Knowing one's limitations

Oh, well-if the year goes on the way it started (okay, just last week, to be fair), I'm going to have to hide under the bed until it's over.

Last week was totally underwhelming. It was raining. It was brutally cold. We had gale force winds on Wednesday night into Thursday, and a chimney stack collapsed right on my walking route. Good thing I was on the other side of the road, or things would have been very unpleasant. And painful. And bloody. And, probably, terminal. Really-fancy being hit by a falling chimney-that'd be my luck at the moment, I think.

I'm just really peeved because I couldn't do my usual hour's walk in the rain-or wind. I did try, though, and I fell over twice. Now, falling over wasn't fun, I can tell you. One time I was in the flat, reached for something, and over I went. That was a little scary, because I just missed the corner of a table that was right in front of me; I could easily have hit it, and there would have been nobody around to help me. I was bruised, and stunned, and then the thought occurred to me that I could be lying there for days-weeks, maybe. Oh, I'm so cynical.

The second time was really my own doing. I was outside talking to a neighbor who has a small dog. She asked me if I would come with her so she could post a letter-and walk the dog at the same time. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, it was dark, and I didn't have my elbow crutch. Duh, I hear you say; idiot, I  hear myself say. I had tremendous trouble staying upright, and, on the way back from the mailbox, I lost my balance and fell off the pavement into the road. I was able to right myself, but I thought that the poor woman was going to have a seizure. She was already on one of those tripod things with wheels, and I knew that she couldn't do anything if I fell over. I was okay, and reassured her that the problem was vertigo, and that next time I go for a walk I will need to go and get the stick.

It was okay in the end-but I went back inside and realized that, although I'm fighting my hardest to live a normal life, I need to accept that there are things I will never be able to do-or, at least, not in the near future.
Never say never.

Now you know-if you've been following this for awhile-that I've been up against the landlord to fix the gate and lock on the car park, which is private and for tenants only. And you also know that we've had problems with drug dealers coming in, parking, and dealing drugs out of their car. And you also know that I seem to be the only one in our little apartment complex with the balls to go up against the landlord. I don't give up easily-in fact, I don't give up at all. So I made a good pain in the butt of myself, and finally the tenancy manager told me that there would be a new lock on the gate-and it would be high security, with keys that couldn't be duplicated. Did I hold my breath? No, I did not: far too wise for that.

Well-some idiot damaged the gate just after New Year's, and I reported it, and was told that it would be fixed last Tuesday. When last Tuesday came and went, I rang the repairs department and was told that the first available date would be January 31st. I spoke to someone who was clearly uninterested. So what did I do? I sent an email to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). I bypassed everyone, went straight to the top...remember, I'm the one who told you to skip the monkey and go straight to the organ grinder if you every want anything to be done.

I got an email back, telling me that the damaged gate would be fixed, and that the CEO would also be contacting the customer service manager to find out why such a small job took so long to fix. I got that email in less time than it takes to boil a kettle.

In less than twenty four hours, the damaged gate was fixed-and the security lock was installed. And the tenancy manager-who has all the keys-isn't speaking to me. So we've got a fixed gate, a security lock, and - no keys. It'll soon be time to email the CEO again...

And that's what happens when you ignore the monkey and go straight to the organ grinder. Well done, me. I'll probably get stabbed by someone in repairs...