Old face, new name

One of the things that's been keeping me going at work lately is the people that we have around. It's been a struggle this week, due to pain in my back and poorly shoulder. And because the shoulder isn't too healthy, restricted blood flow in my right arm means my right wrist gets painful too.

Sucks a bit ...

But I don't like to dwell on pain, as that leads to the pain owning you. I have a mental discipline that lets me filter out the annoying things around me, things like the loudly squeaking printer that irritates everyone else. I'm aware of the squeak but I'm able to filter it out. I try to do something similar with pain, where I don't acknowledge it until I kinda trip up over it. It works most of the time but the constant low level pain of wristy RSI can get to me.

What really helps with the pain management is distraction :-) And that's been coming from a couple of different areas :

Letting the mischievous demon out of the box

Hasn't happened as often as I'd like lately, although I did let the Imp out long enough today to do something that'll hopefully earn me a smile from someone next week. Nah - the mischievous demon hasn't been let out enough for a little while.

Having a laugh with people

I get on pretty well with the people at work, including those who don't actually work on the project I'm on. One of my addictions has earned me a new name : Muffin Man :-) I'm a big fan of the Chocolate & Orange muffins in the canteen and cos I tend to leave it until they're just about to close, the canteen girls have gotten used to me coming down at about 3.00-3.30 to raid their muffins. I'm also a huge fan of the sandwiches they make, even to the point where I'll grab my lunch from there even if I'm having a half day on the Friday :-)

A little bit of attention can do wonders for the morale and it gives me a lift to get a hello and a bit of banter when I see them. I got a lot of amusement out of Ms Cantina going "Ohh look, it's the Muffin Man" yesterday afternoon :-). Kinda curious to note that they don't seem to do it so much with the other people who frequent that canteen.

So that's a few ways for how I've been dealing with my own fragility :-)

Getting myself focused in what I'm doing so I don't notice the soreness. Having a little fun and helping people out (did a couple of techie support things today for a pair of truly lovely ladies :-) But most of all enjoying a bit of banter with the people at work.

PS I also go for the canteen teacakes in the morning, mainly cos my morning routine doesn't usually have a slot for breakfast but partly cos I might get another opportunity to spot a smiling Ms Cantina :-)