Sometimes it seems like you just can’t win. Hurricane Irene heading this way has thrown a monkey wrench into my plans for home improvement projects. One of the most important items on my list was plywood, but now there’s not a sheet of it to be had at any of the big stores. I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach. I realize people need plywood to protect windows from a hurricane but it may be weeks or months before I get the opportunity to shop for building materials again. I will try to check smaller stores on Monday when I have assistance available, but it is doubtful whether any of them still have any.
Often the little things anxiety interferes with are among the more aggravating and difficult to understand. I went into town this morning to buy food and a few more plastic containers for my organization projects. I bought containers at a local discount store. The clerk didn’t offer to put them in a bag. I knew carrying them was going to be a problem without a bag. Usually when I buy these they are put in a large plastic bag which I can then hold with one hand on the way home. The containers are too large to fit in my bicycle baskets. I tried to ask for a bag but anxiety refused to allow it. At the thought of asking I immediately started sweating, had a painful knot in my stomach, vision blurred and I became disconnected from what was going on around me. I didn’t hear or didn’t understand anything people around me said after that.
Outside I tried to figure out how to carry the containers home. They were the stackable kind but I couldn’t hang onto the stack with one hand. I went around to the back of the store so I wouldn’t be watched. It seemed possible to tie the containers on top of the big rear dual basket if I had some string or rope. I thought about going back into the store to buy string, but anxiety refused to allow that. I ended up removing both boot laces and using them to tie the containers on top of the basket. Fortunately riding a bike without boot laces isn’t as difficult as walking without them!
It would be a good idea to carry a plastic bag or two and some durable pieces of string or cord with me at all times. Perhaps a couple bungee cords wouldn’t hurt either. I don’t want to lose space in the baskets, because I sometimes need all of it and then some. I will see if I can find a container with a lid that fastens securely and some way to attach it to the bike frame.