I'm not Superwoman

But some days it feels like I should be, but I'm missing the mark.
According to Shane, I sat up in the middle of the night and yelled at my boss in my sleep. (I told her she was annoying. ??)
This morning started off with back pain and lots of it. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder last night, and I'm still not sure how. But it hurts. Hurts to breathe, hurts to move my arm, hurts to type, hurts to twist my torso or breathe, shift my weight.... Since (for reasons that I feel are fairly obvious) I didn't want to walk uphill for half an hour, I decided to take the bus. But the bus route must have changed since I last rode it, because I waited and waited and it never came. So, walking. But by the time I got to campus I was not only super cold from standing around, but my back was hurting with every step. (This is not excruciating pain, don't worry, just the annoying kind. Walking through snow and on ice means using your stabilizing muscles more, hence the pain with every step.) So I decided to wait for the shuttle. Now, I've had horrible experiences with the shuttles in the past. When I was recovering from swine flu a few summers ago, the first day going back to work I tried to bike and knew that with the shape my lungs were in I wouldn't make it up the hill. But the shuttle didn't have a bike rack, and when I pointed it out the bus driver snidely told me, "Well you have legs. Why don't you use them?" I ended up carrying my bike aboard, if only to spite the rude driver. And they're all like that to me. Passive-aggressive and rude. Since I only use the shuttle when I'm in pain, or sick, I don't know why I merit this special attention from them but I seem to attract it.
This morning, the call button for the shuttles was broken. (When the semester's not in, there's only one limited shuttle and to get any other service you have to call for it.) So I asked the one shuttle driver to call it in and he did, then left on his route. Then he came back, and left again. And came back, and still no other shuttle for me. When I started walking away he called out, "There's a shuttle coming for you." I told him to forget it, because no matter what I was going to be late for work. I was pissed off. Waiting over ten minutes for the bus that never showed up, and then another ten minutes for a shuttle that "was on its way" isn't really calculated to make for a good morning.
So I walked. Since the moose incident before Thanksgiving, whenever I get to the woods above the sledding hill I either say something or sing a little bit to warn any moose that might be up there. This morning it was, "F*** the shuttle service!" rather loudly. And a moose ran out of the woods maybe 20 feet ahead of me. That was the straw that broke me. It was running away from me, but it still scared me and I ran in the opposite direction. Crying, I called Shane and explained how horrible my morning had been so far. He tried to get me to go another way to work, but I (slowly, warily, carefully) walked up the path. The moose was back in the woods about 30 feet off the path, happily munching on trees. Other than watching me go by (ears perked, rather than laid back) it didn't seem to care too much that I was there. I talked to Shane the whole time. He reminded me that it's Thursday, the week is almost over and of course just by talking to him I felt better.
My plan for this evening is to take a long hot bath with a good book and some epsom salts. I'm so glad our dinner plan consists of "sandwiches and any leftover stew". Not complicated! This weekend we had already planned to maybe go to Chena Hot Springs with friends. Looks like I'm going to need it!
As if you needed another excuse to hate how long your workweek is and how much time it takes away from the things you really want to do, there's a report out arguing that we should all move to a 21 hour workweek. If I could do that and still make as much money as I am now, I totally would. But there are a lot of problems with it, too, only a few of which are pointed out in the article. (They gloss over the fact that people would have to get used to their salaries being halved.) As it is now, however, aside from weekends people spend a majority of their time either at work, getting to and from work, or preparing for work. And then what do they spend their free time doing? Spending money on Stuff, most of which is to either look better at work or make the rest of the stuff that takes up their time more "convenient". Why do we need convenience? Because work takes up too much time. It's awful. How much healthier would the nation be if we all worked only half a week? If we all had the time to cook the healthy meals most people really want, and the time to exercise?
Also, for those in Nome, we're all hoping the tanker makes it to you quickly. You've already had a hard enough winter.
For those in Cordova, I sincerely hope the snow lets up soon.