Naked Bee

When we last left our intrepid heroine, she was successfully managing to stave off a panic attack. After that, things started to get really fun.

First sign that there was a problem was that my laptop was sometimes saying that the power cable wasn't plugged in when, in fact, it was. The second sign arrived in the form of a small amount of static discharge around the point where the cable plugged into the laptop. This seemed distinctly sub-optimal, so I turned the power off at the mains, checked the cable, and saw that there was a spot where the cladding had split and the wire was exposed.

The timing of this was nothing short of spectacular, I have to say.

At this point, I decided to phone my dad to wail and gnash my teeth a bit, and it was decided that he and my mum would come up to see me the following day (Saturday), and that he would take a trip down to the Apple shop in Manchester at some point before I am hospitalised and get me a new power cable. This put my mind somewhat at ease, and I went to bed.

Before my parents arrived the next day, two things of note happened to me. First, I ate a couple of pieces of toast and then nearly threw them up, presumably because my body had been too busy stressing to bother operating trivialities such as my digestive system. Second, I managed to slip, fall, and hurt my knee. No break, sprain or strain, but a quite impressive lump and bruise. And oh, did hurt. I guess my body had decided that coordination and balance were unneeded side ventures as well.

At this point, I decided that I was in no fit state to look after myself, so I would return to the nest a few days earlier than planned. Between the three of us, we did all the cleaning, tidying, packing and organising that needed doing, with the exception of some laundry which my mum generously offered to do for me.

I am now back at my parents' house pretty much everything is sorted. My dad's going to get my new power cable today. My mum's on with the laundry. I have to sort out the things that are going down to Brighton from the things that are awaiting me here on my return. But these things are trivial. I am now no longer feeling anxious. I am just calmly, happily anticipatory.

I believe I have reached my state of Zen.

And the best part? The best part is that even when I was stressed, I never once had a full on panic attack, but always managed to act sensibly to alleviate the anxiety. I'm proud of myself for that.