can i have a "do-over" for this week?
 

Some of you know this already.

Let me start by saying that I'm basically okay.

BUT

If you are in the philly area, you may have seen news reports about a psych hospital that got evacuated last weekend (Nov 10)?

That was my hospital. I was working. It was significantly less than fun.

I thought that would be it for excitement for the week.

As usual, I was wrong.

A patient attacked me on Friday night, November 15. I was closing the exam room door on him after an interview and he leaped at me.

During the fight, my left hand was broken. Something they call a "boxer's fracture". (For those of you wanting/needing the technical details, it's a spiral fracture of the fourth metacarpal).

I was seen today by the orthopedic surgeon. So far we are going with the "conservative" treatment plan. That means they put a cast on it and we wait to see what happens. If it doesn't put itself back together, then I may have to have surgery. (Two surgeries, one to install the hardware, one to take it out.)

I'm typing one handed for the time being, so I'll be slower than usual in responding.

Thanks for any and all thoughts and prayers.

That sucks!

Some weird sychronicity, I offer you Pearl the dog. She was staying at a dog kennel during our vacation, and on Friday morning they found her limping. It turns out she pulled a ligament while playing with some other dogs, and her one leg had to be immobilized.

http://cellar.org/2002/pearlcast.jpg

You two are unhappy missing your bum paws.

but at least Pearl got a pretty pink cast ... mine's just kinda off-white (if they have to remove it for any reason I think I will demand purple ...)

On my own personal upside ... unlike Pearl, I won't fall over when I try to pee...

:D

As a total aside ... Pearl's looking mighty white for a boston ... does she have any hearing problems? (Friends of mine just got a male boston puppy ... is miss pearl looking fer a boyfriend by any chance?) Yah, that's me ... amateur dog pimp. I don't have an opposable thumb right now, so I have to find something with which to amuse myself.

Well now that might depend on whether yer cast is on yer wipin' hand or yer pants-holdin' hand.

Pants holding.
Pants unbuttoning and refastening was an interesting challenge today (am considering switching to skirts or sweats for the next 6 weeks).
Belt undoing. (see above)

It also turns out to be the hand I use for:
steering wheel holding while shifting (there is no public transit option for me ... I think a close to two hour bus ride might get me TO work, but the busses stop running around 11 pm)
stabilizing the yarn and half finished piece while crocheting (this could NOT have happened at a worse time. I have too many pregnant friends. I have baby blankets to make dammit!)
typing
holding the fork while cutting (I'll be eating a lot of chicken fingers and pasta over the next 6 weeks ...)
racking the slide. (yes, i figured a way around this one already.)

I am TOTALLY bummed out over my newfound inability to play Playstation 2 Games (or PSone, or Nintend64 for that matter). I JUST BOUGHT GTA:VICE CITY AND HITMAN2 DAMMIT!!!!!

LIFE IS SOOO UNFAIR!!!!!

A WORD OF WARNING: Never take your opposable thumbs for granted. they are indeed miraculous.

On the other question: I too have heard that the white "overmarking" of an eye is connected with the gene for deafness in Bostons; but Pearl hears fine. I think there are two recessive genes at work in Pearl. One made her body white; the other only covered one eye in black. I've seen many more white Bostons with two black-covered eyes.

But Pearl is not a breeder, she is spayed. This injury means she's not a good choice for breeding anyway; it might mean that her knee went out, a "luxating patella", which at age 3 is much too young for such a problem.

Man-oh-man, that sucks a lot.

I assume you're talking about Building 50 at Norristown State? We live right down the road from there, on Whitehall Road. We heard all the EMS equipment being dispatched up there, and then turned on fire low-band recievers to try to figure out what was up.

If there's anything we could do that might help you out, let us know. I know your public transit options are kinda sucky. I'm sending you my phone number in a private message; it might help out to have somebody local (and I mean I live literally 5 minutes away from there) who could give you a ride to someplace if you get in a jam.

Us goils who beleive in RKBA need to stick togther...:-)

That sucks wolf...I vaguely heard about the evacuation, but the broken hand...hope it heals quickly!

