June 25, 2003 - 11:55 am
Ever do something that you either 1)don't think about, or 2) think will be a good idea, only to spend considerable time later wishing you'd avoided that plan of action?
The very worst is the day that goes so bad you realize all of your troubles would have been avoided had you STAYED IN BED like your brain told you to...but no, you HAD to interact with society. Dolt!
Well, I have days like that ever so often. Sometimes they're just days when things don't go well, the worst are days that have grave consequences, like car accidents, expensive things being stolen/broken/etc., or bad interactions that you wish you could take back, do over again differently, yadda yadda yadda.
Of course, with a lead in like that, you may think that yesterday was one of THOSE days...well, not quite. But it still sucked in one very specific way.
I got a sunburn fit for the Gods!
For the most part, yesterday was a fantastic day. I made my way to what I thought would be the first class of the semester, only to find that I was one day early, and classes would start on Wednesday (this is a day later than usual, but oh well). Suddenly in possession of two spare hours to waste, I acknowledged the universal truth that any morning spent on a soft couch at Espresso Royale, drinking caffeinated beverages and reading the New York Times is a morning worth the consequent lost wages.
When I went to work an hour later, I realized that little would be lost, and in fact, more gained, by me taking the day off. Now, this considered, added to the temperature (it was a stifling 95 degrees in Ann Arbor) made me believe that my life would be enriched by spending the day on ME time.
I headed down to the pool first, ready to lay in the sun with a book and some headphones, with an occasional dip in the pool to keep me cool (heh, that rhymes...I'm so hip). Avoiding my usual sin of forgetting to turn, or spending too much time on my stomach, I brought some sunglasses and split my time pretty evenly, flipping every 20 minutes or so...
Something to note about my skin: I have skin slightly better than an Irish redhead. I get freckles and burn much easier than I tan. USUALLY, however, it's a result of forgetting to reapply sunscreen (or depending on Stacey's supply, only to realize later that the Polish Princess uses SPF 8!), and it covers almost all of my exposed skin, at least on my back or chest. Normally, this happens when I spend the entire day in the sun (5+ hours) and if I come in any time before I burn, there will be no effect of my exposure whatsoever (no tan, no NUTHIN!). These are things I live with. I expect at least one burn a year, and almost welcome it, as when it fades, as it inevitably will, my skin looks somewhat normal, and this fends off the "are you feelin' alright, hun?" questions that I would otherwise get all winter.
For whatever reason, yesterday, shit went awry. I came in after about 2 1/2 hours (usually not enought to give me anything more than a burn on my nose) because I notice that my shoulders were slightly pink. So I packed up and headed inside, expecting a burn of some sort on my back. I could deal with that. I figured I'd go to the gym, run a little, then head home to shower and throw some aloe on my shoulders. Jesus H. Christ, I never had a chance!
By the time I got home, I noticed that certain parts of my body were becoming increasingly sensitive, so I stripped and took a better look. One shower later and I had a full view of the damage I'd taken: I had a full burn from the tops of my hips to my feet, over my stomach, across my shoulders and a bit on my lower back, the back of my thighs and calves, and under my arms. My upper arms and chest suffered a little, but I can't feel them compared to the rest of my body. As the burn set in, I also realized how uneven it is. It looks like I fell asleep on a boat, twice over! The burns on my legs go over hte fronts and backs, but not the sides. The only word to describe my stomach is "striped"...what the fuck!?!? My face is fine, but I doubled the number of freckles on it. I look like a fucking monster! As the burn set, I noticed that a few areas, particularly under my arms and the tops of both sides of my thighs, are PAST sore, they're incredibly painful, sensitive to the slightest touch and emitting much more heat than anything else.
To top it off, I think I grabbed a touch of sun poisoning. I decided to make some more muffins, since the ones we made Monday night were such a hit, and as I worked in the kitchen I noticed a pain in my lower back/kidney area, a sick feeling in my stomach, pain/tingling in my legs, and finally, I almost fainted in my own fucking kitchen.
Jesus Christ, I just wanted to spend a few hours in the sun, and now I'm walking around like a rape/assault victim with a tube of lotion and patches of pink all over. *falls to knees* WHY!!!!!!!!
