This I discovered today during the very beginning portion of what will become (I am sure) a multi-week packing process.
Yes, folks, I have started cleaning off my bookshelves. Most of the books went into the U-Haul box, but I managed to pry my fingers away from a goodly pile of them which are now stacked neatly next to my semi-empty bookshelves, which pile I will donate as soon as I can get it over to our local DI.
However, it's not the pile of books that were the problem today. No, no. The problem was with the box which, after I had stuffed it as full of reading material as I possibly could, weighed approximately as much as a Volkswagen Beetle (a blue one).
This is the box I then tried to lift off the ground using mainly my (thanks to climbing local hills) bulging thigh muscles but (unwisely) ended up using a goodly portion of my back muscles as well, which back muscles proceeded to talk sternly to me for a moment and then, not having grabbed my attention quickly enough, started screaming something about the end of the world and that I was killing them! Seriously!
So, I half-dropped said box and half-collapsed on top of it, all the while uttering half-articulate cries of "Ow! Oh, OW!"
Thus it has been painful over the past few hours to do things like sit, stand, breathe and move my foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal. Luckily, right now I only have to worry about the breathing and sitting problems which aren't really too bad at the moment.
However, I must confess that (my irritation from being in pain set aside) I'm glad this happened now rather than in a couple of weeks when my box-lifting skills (or lack thereof) will be needed in earnest. I learned today that lifting with your legs really is a good idea and that stopping by bookstores so I can gather more heavy volumes that I will eventually have to lift is a very bad idea.
(And yet I fear I still won't be able to resist.)
6 comments:
I read an article several years ago about a high school kid that decided not to talk for one year. His initial finding? That people spend most of their time saying things that promote themselves.
So I did a little experiment of my own and when I started a new job I refused to say anything about myself unless someone asked me a specific question. The result? People stopped talking to me because I was boring, was never able to make a personal connection with anyone i.e. friend, and people felt uncomfortable sharing with me since I never shared with them.
So I started talking about myself again and we were all much happier. People want to know who you are. People are what make life interesting. And we all love to hear about what makes you happy, nervous, and crazy. Because then we can feel free to share with you too! For example: this really long comment that's all about myself.
Sorry, that was meant for your last post. My comment for this one is: "Stop trying to lift blue VW bugs by yourself." :) Yeah...that's all I have to say.
I always pack books and clothes together so I don't end up with a few ridiculously heavy boxes.
Ooh! Good advice from both of you! Pam, I will stay away from those VWs from now on. And Kim, I may just have to implement that idea. My back thanks you.
And Pam, thanks too about the thoughts on sharing info about yourself. I think people really do try to connect to what we say about ourselves, and it's a good point that people feel more comfortable sharing info with you if you share info with them too.
Hmmm....telling a library science major to stop buying books would be much like telling a chain smoker to just stop smoking - so maybe you could just revert to buying smaller ones. And stay away from blue ones - they seem to be heavier.
There - did I help?
Infinitely. ;) Thanks! :D
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