late.  And getting up at 8:30, instead of 6:00, was a great pleasure.  With a leisurely cup of coffee, I scanned my email and renewed my prescriptions.  

Instead of going to the office then going to get vaccinated, I took it easy and went straight to the vaccination site.  However, I was running a few minutes later than planned, so I decided to pick up something on the way to the office.  Unlike 3 weeks ago, I took the exact route that Google Maps' Navigation suggested.  But I knew that the return trip would be on a different route.  First, there was a lot of construction on the way down, and I didn't want to hit those traffic jams.  Second, I planned to pick up food at a local Mickey D's.  That didn't go as planned.  Instead, I ended up going to a Dunkin' Donuts for a totally forgettable breakfast sandwich.  At least, I got to work only 5 minutes later than planned.

After work, I stopped off at Target for a while, then went to Boston Market to pick up a "Buy One, Get One Free" dinner.  While on the way, TCL looked up the specifics of the offer - it applied only to Chicken based dinners.  Even then, they were still making a slight profit selling a whole chicken (2 half chicken dinners), with 2 sides for each dinner.

Arriving home, one of my neighbors called me looking to get in contact with the president of the co-op.  I don't know what she wanted, but I don't want her talking about me.  (I often forget to put my mask on upon entering a common space when getting home.)  Since our president has private phone numbers, I will not give them out.  Nor will I pass on the message.  Any complaints this woman has can go through our managing agent's site representative.

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Tomorrow is a day where I'm expected to show up at 8:00 am.  If I feel good, I'll go in.  If not, I'll take a needed rest....

I woke up as the day went on....

 

Getting up in the morning is often a hard thing for me.  If I wake up early after going to sleep late, it's going to take several cups of black coffee to keep me awake enough to do my job.  Today was one of those days.

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I woke up early this morning, and didn't have enough sleep.  So, when I arrived at work, I was both sleep and caffeine deprived.  This meant that by the time my boss came in at 9:00 am, I was struggling to keep my eyes open enough to do enough of my job to justify my salary.  Thankfully, 10:00 am came quickly, and I rushed into the break room to ingest 2 cups of coffee into my caffeine stream.  By the time lunch time came, the caffeine kicked in, and I was able to make it through the rest of the day without incident.

Once home, I was wide awake, and left a message for Vicki to thank her for her help last night. I knew what I had to send to WDS, and knew that I had to be prepared to visit him if asked.  (I didn't realize that I sent the email to TCL instead of WDS last night.  So I sent it to him this evening.)  Since her husband was going up to "the farm", she was free to go out to eat. so we went to a Chinese restaurant that I used to go to with my former cruise partner.  

Vicki and I talked about a variety of things, WDS not being one of them, as we talked that through the night before.  The big thing was to give me ideas on how I could dress for summer at my office.  And I think I'll work with those ideas to find out what will look good on my body, as well as appear appropriately feminine while presenting as Marian.

One day seems to blend into the next

 

Lately, it seems like only two things are going on in my life: (1) Work, and (2) Seeing People in Zoom Meetups.  Today was another one of those days.

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As usual, I went to sleep late, and woke up too early.  I needed my coffee to function at work, so I was sure to have 2 cups before I sat down at my desk.  When my boss came in, I told him that I don't know if the time clock recorded my exit yesterday.  (I probably forgot to swipe it, but that's another story.)  He said he'd take care of it, and I didn't think twice about it.  

Last week, the clock didn't record any of my hours.  So they had to enter them in by hand on Monday.  When I mentioned that I had a problem, they immediately thought something else was wrong, as other people had previous problems with their temporary cards. The local HR rep came for my card while I was eating lunch, and I was formally off the clock while the rep did her thing.  A couple of hours later, she noted that she forgot to add a "0" (zero) somewhere, and tested the card again.  Now it worked!  Hopefully, I won't have problems with the card in the future.

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Eventually, it was time to go home.  I needed to get more of my favorite makeup remover wipes, and went to Walmart to see if they were back in stock.  Well, it looks like the store may be discontinuing their line - and now, I have to look for exfoliating wipes strong enough to hold up against my remaining beard stubble.

Once home, I had dinner, then joined my twice weekly Zoom meetup with my Texas friends.  I could only imagine what one of these friends would say if she knew I was transgender....

I finally got some work to do.

 

This was the third day in a row that I haven't slept well.  So if I didn't have my caffeine in the morning, I'd have fallen asleep while shadowing a more senior worker.  Luckily, I can have as much coffee as I want while on break or during lunch.  This means I can get as wired as I need to be to get through the day.

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It's nice to go into the office and be referred to as a "She".  Yes, there may be some people who shun me, but I haven't noticed that yet.  Instead, I showed a friendly appearance to my coworkers, and they have responded back in kind.  I still haven't decided if this is a place I want to stay at for the better part of a year.  But that's OK for now.   

My goal is to sock away enough money to pay for a Hawaiian cruise-tour on NCL sometime next winter.  Whether I go alone, or travel with a partner is not yet a material consideration for me.  YGM showed an interest in this cruise last year, and others may yet want to be a travel partner for this bucket list trip.  In the old days, my former travel partner would suggest a cruise to go on, and we'd plan things around that date.  Since we are no longer friends, the onus is on me to find a new travel partner for the bucket list trips.

Ideally, bucket list trips should be taken with a close friend or family member, as these are the trips one will want to talk about often.  When my wife died, I lost the one person who understood how I felt about San Francisco, as she was with me when I first visited the city.  Most of the trips I took with other women have been forgettable, as nothing much stood out about the places we traveled.  Yet, I can still remember a couple of the trips I took with my ex girlfriend from Rochester, simply because of the problems we encountered on our trips.  I'm glad that she's building memories with her partner of 22+ years, as they are doing the "until death do us part" routine without benefit of legal acknowledgement.

But I digress....

Today, I finally got some work to do after lunch.  And I was grateful to finally be doing some QA on scanned documents.  No, I can't tell you the names of the organizations we do business with. But I can say that they run the gamut of governmental entities, for profit businesses, and not for profit organizations.  Having meaningful work to do is a good thing, as it keeps my mind busy and awake.  (Now, if only I can stay asleep through the night....)

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Since tomorrow will be bringing a 6"-12" snowfall, I'm going to sign off for now and try to get some sleep.  More later....