I generally don’t like “shop” as a verb – I associate it with the kind of mindless consumerism that leads to phrases like “retail therapy” (I get mine wholesale) and “fast fashion” and their being more women’s clothing stores in any more than any other category of store by a ratio of three to one.
Think about it, ladies. For the market to support than many stores, the markup per item must be ENORMOUS.
Those cute, kicky summer heels you just bought for $15? Cost them $1. And that includes the labour of the judgy looking ladies who rang it up for you.
The labour of the elderly Indonesian lady in some godforsaken jungle sweatshop who actually made the damned things barely enters into the price at alll.
Anyhow. Back to what I am fairly sure was the point.
I don’t like “shop” as a verb, but today I shopped well, and I want to crow a little about it.
See, I went to do my usual Friday shopping online at Real Canadian Superstore via DoorDash and noticed that all the grocery stores on DoorDash had this awesome sale on where you got 30 percent off of any order over $60.
Cha ching, thought I.
So I did what shopping I needed to do and my total came to a little under $45.
Now’s when things get fun, thought I, rubbing my paws together with glee.
First I supersized my peanut butter order. A 2 KG jar instead of my usual 1 KG. Then I added a second 1KG bag of my usual No Name Original Trail Mix.
That got me to the magic $60 mark, then I applied the offer code and just like that, even with tax and tip, my total game to just under $50.
And I will not have to buy trail mix or peanut butter for a WHILE.
Looking back, I kind of wish I had thrown in some small thing that would feel like a “treat” to me just to make the whole thing more rewarding.
Oh well. For a Taurus like me, saving money is always a treat.
Hmmm. I know there was another thing. Now what was it? Oh yeah…
FOXES ON SPEED!
Well, amphetamines anyhow.
Ritalin still counts! Ask any pharmacology student.
Anyhow, I took my first Ritalin (or methylphenidate, as it’s known at home) today, and as seems obvious in hindsight, I did not feel any different.
I mean, I felt somewhat more energetic and enthusiastic than normal, but I felt that way before I took the pill too, likely due to getting a dose of sunshine and fresh air when I went to Wound Care this morning, so that doesn’t count.
I’ve slept as I normally do (too often, in naps) and felt more or less the same as always.
But that’s just the first pill. Could be that I will start to feel the effects when I get more of the drug into my system.
Or maybe I am just so massive in being massive that a mere alteration of my fundamental brain chemistry stands no chance of making me more decisive.
Or maybe not. Honestly, I could go either way.
I admit, I do feel a little “wired” after going and making my lunch. So maybe what was needed was something to stimulate an adrenaline response in order to get the Ritalin really pumping in my bloodstream.
But I can tell you this : so far, I don’t feel any more capable of making decisions. But then again, I just started on the drug, so it may come to my rescue yet.
Or give me a heart attack via tachycardia.
Either way, it’s a change.
More after the break.
Trying again tomorrow
I have decided that I will take Ritalin #2 tomorrow morning.
My heart was really racing earlier and that freaked me out. Both for the obvious reason that it’s scary for that to happen for anyone but especially for someone with stents in their heart like me, plus hypertension et al, and for a slightly less obvious reason.
You see, having my heart be racing like that reminds me way too much of when I am having a panic attack.
So it was giving me a panic attack. Funny how it can work backwards like that. I guess I was flashing back to panic attacks I’ve had in the past.
It was a flashback panic attack, Jack.
So I am going to give my body time to cool off before I go doing that again.
I am probably overreacting. (Boy, do I say that a lot lately )
And speaking of things happening a lot lately. been having digestive issues again. Seems to be a pattern now. Loose stools with a certain amount of burning associated with them, and possible leakage, and taking the form of a main event and an encore.
Once more, I tell myself I should be going to Urgent Care or the ER. Coupled with my attacks of severe back pain, this all could indicate something spinal going on, or potentially even worse, something going awry with my untreated umbilical hernia.
Remember that one? Feels like it’s from forever ago, dunnit?
Back then, the surgeon looked at this huge bulge in my abdomen and told me that he didn’t think it was in danger of rupturing and that therefore he did not think that it was worth the risk of operating on it.
Normally, he’d implant a sort of mesh cage to hold it in place, but he couldn’t do that until – you guessed it – I’d lost a lot of weight.
Might be time to get it looked at again. I dunno.
But that’s the kind of thing that if it goes back it can make a heart attack looking like a frigging hangnail, so I will talk to Doctor Chao about it during our phone appointment coming up on Monday.
The one I made at the beginning of the month. For my back pain. Sigh.
Hang in there, body parts! Hang on tight!
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.