And Yet.....They're Playing Baseball.

It is 34 degrees outside. (Fahrenheit, not centigrade, mind you.)

The "real feel" temperature being advertised by the local weather guy is 29 degrees.

It is raw.

It is freezing, bone-chillingly cold.

It is full freakin' fledged winter out there.

It is going to SNOW tomorrow.

People are bundled up in full winter gear (scarves, hats, mittens, neck gators, Smartwool socks) and perpetually pitched forward to fight against the gale force wind that seems to have taken up permanent residence here in Boston.

And yet, it is April 10th.

And yet....they're playing baseball over at Fenway Park.

Does it seem completely incongruous and WRONG to anybody else but me that they are fucking playing ball over at Fenway Park and the wind chill factor today never rose above the 32 degree freezing mark?



I'm going to TRY to let it go, but I can't promise that I'll be successful in this endeavor. Where is all this global warming they talk about? And to think that I was actually starting to fall for Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" crap. The only freakin' inconvenience I'm dealing with here is that it is cold and sucky and crappy.



While I'm in the mood to bitch and moan....

I had to call my doctor today and cave in and request a Prednisone course of treatment for my back. I have not exercised since Saturday because I'm in too much pain to do much besides get through the day. I'm overdosing on Aleve and even taking the occasional PM vicodin. I hate those things. They make me absolutely sick to my stomach. I take one and then I have about an hour before the room starts spinning, and I feel like I'm going to drop dead. It is so nice to be left with the option of either feeling like I'm going to be sick to my stomach, or suffering with the intolerable back pain.

I wouldn't mind if I made no attempt to better my back situation. Crap, I might even concede that I deserve the pain. But, Jesus, when I think of all the stupid, time-consuming, labor-intensive back therapy that I do all the time, it really pisses me off!

So, anyway, I've just started the first of my 6 days on prednisone. As I said, I hate to be on it, but it is a really quick fix, and I should be back in the gym within a day or two of today.

I hope!

It would be lovely to get fitted for the wedding dress after a week of not working out. I'm sure I'd be delighted with that experience.



Onto a more positive note....

A few nights ago, I discovered the Boston College Bus. Well, that's not entirely true. I've seen it a million times. The thing goes up and down Comm Ave every day all day, depositing BC kids off at intervals along the way. One of the stops is right outside my front door.

On Friday night, I was so freakin' freezing, and I was about to walk home from Cleveland Circle. Normally, this 10 minute walk is a welcome diversion, but under the APRIL subarctic circumstances, a lift on a nice warm bus was looking pretty good.

I hung back and watched as other students boarded the bus. Would they show IDs to the driver? Would there be some secret password?

Nope.

Nada.

Everybody just walked onto the bus like they owned the thing.

So, I joined them.

And I've been taking the BC bus ever since.

In fact, I took it tonight after having my Rx filled at CVS. I love it. The seats are comfortable and the heat is kicking.

Now granted, I'm easily 12 years older than anybody on that bus, but I don't even give a shit. I LOVE finding free stuff that really isn't supposed to be free. I think that bus fare is something like 40,000 per year....but I'll take it free and gratis.

Sho 'nuff.



In a totally unrelated thought....

Isn't it strange that pharmacists in this country are forced to basically act as ordinary cashiers, ringing up dish washing detergent and People Magazine for the folks getting their meds?

I mean, sure, it is convenient to purchase everything at one register, rather than wait for the RX and then in line again at the regular register.

I'm just thinking that in Europe, they never have CVS type stores. Stores that sell snacks, shampoo, magazines, fabric softener, etc., are just separate from pharmacies. In Europe, pharmacists/chemists, are viewed with some prestige and are really respected by their customers.

In Europe, just to buy aspirin, you have to go to the chemist, and you have to ask the dude for the meds that would be "over the counter" here. The pharmacist will always ask you a ton of questions and give advice as to how to best take the product in question. In Europe, if you approached a pharmacist with a pack of Twizzlers, expecting him to ring it up, he'd laugh at you and walk off.

I was thinking tonight, as this very nice, professinal, dignified pharmacist was ringing up troll pencils and Cascade for some woman, that this should not be in his job description. The dude went to pharmacy college for like 5,600 years. He should not be advising you on how to AVOID DEATH by correctly dosing out your medication, all while ringing in the latest issue of "Car and Driver."

What the hell?