I've been suffering from some malady for almost a month now. Spent 6 hours last Monday in the ER...useless. Prescription-strength Ibuprofen is helping for the moment...cause still unknown, though diabetes, hypertension, and renal failure have been ruled out. Hopefully I'll find out more in the next few days.

Thanx for the offer. I'm hoping that any transport will be handled through work (we have an ambulance).

However ... know that i know how close you are, we will definitely have to get together at some point!

Just say when...:-)

You kids and your silly game pads. In my day, our joysticks actually included a stick!

Seriously, if you have some cash that needs disposing, you might look into one of those big joystick platforms designed for kung-fu-fireball fighting games. They rest on a flat surface (TV tray or lap) and only need a palm and some fingers to work.

Bummer, make sure you follow up on treatment, the finger I thought I'd sprained a month back was probably broken seeing how the nail is turned a bit more toward the ring finger than its mirror on the other hand. A do-over is complicated requiring a mastery of quantum physics, which I'm still working on. Maybe you and Maggie should just go over to the range and work on squeezing them off one handed, in case I can't harness a wormhole.

Weak-hand and strong-hand-only should be part of any defensive handgun practice, just like slowflight and stalls should be part of any flying practice.

Of course, that doesn't mean I actually *do* any of that much. But I should. ;-)

Ouch...
 

I fell off the roof last year and fell straight down on the deck landing on my outstretched right hand causing all sorts of medieval damage. After a while I got real good at changing my then 18 month old with one hand and using the left hand for.. well. anyway, it takes getting used to if you are determined to not let it get in your way.

Whatever you do, work your therapy. I didn't and now my right hand will barely bend up and down which sucks.

Oooh! Bitman called me a kid!!! How exciting and wonderful!!!! If I didn't already have other plans I might offer you a proposal of marriage ... (This "kid" is old enough to remember the premiere of the Odyssey Game System ... And I was thinking fondly of the days when a joystick consisted of a stick and a button.)

I'm absolutely following up on this one ... and doing everything the doc recommends.

As it happens, shooting both strong and weak hand has always been part of my regimen, as well as the trad. two-handed stance. (and when i'm at an outdoor range i try all the "weird" positions .... sitting, kneeling, laying down, etc. I can be quite entertaining.)

Don't forget .. today is the national ammo day BUYcott ... go out and buy at least 100 rnds!!

Cool. Where do you go to shoot outdoors?
Wish we had enough money around here for that--but Gwennie came home a few weekends ago with 1,000 rounds of Brown Bear 9mm....until I'm working again that's gonna have to hold us for a while.

Speaking of Brown Bear..."Wolf"...that nick isn't chosen for the Russki ammo by the same name, is it?

no, that's just a happy coincidence ... i've been "wolf" since i first signed on to the cellar (my full nic is SilverWolf), which was sometime around a month or so after Dinty Moore came to that GTG. (I found the old BBS # in Del Val Computer User Magazine all those years ago).

I have used the Wolf ammo, but my preference for cheap shootin' is S&B. The lacquer the russkies use to coat their ammo is a pain in my a$$. :p

Just about the time that my participation in the Cellar of those days tailed off because I had other issues to deal with. Speaking of which, for those who care about such things, Sunday was the fifth anniversary of my gender transition.

:shotgun:

I actually have to go upstate (Bradford County) for outdoor shooting ... I wish there were someplace closer here. Lower Providence Rod & Gun isn't a good option for me because i work nights and can't attend the required # of meetings/year, also their outdoor rifle range is only 50 yds, and i don't consider it worth my time to shoot high power rifle at anything less than 100 yds. I hear Wings and Water is really nice, but Easton is a bit if a hike! (funny to hear from someone who is willing to drive five hours for some shootin', but I have other reasons to make that drive. (*wicked grin*))

Big congrats on your anniversary Maggie!!!

You'd think that as close as we live to LPR&G we'd be members there, but you're right: membership there is just so involved....and so much of what they do holds no interest for me.
Thanks. :-)

Sorry to hear about yer hand Eva...

