You have got to read this post about what devolved from my English 102 class yesterday. It defies belief. Holy cripes, indeed.
I’m back in that place where I keep asking myself, why am I doing this? Surely I could work as a greeter at Walmart and earn as much with less aggravation. And be paid for all the time I put in on the job.
Actually, things are looking up in the Department of Making Myself Miserable. So far this week the editorial business has earned $440, and I expect to rack up another few hundred bucks today. And the new client just sent another document for us to edit. We have three clients in-house just now; taken together they’re cranking steady work for us. If we could keep this pace going all the time, 50 weeks a year, enough cash would come in to allow me to chuck the teaching gig. Or, if I chose to continue making myself miserable, to allow me to live a normal middle-class life again.
In the Department of Already Miserable, the unending bellyache bizarrely ended. Bizarrely and abruptly.
A few days ago I woke up and realized I felt better. Didn’t think much of it, though, because there have been a couple of days when the thing hasn’t been too bad, but the following day it would come back with a vengeance. But then the next day I felt more or less OK. And then the next day! This morning I feel downright normal, for the first time in over two months.
So it looks looks like this thing is passing. Thank God!
And Gaviscon.
Yes. I discovered an over-the-counter nostrum that actually works on gastric reflux.
Rifling through the hypochondriac’s treasure chest that is the Internet, I came across one of those message boards for people whose illnesses have driven them neurotic, and on it several people remarked that the only thing that had helped them was an antacid called Gaviscon.
As it develops, in addition to the usual antacids that potions like Mylanta contain, this snake oil includes an industrial chemical called algin or alginic acid. Among its many properties, algin foams up on contact with liquids. Its foam floats on the top of the liquid. The geniuses who concocted the stuff thought that if they could incorporate an antacid with the foam, it would come up against the base of the flaccid and irritated esophagus, where it would create a protective barrier. And y’know what? It works!
Gaviscon itself is expensive—ten bucks for a bottle of icky-tasting lozenges. However, Walgreen’s has a generic knock-off that sells for six bucks. The queasiness began to subside the minute I chewed up a couple of the things in the car outside the store. It took about a day and a half of swallowing the stuff after every meal and before bed-time, but shortly it took effect.
I’ve stopped losing weight, because finally I can eat something other than disgusting yogurt. Matter of fact, this morning I seem to have gained a pound.
This excellent development, however, was not a free pass out of the Department of Misery. Ohhh no…not a chance!
Three days ago, my back went out. Excruciating! This is the first morning I’ve been able to sit in a chair, and it ain’t very comfortable. At the outset I thought I was going to have to farm out the dog, because I couldn’t bend down to put food and water on the floor for her. Since my son resisted and since La Maya recently adopted a dog that deeply dislikes the Corgi, it looked like I would have to board her. How to get her to a boarding kennel was unclear, since I couldn’t drive the car—take her in a cab, I guess.
SDXB, who suffers chronic sciatica because of a couple of herniated disks, suggested laying flat on my back in bed for the better part of a day. To that, I added a heating pad. After several hours, I was at least able to stand upright and limp into the kitchen. Today it still hurts mightily, but here I am in front of the computer.
The last time this happened, I knew what brought it on: picked up a writhing 40-pound German shepherd puppy to carry her away from the rush-hour traffic into which she was trying to lunge. This time, I didn’t do anything: it just started. My father had disabling muscle spasms in his back, which he kindly bequeathed to me. Like his, mine are usually in the shoulders and upper back. They rarely happen in the lower back, but when they do, they are crippling. So it may have just happened out of the blue.
Or it may be the result of the limp the plantar fascitis has induced.
Cripes. I’m falling apart like the Minister’s One-Hoss Shay.
Re Teaching: You can only do what you can do. I find that students test you to see how little they can get away with. Often they REALLY don’t know how to do things. They have no long term memory. Mr FS tells me not to waste time thinking about all this. I do waste time, but I shouldn’t. And neither should you!
Re back: Mr FS has been in misery over his back for as long as I’ve known him. He takes tiny doses of various pain killers–some of which help him sleep (another problem area).
Sounds like the editing biz is picking up.
Meanwhile. we’re waiting for the hurricane to show up.
@ frugalscholar: My thoughts have been with you as the news reports have grown more and more dramatic. Comments from people who live in the area sound a little skeptical, and statements by the City Parents do make it sound as though New Orleans is better prepared than it was when Katrina came calling. I hope you’ll be OK…and stay off the streets!
Back pain is just awful. I had my son without anaesthesia — not on purpose but because my OB-GYN said that labor would hurt more than menstrual cramps, which it decidedly does not. The last episode of lower back spasm (the one brought on by the writhing pup) was far worse than labor, or even dysmenorrhea. The only palliative I’ve found (other than alcohol, or drugs that make you sleep uninterrupted for three days) is yoga, done carefully and regularly. Some yoga poses are the same as the physical therapy exercises for back pain, and they do work. Eventually. Over time. A lot of time.
I’m really sorry that your son didn’t step up to the plate for Cassie considering all the help you gave him with his pup.
Well, one can’t and shouldn’t expect gratitude from one’s children. That’s not why you have them, and it’s not why you do things for them.
😉 It would be nice, but it’s not required.
Well, I can say this. My mom teaches at an inner-city public highschool. She teaches history and has been there for 13 years. She says that each and every year, juniors come to her with a 4th grade reading/writing level, at best. And so when she asks them to read their history book or write a short essay, she’s not getting anything more than what your basic 8 year old might whip up. And so she’s got a problem — does she try to teach history (like she’s paid to) without using a book or requiring any writing or exams (those require reading), OR, does she teach them to read and write (which is not her subject matter job) and forget teaching them history? It’s a problem. She says that reading/writing for the kids in her district are on par with national standards until 5th grade, when they drop off dramatically, because 5th grade is when they start becoming involved in gangs.
Oh god. The poor babes. And your mom…what a brave soul!
Well. If I were given a choice — teach ’em history or try to teach ’em to read — I guess I’d go for reading. But y’know…by high school, they’ve been in school (theoretically) for 10 years. If they haven’t learned to read by then, they probably aren’t going to read. Plus if you can’t get them to answer at least a few questions on the insane standardized test, you’re apt to lose your job.
Paradise Valley is an upper-income enclave surrounded by middle-class and a couple of working-class areas. My students are not, by and large, inner-city kids. Most of them come out of moderately decent schools.
Probably in their case frugalscholar has got something: they’re pushing to see how much they can get away with.
Yoga, yes! Since I started doing yoga regularly and seriously, my back hasn’t given me a twinge of trouble. Even my lower back, which was in chronic pain, doesn’t hurt anymore. Yoga is an amazing thing. I’ve done it for years, but just a class a week for a while then forget about it. Once I started doing 2-3 classes a week and daily practice (very small daily practice) the changes started to happen (and I lost 20 pounds…) Yoga rules.
Ah hah! I especially like the “lost 20 pounds” part. I could put up with a back-ache (maybe ) but the ever-increasing fat is truly an annoyance.
LOL!!! “hypochondriac’s treasure chest that is the Internet”
Best line of the week!
Sometimes upper back pain is a sign of carpal tunnel problems. (I know two people who manifested it there–their wrists never hurt.)