The One With A Little Scare

To say things were getting a little stressful at work is putting it mildly.

After getting moved to my new team, my previous boss was fired after 10 years with the company and just wrapping a successful project. None of it made sense, especially when two of his underlings were promoted the same week due to the project's accomplishments.

I knew the company was going through a major restructuring and the timing hit the same week that a number of projects were wrapping. What that meant, was a huge personnel shuffle, and a whole lot of people shown the door.

But that wasn't the end of it. The new team I was put on saw several people quit and move to competitor companies at the same time a handful of us arrived. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was quickly going from the #12 guy to the #7 person.

As of this week, I'm #3.

So, a ton of responsibility is now on my shoulders. I'm expected to train the "new hires" in an area of specialization where my "work experience" counts for less than 40 hours. Gee, I'm no expert, but I guess I'll train them! A little stress, yes?

The weather has recently taken a turn for the worse as well. We've had a few snowy days, none of which result in copious amounts of the white stuff hanging around longer than 24 hours, but it's enough that my morning commute has had a few disruptions and the close calls to the train on the way home now happen occasionally in the morning too. There's no worse feeling than running to catch a train morning and night. I'm tired of running. Especially in my dressier shoes.

Since Daylight Savings, the evening commute has gotten progressively worse. Where before I could expect to get to the train station in about 15-20 minutes, it regularly hits the 25-30 minute mark. This means I have a 40-50 minute wait for the next train and with wet/snowy/cold weather, I'm seeking shelter in one of the closest fast food joints. So much for healthy eating!!

Spending money in said fast food joints also means that I'm trying to balance the spending by eating cheaper lunches (still brought from home) at work. Noodle soups have become a staple diet for my lunches, which with less friends around the office also means I'm eating at my desk rather than socializing in the cafeteria. I noticed one day that my noodle soup has an extremely high sodium count. Roughly 72% of my daily sodium intake occurs over a 30-minute period every day. I've never been one to put salt on anything, so I'm taking in a lot more sodium now than probably ever before in my life.

Stress at work.
Less friends around.
Commuter nightmares.
Fast food diet, punctuated by higher salt content.

A week ago, I woke suddenly at about 4 in the morning. My chest hurt and I couldn't get back to sleep. I dealt with it as I got ready for work. I felt the pain as I jumped on my morning train. I struggled on the bus to the office. And by 10am, my left should was sore. By Noon I was convinced the fingertips on my left hand were feeling a little numb.

24 hours in the hospital followed, but there's nothing wrong with me. My body may have been scaring me, especially after the way I've treated it in recent weeks.

I'm fine.

I think I'm fine.

But definitely got a little scared.