Not Working on Worldcon Prep

...because the apartment had got to a state where I really felt I had to do some cleaning before heading off to Denver starting next Friday afternoon. It was by no means a complete cleaning, but I did some tidying, and vacuumed the whole place, while also getting the laundry done. (I'll have to do laundry sometime during the Denver trip, too; unfortunately, the time when it seems mostly likely that I should be doing so is Sunday of Denvention 3.) My step counter says I logged over 3,000 steps doing so, which surprised me. I also managed to gouge my left index finger on a bit of plastic trim from the vacuum cleaner, leaving a rather nasty jagged and freely-bleeding cut, which meant stopping everything while I went to clean up and apply antiseptic ointment and bandages. I always seem to injure myself just before Worldcon.

I guess that actually I did do some Worldcon prep today. Part of the tidying involved repacking the Match Game boxes. I'm glad we have a new sponsor, Night Shade Books, coming on line at Denvention 3, because we finally seem to have exhausted the supply of books donated from Emerald City's review bin.

I also posted a message to SMOFS outlining the way I expect we'll handle a particularly complicated situation involving two competing versions of a proposal covering the same general area. ( Parliamentary neepery ahead )

After dinner, I managed to get out for a 5 km walk around my "regular" Quarry Lakes loop for the first time in a long time. It was a cool and overcast evening, but I like it that way, and so did my blood sugar when I tested it.

Finally, I spent much of the afternoon and evening copying episodes of The Goon Show from CD to cassette tape so that we can listen to them on the drive to Denver. I don't have a CD player in the van, you see, and Lisa doesn't like CDs anyway, much prefering to work with cassette tape.

Everyone else was either out enjoying themselves or working much harder on Worldcon-related stuff than I was. For me, it was just the calm before the storm, for in a couple of days, I must finalize the question list for Match Game and print some more posters for use at Denvention. Oh, and I do have to get my paying work done and a project brought to a point where I can hand it off by the end of this week. I foresee a couple of late nights on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Back to the Doctor

At Lisa's urging, I called my doctor about the back pain I'm experiencing, and wonder of wonders, he has an appointment slot open today at 1:20 PM. I'm accustomed to waiting weeks for appointments. I suspect his advice will be to take painkillers and continue to lose weight, but it seems like a good idea to check, particularly before heading off on a two-week road trip this Friday.

My thanks to people here who pointed out that my symptoms point to a pinched nerve more than anything else.

The LJ Overmind Triumphant

After poking and prodding me, testing my reflexes, and examining just where the numbness was, my doctor says that I appear to have injured my L4 disk. My reflexes are good, and the injury may be relatively minor. There are treatments such as steroids and surgery if nothing improves, but for now the instructions are to lay off of heavy lifting and other things that might exacerbate the injury. Continuing to lose weight won't hurt, either, as it will reduce strain. These things sometimes clear up on their own. We'll re-assess the situation at my next quarterly exam or if the condition worsens.

This does mean that other people are going to have to lug that darned mimeograph out of the back of my van once I reach the loading dock at Denvention Three, for I cannot risk lifting it.