Enough Already !

Things have improved greatly since my last post ... at least as far as my injury.  I went back to work the week before Memorial Day.  I was staying at a place about a block from work, so it was nice to be able to walk (crutch) to work. Sometime in the middle of that week, I was crutching (is that a verb?) back to the house when I passed a dad and his, say, 8 year old daughter.  I pass by them and hear her comment: "she's walking just fine.  why does she need crutches?".  Is it wrong to call a child a be-yatch ? The next day I dropped down to one crutch, which I needed mostly for the 2 flights of stairs to my office.

I've now been off crutches for two weeks.  My follow up xrays are this afternoon - the doc ordered me to be on crutches, no weight on the right leg, through today.  So, the question is, do I take the crutches in to the dr. appt just for show, or do I simply waltz in and take the tongue lashing with a smile ?  Knowing me, it'll be the latter of the two.

I certainly won't tell him that I went on my first out-of-doors bike ride on Saturday.  That lasted a little over an hour. While it was S-L-O-W, it was glorious - the feel of the road, the sounds of summer birds, the wind on my face ...  Sigh.  Definitely achy-sore afterward, but no permanent damage (at least I don't think - xrays will show the truth today).

So Saturday nite I went out with some good friends in the Parkville-area.   Everyone had a great time, I was the sober-driver and made sure everyone got home safely.  At the last drop off, I went in for a while to hang out.  It was in the middle of nowhere and I didn't think to lock my car.  Realized later that my purse - my ID's, credit cards, money and phone) was gone.  Seriously ?

Have you ever had to re-create your life without anything to do it with ?  First attempt at Verizon: Can I help you ? they say ... I respond with a nutshell version of my story.  They were kind enough to withhold their laughter that I thought they could do anything without my ID.  I held myself together but it wasn't pretty.  Ok, trip to work to get on a phone to start cancelling credit cards.  This is much fun, explaining my story about 6 different times to various people.  Oh, and by the way, I have no cash, no credit card and no ATM card, so I'm worrying about whether I have enough gas to go home.

Second trip to Verizon, I had my passport and the tax ID necessary (my phone is on a corporate plan).  They still say they can't help me, they need to speak to my HR dept, since I'm not authorized on the account.  Can you call them?  they say ... to which I held my tone relatively even ... I don't have a phone.  That's why I'm here.  Oh, we can let you use ours, do you have their number ? Less even tone:  ITS IN MY PHONE !!

I remember my boss's number (which I see on my work phone all the time), so I call him. The second he answers, I go into meltdown.  I had held myself together all day, but when I had to relate my story to him, it hit me for real:  I have no phone.  I have no ID.  I have no cash.  I have no way to get cash.  I'm dead in the water.  I'm sobbing on the phone in the middle of Verizon.  The security guy left his post to get tissues for me.  One of the ladies behind the counter came around to rub my back and tell me it'll be okay, sweetie, we'll figure something out.  The guys next to me looked like they wanted to run or give me a hug, not sure which.  My boss, after deciphering my sob-english, simply said: boy, you're having a run of it, aren't you ? Which made me cry even more.

The lesson I learned is that having a meltdown in Verizon makes the associates much more amenable to making something happen.  They gave me my "new-every-two" upgrade early and waived the fees.  They showed me my phone options and I wound up with a Droid.  They're packing up a phone cover, screen protector, chargers etc and ask if I want a black cover or a pink cover.With my tears still drying on my face, I said in a small voice: can I have the pink one please ? I was pitiful.

My coworkers are trying very hard to get the security video feed of my meltdown.  If they succeed, I may have to leave the country.  At least I'll have my replacement ATM/credit cards and IDs by then.

Can we say ENOUGH ALREADY !  Whatever powers-that-be that I've pissed off ... I'M SORRY - please remove this black cloud I've been living under, I don't know how much more I can take !

PS: a free annual credit report is available here ... good thing to have if you've had credit card or identity theft.  for those that are guilty of these acts ... eff you.  how do you sleep at night ?