That which does not kill me turns me into a puddle of limp exhaustion… In the early days when I was reading other broken ankle blogs I was always curious as they all seemed to taper off into nothingness at about the 6-8 week mark. Surely things must still be going on so why not write about them. Well now I know why… Once “real” life resumes it is just too damn tiring to write anything. I’ve been back to work for 3 and ½ weeks now and all I can say is that I’m impressed that every day I make it to 5 p.m. and then manage to drive home.
I am also convinced that my workplace is out to get me. On a normal “able-bodied” day the university can be hazardous. We’ve got students riding/skating/walking all on their cell phones and totally oblivious as to where they are going. Then, in addition to the kids, you’ve got faculty and staff who are all trying to drive down the street without trying to kill any of the kinder and also not paying a lot of attention to people below their line of vision, i.e. me on my scooter.
Let me give you a glimpse of an average day post borken ankle. I’ve already chronicled my first scooter ride up to the library. However that particular ride now seems like a piece of cake as it occurred before the evil sentience known as the university knew that I was back. Now that it knows I’m here it has turned its full maleficent force into creating new and interesting obstacles for me to surpass on my journey into work.
I arrive at my parking lot which incidentally is .25 miles from my work (and yes this is the closest parking lot and yes I emphasize this alot) I get out of the car, lift the seated scooter off the car and away I go. I had pre-scouted out my path before returning to work and it was a pretty straightforward if longish one. Sadly it seems that I will never be able to use it. Observe as i attempt to transverse it. I start down the sidewalk and the university has thrown its first obstacle into my path. The university has decided to overwater the sidewalk in front of me, my boot doesn't do well on wet pavement so I turn to go a different route. Oh look - the groundskeepers are out with their leaf blowers. I decide to proceed forward even though this means a possible cedar chip in the eye. With eyes closed as much as I can to avoid grit blowing into them I scoot by not one, not two but three of these guys with blowers going full blast and blowing debris directly into my path. Normally no big deal if you can walk over leaves, acorns etc. but when you are on a scooter running over, say a tiny, tiny acorn it is a recipe for disaster. I cannot tell you then number of times the scooter has almost tipped. However I’ve made it past the diabolical groundskeepers only to discover that I must now turn away from my usual route yet again as the university has decided to dig up pipes underneath the area I would normally travel. Oh lucky me, the route I must now traverse has a tiny tiny little opening through fencing to bypass construction work, but wait there is more, it also happens to have a blind spot so one has to put one’s body into the opening and hope that no one else is coming. This, of course, is not the case as we have a kid on a bike, cup of coffee and cell phone in hand. With an unbelievable burst of adrenaline I make it through the opening and scoot as fast as I can off to the side. It’s a narrow miss but I make it. My last part of the journey is now upon me. I must now go past the coffee kiosk. Caffeine deprived zombies to all sides I make my last mad dash and…make it to the safety of my building. That, children is how my workday begins
