Sick Day

I got up this morning fully intending to go to the doctor. I called in sick, still worried about the work I wouldn't be doing that day and left my boss a rambling voicemail about quotes etc. I call the doctor. The secretary takes my information, calls me an hour later and says I'll have to go to a minor emergency clinic because the man I let OEPIC pick for me can't see me for three weeks. I am disappointed because while I can afford to pay the co-payment on my health insurance, I can't afford to go to Urgent Care Plus (as much as I prefer them to making appointments and arranging it with the office manager etc--they take walk-ins--glorious day and I like them). I briefly consider using a credit card and decide that I'm not sick enough to do that yet.

I go into the kitchen to get the heating pad warmed up (to try and make my sinuses loosen up) and the cold water pipes are frozen. I call my dad and he tells me to put the space heater under the house and not worry about it since the rest of them are functional. I lie down on the couch with the heating pad and decide to sleep for a couple of hours. I regret not going to work since I couldn't get in to see someone and get this thing 'nipped'. I hate sinus infections. I reheat the heating pad and go to sleep for a couple hours.

The kitchen faucet is spitting cold water sideways. I turn it up all the way and it still spits at the same level. I take apart the aerator and remove the rust. During this process I forget the order in which I took it apart. I experiment with different methods and get it back together. Water flows once more. Success! There's something pleasant about fixing minor problems with your own plumbing in your own house. No, I don't want to go to work for roto-rooter, but making things that were formerly closed off open again is fun. I have learned a valuable lesson about plumbing and 60 year old houses. Open the doors, drip the faucets and don't panic if something goes wrong.

I need to learn how to do that. Don't panic if something goes wrong. That's a good one.