And let me be the first to say, re: ambulance transport: They're coming to take you away!!!!

LOL

Brian

I'm dropping a check in the mail this week to Rhawnhurst-Bustleton Ambulance for ambulance service in 2003. The City of Philadelphia socked Rho (or rather, taxpayers in the Commonwealth of PA) for $528 for taking her all of 1000 feet when she called for one earlier this year.

Never again...not when you can get the same service for a simple $35 donation. :)

Absolutely...if there's any likelyhood at all that you'll need an ambulance, especially in the city, an advance donation to your local volunteer ambulance corps is a very wise investment. It may also get you better care, depending on where you live.

This is far from either the first or the last time the City of Philadelphia has "socked it to" the taxpayers of the State...and now that your buddy Rendell is elected, we can probably expect to see a lot more moves in that direction. Good thing the Govenor doesn't have much power here in the Commonwealth. :-)

Arrrrrrrrrgh. Hitman 2 is pretty good, but if I'd had to wait any longer than I did to play GTA: Vice, I might've stuck my head in the oven. It is THAT damned good -- something for you to look forward to, I suppose.

Cool!

So I could get exercise and play GTA:VC at the same time ... if i weren't opposed to physical exercise, that might be a good idea ... ;)

First off, the price on the provided link is UNBELIEVABLY high, even after converting to American dollars. You can get an equivalent product at your local Electronics Boutique (or other local game-shop) for about twenty bucks. (There are heavy-duty reinforced pads out there that cost more, of course, but this is your garden-variety model.)

It's also incompatible with many PS1 and PS2 games, despite what it says in the ad, for a very simple reason -- it doesn't support the "shoulder buttons" (L1, L2, R1, R2) or the Dual Shock's joypad buttons (L3, R3). If your game uses those buttons, you're out of luck. Obviously, many other games _might_ work in theory, but actually performing competently would be another order entirely.

The pads are, of course, designed for use with the "Dance Dance Revolution" series of games and similar dance-rhythm titles. I tried out a Dreamcast version, and am happy to say that I am gloriously incompetent when it comes to DDR. I'll settle for whacking yuppies with golf clubs in GTA, instead.

Wolf wants Smith & Wesson golf clubs for Christmas.

You probably don't know S&W doesn't have a real good rep in the firearms community right now, despite having changed ownership.

PUBLIC NOTICE: henceforward, I shall be calling the cartridge formerly known as ".40 S&W" by a new name -- ".40 Liberty" -- to disassociate one of the greatest implements of self-defense ever conceived from the cowardly corporation doing its best to eradicate the very concept of self-defense, and to remind everybody to boycott that corporation and interdict its sales to all government agencies.
-- L. Neil Smith

Ms. Maggie is quite right ...

S&W (as well as Walther, for whom they are manufacturing in the US) is doing a lot of very bad things in terms of QC ...

Wolf would like a nice H&K club, though, if anyone's looking to buy me a new gift (I wear a size .40 ;))

Well, I was thinking about PR fallout from the infamous deal they cut with the Clinton administration. That was such a disaster that the company's UK owners ended up selling out to a small firm called "Saf-T-Hammer" that designed "safety and security devices" for firearms, owned by a former S&W VP.

They had also poisoned their distribution channel by trying to impose some really insanely restrictive conditions on their downstream. Not smart.

A good friend of mine owns a gunshop. He told me one of the conditions of being a stocking dealer for the S & Ws was that at the end of the business day all of the handguns were to be placed in a gun vault to be secured. That means the security system and the 3/4" solid bars covering the windows arent enough and you have to take all the guns out of the displays and lock them in the vault.

Why in the hell would you want to go through the added expense and time to become a stocking dealer when no one wants the S & Ws anyway. It's no wonder they're making bicycles and auomotive parts now to suppliment the gun biz. Stupid asses.

