Daily Success March 16 – Disappointing. There were reasons for this, but no excuse.

Yesterday

Yesterday got off to a reasonable start, but then the cleaners were to be here (disruptive) and I had a noon physical therapy appointment (more disruptive).
And it was time – past time, really – to suck it up and return my Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) laptop and drop of my expired (sob) Common Access Card (CAC). It is said that NRL actually means Nobody Really Leaves, but this time, I may have actually left. As Steve talked about for his last combat flight in Vietnam, he just parked the plane and walked away, so it was with me yesterday. After about 40 years of going to NRL off and on for various reasons and often for long assignments, maybe I really have left. It is a strange feeling.

It was late in the day before I got home, and a tiredness had settled on me that would not be ignored. Thus, another half hour was lost to just lying down for a bit.

But an excellent email from Tim left me happy (see future).

On the other hand, I got my mid-term essay grade for Poli-Sci and was deeply disappointed. I am doing a poor job of following instructions and my grade reflected that. I must focus as much on format as on the content if I’m going to get a good grade; ironic, that, given my years of telling folks to follow the instructions in the request for proposal …

One real bright spot. I was having a tough time doing one of the exercises at physical therapy, using my fingers to climb a tiny ladder, and mentioned it to the therapist. He explained that it wasn’t about my fingers as I had thought, but about finding a way to lift my arm well above my head. So, I lifted my arm well above my head with its own muscles and said, “like this?” He just kind of stared at me. Then he asked the supervisor to look and she just kind of stared as I lifted my arm with minimal trouble. Long pause. “We’ll just stop doing that exercise.”

Today

Today is exercise, physical therapy, Poli-Sci, and, maybe, a few chores. Jan has been doing all, or sometimes almost all, the chores. I feel a need to pitch in.

The Future

The future looks brighter at the moment.

Tim is organizing a conference call with some heavy IP guys in his firm, Dykema, to discuss the options for, and likelihood of success of, ways to force Sam into treating me fairly or even shoving him out of the picture. I must admit that a legal action that screws up Sam’s plans does not hurt my feelings.

My shoulder, while still in its early healing phase, is doing very well. I am hopeful. My back and piriformis seem either static or continuing to improve at a glacial rate. I am hopeful.

We shall see.