So I have been working non-stop for about 4 weeks in a row. We finally hit the penultimate deadline yesterday. I have pushed myself to the limits of sanity, and hooboy, I tell you looking over that edge is not worth braving. Last Friday I pulled my first 18 hour day. I am usually not even awake for that long on average. After straining one of the muscles in my back, my sinister hallux (left big toe) has gone numb. I am on day 11 of not being able to feel that toe. There doesn't seem to be any discoloration, or jabbing pain, so I don't think I'll have it amputated. (haha!) I also think I must look grotesquely blobular, since I've been away from the gym for so long. My watch no longer fits on my wrist. My hair is overgrown into a bushy ponytail. I am one ugly sight to behold.

And yet, I am proud of where I am and what I've done. A person only pushes themselves to these limits either out of desperation or dedication.  Maybe for me it was a little bit of both. After all these years of schooling, one of my major fears is that I am completely useless to myself and society. I work with several Da Vincis. He is our patron saint; I know this because I practically shave off his beard every morning when I skim around his portrait to squeeze into my cubicle. The design engineers are just utterly brilliant (though they are rather disorganized). 

What I really enjoy about work, and the overall reason I don't mind the pay, is that the people are all full of integrity, humor, and wisdom. After the craziest, most hectic morning of sleeping past the alarm, getting attacked by ants on the trash can, stepping on my dog, breaking every known household appliance in reach, and forgetting to pack a lunch, one of my tires decided to gimp out while I was on the highway.

So I called my boss to tell him I was going to be late, and instead of just waving it off, he grabbed his sidekick and they both showed up to rescue me. And teach me how to change a spare tire in the process:

1. Activate the emergency brake.
2. Retrieve jack and socket wrench and spare tire/donut from trunk. (Available in most cars- check under the padding of the trunk).
3. Remember righty-tighty lefty-loosey. Use the socket wrench to loosen the five (or however many) bolts by jabbing it on and giving the handle a swift downward kick. Don't take them all the way off. 
4. Set the jack under your car on the middle-side. Be sure that it doesn't touch anything but metal when it is raised. (Try knocking on the underside of the car to get a feel of where the plastic molding changes over to the metal underbelly).
5. Elevate the jack using the loop tool, turning clockwise.
6. Once the car is lifted, remove the bolts with the socket wrench, in any order.
7. Fit in the spare. Lock on with bolts in an order of opposing points, like drawing a five-pointed star in a single stroke. 
8. Lower the jack with the loop tool, turning counter-clockwise. SLOWLY!
9. Clean up! Yay!