Oh yeah...me and Ed are real close. I usually hang out with him and Midge over in East Falls. He doesn't like coming over here to the apartment in Torresdale...he calls us Far Northeasterns "Republican snooties." On some Friday afternoons, he, Dan Fee, and I roll over to Jimmy's on Ridge Ave. for some serious cheesesteaks. We gotta do it before sunset though...Sabbath. I'm gonna miss him when he heads out to Harrisburg...but he promised to get me in on the PLCB so that I can sell the pieces off to all my friends. Apparently, him and John Street are cool on NE Airport being renamed for...well, I don't want to make you all any more jealous.

Toad, kb...you guys want your own liquor store? They're selling like hotcakes. ;)

Really? During the campaign his idea for "reforming the PLCB" was to allow beer distributors to sell wine. “I am going to reform the system in a way that’s achievable.” he said. So keep watching....and keep an eye on his 10% by-the-drink tax in Philly too. I suspect that's going to be around for a while. :-)

As long as he leaves Krispy Kreme alone...

Well, Ed's a bit of a realist. Admittedly, he's afraid that the unions will cause untold amounts of hell if he tries to privatize the system. Truth be told, I don't think anyone can privatize that baby for a while...that union factor could be a death blow for either major party.

But the other day, as we were chomping down at Jimmy's, Big Ed turned to me with a stone-cold serious face and said, "T-money, I need a scapegoat. You know that if I lead the charge for privatizing the LCB, I'm dead in the water..."

Dan Fee then interjected, "We need you to be the fall guy, T. We'll get you on the LCB, then you have to go about selling it off, much to our feigned shock and dismay. We'll set it up so that there isn't much we can do to stop you...you'll be surrounded by yes men, like your good buddy Griff. But we gotta warn you T. You'll wind up being a target...you know how Johnny Doc and the electricians are..."

Big Ed then waved off Fee and said, "Now don't you worry. Sylvester (Johnson, the police commissioner) has already got that angle covered. Vince (Fumo) and John (Perzel) are working with us on that as well. But after you start selling it off and break the union, people, especially in Philly, will call for your head. You'll have to resign and leave the state in disgrace."

Fee then added, "You've always wanted to move to Chicago, right T? And we'll talk to Rod (Blagojevich, IL's incoming governor) in helping get Rho squared away."

Big Ed looked at me with concern in his eyes, "It's for the good of the people, T."

"I know Big Ed," I said, acknowledging all that the two men had said. "Well, if it's for the good of the people, how can I say no? I'll do it for you Big Ed!"

"Excellent!" Big Ed cried. "Waitress! More cheesesteaks for everybody!"

I'll dunk to that! :)

you do know why, right?

Mostly to save face for S&W ... they were frustrated over numerous gunshop breakins in which all the pistols were stolen except theirs ... :D police would find a big pile of broken glass, and a big pile of S&Ws ...

UPDATE: Four weeks Later
 

I had my follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon today. Got fresh x-rays taken. All is looking well and I have had my cast removed and replaced with a removable brace. :)

I have also been cleared to drive, so I'm going to be wandering around aimlessly in The Red Baron.

At one point the doc asked me what I'd been doing.

So I let him know. I'd been to a faith healer (three reiki masters who are friends), as well as following a wide variety of medical advice from an assortment of psychiatrists, including take Vitamin C, take calcium, take multi-vitamins, and one of our doc's even made a point of kissing it better.

Well, some combination of these (including one of my favorite meds, tincture of time) was effective. I'm apparenly showing good growth of new bone callous, and have relatively decent range of motion.

Re: UPDATE: Four weeks Later
 

Well, congratulations. And stop by and see us sometime.

I couldn't stand even the thought of only being able to tickle the ivorys with only one hand much less my guitar.

I'm really glad for you.:)

I was overjoyed beyond belief last night when I got home, took off my brace and untaped my fingers and was able to type with both hands.

Simple pleasures. :D

And you've been posting quite a bit lately...I am impressed. If I could only type with one hand, I'd lose my mind. :)

Having one hand immobilized slows me down to normal person typing speeds. I've been clocked at 100 WPM when I'm on the top of my game.