Brutal Days

The last two days have been relatively nasty. The offending joint is my still my left hip.

The amount of sleep I had on Wednesday night was miniscule. But Thursday marked only four days since we reached the only project milestone that really matters at WorkWorkWorkWork. Furthermore, it was the type of milestone that was high-profile, was equidistant from the start and end date of the project and affected every department at WorkWorkWorkWork Headquarters.

This is one of those moments in every project when a Project Manager needs to be seen and ready for some responding action. Also, I had a meeting in which all team members from every department would be in attendance. The first since the big milestone was reached. There was little choice. The only excuse I consider acceptable for absence on my part, under such circumstances, is death or the office is full of spiders.

I got up in a lot of pain in my left joint hip. While standing up was possible, but standing up straight was not. The straighter I was, the more pain I felt. Stiffness wasn’t a problem. It never is. Walking and moving was very difficult and quite painful.

Limping around the office in a 160cm ( 5.2 ft ) frame that weighs 55kg ( 120 lbs ) can’t help but attract attention. While I quite enjoy attention in most cases, I’d prefer that any public reputation I have not be entirely based on the fact that I can have the appearance of a harrowed cripple. But I am who I am, and I stopped worrying years ago about the things I can’t do anything about. Occasionally having the appearance of a harrowed cripple is one of those things.

But there is a flip side. Seeing others react to your situation of difference can be quite interesting if you, like me, are a people-watcher. Those that know me have seen it all before and they know how I manage it. They are no longer shocked or surprised or uncomfortable and as such, their reactions are entirely predictable and boring (sorry all!). However, a lot organisational upheaval has occurred at work. Not only have I moved departments, I moved to a different floor. On my new floor there are not many people I have worked with and many more staff who are fresh off the street. No one has seen me in the throes of a violent flare-up. Eventually they will get used to it but in the meantime, seeing how different people react to the same visual presentation can be a very fascinating insight into the beauty and diversity of human behaviour.

I lasted until 2pm until I ate some painkillers. They don’t reduce the pain but they do help in other ways. They were enough to take the edge off and get me through my 3pm meeting.

My sleep last night (Thursday night) was better than Wednesday night but it was still broken up, I was still in pain and still limping. Since, I had no meetings, and no anticipated disasters, I rang The Boss who agreed to me working from home. Around 3pm the pain started to ease a little. It has gradually declined since.