Getting Paid for Doing Nothing

Snow day here, as in many other parts of the northern hemisphere.  An hour ago, it was coming down briskly and sticking eagerly to the grass and the sidewalks.  Now it's gone back to what I call "slow flurries."  They're predicting more, wetter, heavier snow tomorrow when I don't have the day off.  It will be interesting to see if my vehicle (which looks like an SUV but drives like a Schwinn bicycle) does an adequate job of getting me the 36 miles to work and back.


The reason for the scheduled day off was a diabetes education class I was supposed to have taken.  It's a two-parter, and for some reason, the local hospital that runs the program schedules part 1 on a Thursday and part 2 the following Monday.  Gives new meaning to the word inconvenient.  But I do have the time available.  My company has finally, after nearly 60 years, implemented a paid-time-off policy, so that you can actually take a day or a few hours off -- up until now, it was "vacation" or nothing.

But, since it's snowing, everything has been cancelled.  Schools first, then the class.  I'm trying again for late February-early March.  Meanwhile, I get to catch up on some domestic chores, maybe a trip to the post office and one or two other places, as long as the weather stays this way.

The diabetes isn't serious, relatively speaking.  My doctor first brought it up to me a year ago September.  Not to my face; they ran some routine blood tests and a staff member called and left me a voice mail message:  "Doctorsaysyoumightwanttothinkaboutusingmetformin."  Huh?  I'd never heard of metformin.  If she'd said "Glucophage," it would have rung a louder bell.  But I rationalized my instant denial by thinking, if it were that big a deal, he'd have gotten on the phone and told this to me in some more detail.  Thus passed nearly a year, until I went back to his office with a urinary-tract infection and he cornered me.  "Sure, I'll write you a prescription for Cipro.  And  we'll get you started on that metformin, okay?"  Yeah, I thought, whateverrr...  But I've been taking the metformin as directed for nearly 6 months.  No particular changes noted, other than a slight reduction in thirst and fewer nocturnal trips to the bathroom. My last blood-sugar check showed improvement, but when I went back that time, armed with a barrage of questions, the doctor parried me with "Let me sign you up for this class; they explain things better than I do."  No shit.

Well, the snow is picking up again.  Guess this is better than being at work, with three hours to go, wondering what I-75 would have in store for me.

Tomorrow's gonna be interesting.