Thursday 17 April 2014

whining about walking AGAIN

My recent post about parking got some interesting feedback on Twitter from the MS Trust and MS Society. Also the guy above who - and I may be being a tad oversensitive - seemed to be accusing me of some kind of sense of entitlement.

Yes, it might be my choice but I sometimes don't have a choice about how I travel to work - sometimes if I want to get to work on time and do a good job when I'm there, driving is the only option (and one which I really don't want to use).

*Harrumph*

The following week I managed the walk on Monday and Tuesday - I have no idea when the last time was that I managed to walk two days on the trot.

But by Wednesday I was really feeling it. The week previously a colleague had mentioned that I could probably park in an alley-way at work, so I decided to try that.

With one thing and another, my colleague had neglected to tell me that this wasn't going to be an option every day. So I found myself having to find a different space a couple of hours into my working day.

I went 'round the corner and noticed a sign like this - something about the wording struck me as a bit odd, so I returned to work and got on the City Council's website. Where I found the following -
In Derby, Blue Badge holders have
Free and unlimited parking in: 

  • areas covered by on-street charging and limited waiting 
  • areas covered by residents-only parking schemes
So basically - as long as I see one of those signs, I can park all day for free, without having to move my car every three hours. I called the Council and they explained to me that this was the case.

Yay... I guess...

Except since last week, I haven't walked in once.

Today was the first day I managed to do all my many necessary (?) checks and stops:
  • have I had a wee?
  • have I taken my Solifenacin Succinate, to prevent needing another wee?
  • have I got my Orthotic Stocking and walking stick?
  • one last wee?
  • have I had a poo? 
  • now wash your hands!
  • is your bag ready? (many thanks for the sandwiches, Mrs D)
  • what about one last try at that wee, JUST IN CASE?
Which basically meant that I got to work at around 9.15 today - not a massive problem and people do understand.

But the walk in this morning was SO ridiculously hard - I really struggled with lifting my foot and by the time I got here I was utterly banjaxed.

So today's lessons:
  1. If you have a Disabled Person's Parking Card, make sure you understand the ways in which it can be used - when I think about all the time I've spent driving home at lunchtime when I could have stayed in one place all day...
  2. Don't underestimate the benefit of a decent night's sleep - ours has been interrupted pretty much every night this last week (not the lovebirds, other stuff)
  3. If you try to get more active (the old "Use It Or Lose It" argument), for God's sake keep it up - I really feel that I've allowed myself to retreat a couple of steps, just by having an easier option. 
And if you promote a post in order to get a reaction from people, you've got to be prepared for whatever that reaction might be.

Either that or stop putting things online!

3 comments:

  1. So I will try to be encouraging without sounding like Pollyanna (no easy task): keep up the walking! Okay, that was more like an order than a gentle encouragement. Let me switch approaches and try guilt: it was in part your decision to walk to work that (eventually) got me back to walking up and down the several flights of stairs here at work. If you stop, there's a very real danger that I'll lose all motivation and becoming a quivering blob with atrophied muscles. Solidarity! We can DO this! Yeah!

    That approach was better; I started with guilt and ended with SUPER AWESOME MOTIVATION!

    Anyway, really, I hope if you are able to keep it up (hahahahahahhahaa) that it gets easier.

    p.s. Sorry about the inappropriate joke, but remember my maturity level = 12-yr-old boy.

    p.p.s Was amused by your bulleted list (well, the WEE and POO bits). I, too, have to try as many times as is humanly possible to have a wee before leaving the house. And without fail, about 10 minutes later, I have to wee again.

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  2. you can live your life offline? What? Since when?

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  3. I started with guilt and ended with SUPER AWESOME MOTIVATION!

    Thanks Cranky - that's the perfect combination! And it sounds like a good deal, so let's both keep walking.

    And SwissLet, the reason for my tardy response is because I've spent the day OFFLINE, with the family at a farm. It was great - and yes, there was MUCH walking.

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