The swelling could have moved the chips around so they are poking the nerves. If it isn't improved you may want to call the doctor tomorrow

Yikes Erin! Hope it gets better soon.

Best Buy update. The guy @ CS was very nice, and spent a lot of time on my issue, and did a bunch of running around. But clearly he was clueless. After well over an hour, when CS gave up, I headed back to computers to see if floor model was there. It was. No longer at sale price, but still listed as out of stock. Talked with a sales person who did seem to have a clue. Asked if I could have the floor model. Not until Jan 22nd. @@. I explained situation. He looked at my reciept. Called it up on the computer. It shows A TRACKING NUMBER from UPS !! The computer is on the way from Fresno, via ups ground, and will be here 24th. So I am optimistic, until the 24th. The sales guy gave me the tracking number, and his card. Apologized for idiot sales guy who told me Sunday delivery, when they only get deliveries Tu Th & Sa.

Ahahahaha!!! The Boy is untangling tiny white Xmas lights -- plugged them in, and they're the flickering kind. He draped them over his shoulders and said, "I'm flickering! I'm sparkling...I'M A VAMPIRE!!!"

I told him that was the wrong kind of sparkling to be a vampire.

no kind of vampires sparkle. it's just wrong.

OK. So. Woke up this morning at 8. My train was scheduled to leave at 10. It generally takes me about 20 minutes to get to the train station, but I figured that, since it had snowed yesterday, I'd leave some extra time. But I also figured that, since the snow had stopped at least 12 hours earlier, it wouldn't be that bad -- everything would be plowed and shoveled.

I forgot to factor in that I live in DC, where everybody seems surprised every year to remember that yes, we get snow.

So, first plan -- go to the corner and catch a cab like I usually do. I quickly realized that this plan would not work. There were no cabs on the street. There were no cars on the street. Seriously, I stood there about five minutes, on what's normally a very busy street, and saw three cars go by.

I was right in front of a hotel, and I figured they'd know what was going on with the cabs, so I went inside to ask if any cab companies were running and whether I could call them. The hotel people were very nice -- called not only every dispatch in the city, but also a few friends who drove cabs. No cabs. At all. None of the dispatch numbers even picked up.

But, luckily, I had left enough time for alternate plans, and I started heading toward the Metro. About halfway down the first block, I end of in front of a building that hasn't shoveled yet. (Did I mention that the snow stopped 12 hours earlier? And that it was already 9 in the morning, not like 5 or something?) I realize that there is no way I'm going to be able to roll my heavy suitcase any further. I need to walk in the street instead of on the sidewalk. Just climbing over the snowbank seems like a better idea than trying to find a break in it. Some guy walking down the street helps me partway over with my suitcase. I only fall down twice. Snowbanks are soft. I'm very glad that, in my "snow boots or hiking boots?" decision earlier that morning, I went with snow boots. As I'm walking, I notice that several city streets haven't been plowed yet.

So I get to the Metro. The Metro is actually running fairly smoothly -- they canceled all service to the aboveground stations and are just running the trains back and forth in the underground portion. I get to the train station about 15 minutes before my train is scheduled to leave. I glance at the Departures board and realize that many trains are delayed. It's almost 10, and one train scheduled for 7:25 still hasn't left. But I figure, that train is to Vermont. My train is just to New York, and I know that there's not much snow between here and there, so it can't be delayed too much.

So I sit, and wait. The train is delayed. First they say it's delayed 15 minutes. Then half an hour. Then an hour. Then two hours. Then, an hour and 45 minutes after it was supposed to depart, there's an announcement that it's canceled. The announcement tells us to go line up at the ticket counter to exchange our tickets.

A few hundred people at once run for the ticket counter. I end up on line with a few other people on the same train, and we consider our options. We don't really have any options. After about 15 minutes on the line, during which time we move forward about 10 feet, an Amtrak employee starts walking through the line shouting, "If you are holding a ticket for the 10:00 Acela train, mumble mumble mumble." I can't hear the last part of what he's saying, but I am holding a ticket for the 10:00 train, and as soon as he says whatever he's saying, a ton of people grab their bags and start running, so I follow them.

We end up on line at a gate. A gate! To get on a train! As I get near the front of the line, I see the conductor come up to the ticket-taker and tell her, "Fifteen more! We can only fit fifteen more people. The next fifteen, and then that's it." I count. I am the eighth person on line. I work very hard at not letting anybody shove in front of me, and end up on the train. I don't know what train, but it's a train. And it's moving.

The train announcements come on. Turns out, this (continued...)

( continues...) is the 7:25 train to Vermont. Leaving at a bit after noon. And, wonder of wonders, it is actually stopping at my NJ stop on the way to Vermont.

The train ride itself was fairly uneventful. Read a book, ate a veggie burger from the cafe car. (The Amtrak veggie burgers, by the way, are disgusting. The burger and bun and put in a plastic bag together and then microwaved like that. It is devoid of any moisture whatsoever. I added three packets of ketchup and one of mustard, and the bun sopped all if it up immediately.) The guy sitting next to me got a roast beef sandwich which didn't look much better. But, it was food. Not starving or anything.

Get to NJ, and my dad picks me up at the station. We've got to make a few stops on the way home, which means driving around a bit through a few different small towns. And, in contrast to DC, every single street is plowed. Even little tiny side streets. Every business owner and house owner has shoveled their sidewalks.

Finally home. Ate dinner, watched Holiday Inn, fell asleep. Just woke up again.

I shall consult the dr in the morning. assuming the dr works on monday....and i'm pretty sure his only hours are tues wed thurs, but i already called in suck tomorrow in order to pursue medical assistance. And to try out my cunning sleep plan which goes something along the lines of: dope up, sleep for 4 hours, wake up in pain, re-dope, sit on the sofa icing and reading a few chapters in a very stooopid book, then hobble back to bed and sleep for another 4 hours. I think this is a marvelous plan. Now can someone bring me bonbons and a stylish cane?

Wow, Hil, I'm glad that you got where you were going and sorry that it was such a nightmare to get there.

erin, I'm sure you know this already, but elevating or soaking in water (any temp) are helpful for swelling.

Also?

called in suck

Funny typo. You don't know how many times I would have liked to call in suck.

Off to bed with me! Night, Bitches!

Night to the sleeping Bitches. Yours Truly, ftr, is trying to wake up.

It's painful.

erin, I hope you're better.

Hil, that's quite a way to end a week. Your description of some parts really reminded my of Israeli mentality:

I forgot to factor in that I live in DC, where everybody seems surprised every year to remember that yes, we get snow.

Switch DC with Israel, snow with rain and get the reason why every year, the poorest neighborhood it Tel Aviv is flooded.

How are you doing, Burrell?

Sorry to disappear on you. Someone snatched away the computer from me and then... stuff happened.... But I'm doing OK. I get tired easily and my torso gets achey, but I'm feeling way better than I was a couple of days ago. Thanks for asking.