Convalescence? It's like adolescence: painful, and slow

[desperance]

I hope we all learned something today.

For me, I have learned this: that damage recovery takes longer than I'm ready for. If I had put in this much keyboard-time a month ago, I'd have had two thousand words or more behind me by now, and I'd be happy and charging forward.

Today? I don't believe I've achieved half that. And I am sullen, because almost all of me believes that I should have done; and I am still dragging myself onward, and it's all grim and lightless and without tone or form.

Also, if I were to believe anything my hand tells me today, I would believe that it's gone backwards. Today I cannot reach into my pocket without yelling. And the idiot cat has attempted his favourite idiot leap to the top of a bookcase that is already piled high with boxes; he does this regularly, with always the same result, that all those boxes come tumbling down alongside of him, and then he has to run away while I shout and put all the boxes back. And this time he pulled a boxful of paperclips off a shelf as he fell, and they are now glitteringly strewn all over the floor, and something else I cannot do is reach down to pick up paperclips. I could get down on my knees and scrabble, I suppose, but - well. Tomorrow.

Comments

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

How about a magnet for picking up paperclips?

[jeremy-m.livejournal.com]

Assuming it's your brain rather than your thumb that originates the words, is there scope for dictating to a sound recording machine for the cats (or someone) to type up later?

The big problem with that seems to be what happened to Asimov, who turned out to be able to dictate (but not type) much faster than he could think, so he ended up with hours of pointless drivel which even his secretary refused to put on paper. But I'm sure you could learn to talk slowly :-)

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I am all too familiar with that stage of convalescence where one is getting better in theory, but everything one does in Massachusetts seems to make matters worse. Does heat or cold help any? In my experience, muscle spasm and nerve pain gets a little quieter with moist heat (submerge hand in sinkful of hot water and wiggle it around. Or put a wet cloth in the microwave, for times or places where submersion is less convenient.) And inflammation types of pain is supposed to respond well to ice massage, if a person can manage to avoid setting off muscle spasm and nerve pain.

[maeve-the-red.livejournal.com]

Though a magnet is a sensible option for paperclip recovery, a more amusing one might be to hog-tie idiot-cat, spray him with glue, then roll him across the floor, thus using the culprit to tidy up the mess.

That'd learn 'im.

(Just kidding, obviously, in case the cat's reading this)