A little urban paranoia is a good thing

The upside of using the computer at the library is the fact that the screen is a large one-and I can see better than on my own laptop. The downside, however...well, it takes so long for the thing to power up that you could make several cups of coffee (not instant, either), a five course meal, do the dishes, do the laundry...you get the picture. I really need to get a larger monitor so I can blog from home. At the moment, however, I am a wee bit busy with other priorities!!

Another down side of using the library computer is: lurkers. People shamelessly stand behind and have a good look at what other people are doing online. And-the keyboards are always very sticky (with what, I don't know. Ewwww!!!!).

So after I finished the other day, I turned around to look at the person who was standing behind me, having a good old look at what all of us were doing (three computers in a row). As I stood up and walked away, the woman said: I know you, you're limerabbit, aren't you? I was so glad I wore makeup that day, too!! But I looked at her, and-just to be on the safe side (like I said, a little urban paranoia is a good thing), I asked: are you armed?

She started to laugh, and said that she couldn't help but look at my screen (it is bright pink), and she also said that she follows the blog. I then asked her the next obvious question-just for security, of course-"you aren't from Essex, are you?". I was prepared to run if I had to...and she just laughed and said that she is from Denmark, and is visiting her daughter who lives nearby. She said that they both read the blog...and she wished me luck. Then we parted company, and I was looking over my shoulder as I took the long way home. You never know!!

On Wednesday afternoon I received a phone call from the hospital: I was being admitted on Monday (tomorrow). That wasn't acceptable at all - what happened to notice, anyway? So I started negotiating (I am very good at negotiating, so if you ever need a negotiator, do let me know). I said no. In fact, I said "Hell, no!!". I wasn't going to go into the hospital tomorrow, I have too much to do. So we went back and forth for a couple of hours, and I was told to come in on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have to appear for an MRI: this will tell the surgeon the location of the tumor, the size, whether there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes, and so on. Fine. But I then had to sort out going to the Royal London to collect immunoglobulin for intravenous use before the surgery. The hospital admissions people (not to mention the medical staff) had a real problem understanding all this. I spent hours on the phone, and they still got it wrong. And this is the place in which they will do my cancer surgery. I hope I wake up in recovery and still have my kidneys-and my legs-and arms-and all my bits and pieces that are not full of cancer.

So I left everything with Sylvia, my cancer nurse, and I practically sprinted to the storage unit on Thursday. I needed the rest. I was going to move everything to a storage facility near home-for the express purpose of getting what I needed/wanted/would actually use, and empty the storage place once and for all. But-then I was diagnosed, so that rather shot that idea down in flames. I had a word with the manager, who has known me for a number of years (scary, knowing that I have been there that long!!), and he finally agreed to lower the rental price for the next six months. Huh. Cancer can have some perks-not many, but a few. Personally I would rather have no perks-and no cancer, either!!!!

It has been that kind of week. At least I got to the gym yesterday, and that was a good workout. I spoke with a trainer who will work with me after the op, when I am cleared for exercise-and when I can raise both my arms, of course!!

It took me well over a week to accept that I have cancer-and to stop crying over it all the time. I'm sure other people have gone through this, too, and know exactly how I feel. I am making some jokes now-and people look at me very strangely!! But humor helps. And catching it relatively early(ish) helps, too.

After my MRI tomorrow I have to bring my car up to my mechanic, who will tell me if he can get a replacement mirror. I think I told you that the day after my diagnosis I went out to the car and discovered that someone had sideswiped the car and smashed the mirror. No note, of course. People just have no integrity or manners...and I was really upset. Just one thing after another. Well-I was doing my daily walk on Friday-and I discovered that  the culprit was parked right outside my house! His wing mirror was broken-and missing-and it was on the road, so I have it. There was also paint transfer on his car (and on mine) so I knew he was the miserable SOB who damaged my car. I rang the police-who are, of course, totally useless. They told me I needed to go to the police station and complete a form. I asked if the culprit would be arrested and made to pay-and they said that if he didn't want to, he didn't have to, because there were no witnesses, even though I have all the proof. Nobody died-and they only care if someone dies, and it is caught on CCTV, and there are at least a half a dozen credible witnesses.

Well-that really annoyed me. So-I got up very early on Saturday morning-and I mean very early!!- I decided that if the police wouldn't do anything, I would handle it myself. And I did just that.

Stop reading if you are terribly moralistic, religious, pedantic, law-abiding, think the police should handle everything-and if you are a copper, definitely stop reading!!!

I wonder how he managed to leave the area with two flat tires....:)