Since I've been doing pretty well with the cast, I thought it was time I tried to get back on my motorcycle. Since Saturday was a beautiful day, it was the perfect time. The first challenge was just getting my leg over the bike and standing it up, which wasn't really easy since I parked it really close to the wall after the last time I rode. I managed to walk her out onto the driveway and fired her up, but I had to put up the kickstand with my hand since I couldn't get it with my boot. After sitting for more than seven weeks, the bike started on a fast idle on the second try. After letting it warm up for a couple minutes, I gritted my teeth, pulled the clutch and hit the gear shift with my cast. Starting down the street was awkward, but riding was coming back to me and I managed to shift into second gear. I'm sure it wouldn't have worked on my Night Train, having to lift up the gear shift, but the Fat Boy has the rear heel shift knob for up shifting. I figured since that went well enough I would go all the way to get lunch. I didn't go far, of course, just to the new shopping center at the interstate. The riding didn't prove problematic, but pretty awkward shifting, at least at first. I was kind of dreading stopping and having to put my feet down, but any discomfort was on par with walking.
I enjoyed the nice day sitting outside at a wing place and reading the paper. There was a pretty good sized playground adjacent, but the kids playing didn't really bother me. I rode to the Harley shop to say hi to some people. I saw a couple things I wanted, but remembered a gift card sitting at home I should use, so didn't buy anything then. I rode back home and then came the next challenge- getting the bike turned around and backing back into the garage. Getting turned around wasn't easy, having to push the bike backwards, but I managed. I had to abort my first attempt at backing into the garage after running out of momentum. I almost didn't make it the second time, but had just enough momentum and just enough leg power to get over the lip of the garage and back her into place.
I grabbed the gift card and the newspaper and went to get two new rear tires on my car- the belts were showing through on the driver's side. The place was backed up and it took an hour and a half before they even got my car into the service bay. I went back to the Harley shop once they finally finished and bought a new shift linkage for the Night Train and a new pair of gloves like the ones I've worn out two pairs of. I didn't have it as strong this past summer, but previously these gloves have given me a suntan tattoo of Harley's bar and shield. I'd had one old pair patched, but even that didn't last and they had been discontinued. I was very glad to see them back again, I was expecting to have to switch to some other style this year.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Spring Carnival
After getting together with some CMU alumni in Austin last year to celebrate Carnival, I really felt like I missed it and had to go back this year. I booked a flight, but hadn't booked a hotel because it was really expensive. And then I broke my ankle. I looked into canceling, but it was a non-refundable ticket. I could have changed it, but I don't have any immediate plans to fly anywhere and Travelocity couldn't tell me what I might be able to recoup of the change fee due to my injury. So after talking with my parents and my fraternity big brother Mike, I decided I would go anyway, rent a car and spend the first two nights with Mike and Doug in their house about half an hour from campus. Saturday they had plans to go to Doug's alma mater in Ohio, so I booked a room for that one night not too far from campus. I also rented a car for the first time ever so that I could get around without having to walk so much.
I woke up at 4:30 Thursday morning for my 7am flight. Of course there was no traffic, so it was easy to get there, and no problems checking in. As expected I went through extra screening since of course the crutches and cast set off the metal detector. Once I was able to sit down in the screening area they sent my crutches through the xray machine and tested my cast for explosives residue, then a thorough pat down. I bought breakfast from one of the only places that was open and went to my gate and read my book until boarding. The plane stopped in Atlanta, then continuing on to Pittsburgh. I would have just sat in my seat reading, but there was a crew change and they couldn't let me stay. They got me a wheelchair to go up the jetbridge, but once we got to the terminal I walked to the bathroom. Unfortunately there was another flight to Pittsburgh that was majorly delayed due to an equipment problem and since our flight wasn't full, they let the other passengers onto our plane. So instead of having an empty seat next to me for my foot like the first leg, there was an overweight woman. Getting these other people on delayed us out of the gate, first just getting them on, then getting the correct paper work. It was after 1 by the time I got my bag and rental car. For some reason my GPS didn't power up, I never did figure out if it was the power cord or the car's outlets. Fortunately it was pretty easy to get to Mike's with some directions over the phone.
We drove to campus and went to the fraternity house, which was mostly dead other than Ned, who was an alumnus when I was an undergrad and always comes back for Carnival and is drunk the entire weekend. After chatting a bit, we checked out the booths on the midway and then went with some other alums to PHI, the nearest bar to campus. We hung out there for a while, catching up with other alums and a couple of older undergrads. The place was packed with CMU alumni from various years. Afterwards we went back to the house to hang out with alumni and the active brothers before heading back to Mike's house.
Friday morning we got a later start than I would have hoped driving back to campus for the buggy races, and to add to it the college radio station was having massive technical problems so we barely got any information. We arrived just before the end of women's races and sat down in the chute. Between the heats I chatted with a few former sweepstakes chairs I knew from my years. There was some good action- SigNu and PiKA were neck and neck until PiKA spun into the hay bales, but kept going; KDR lost their windscreen and kept going. I cringed as a former safety chairman, but as a spectator it was good in the same way as NASCAR crashes. The top teams rolled awesomely as expected but some teams had terrible rollouts, one barely made it into the chute. Amazingly the 20-year old course record was broken by two organizations. After the race I hobbled to the top of the hill hoping to catch up with other buggy alumni, but the place was pretty well cleared out by that time. I walked back to the house for some lunch and to hang out for a bit, then drove back across campus to watch a presentation on the history of buggy, and say hi to some other buggy alumni. After a while Doug made it to the house and we drank from their private beer stash before getting dinner at a nearby restaurant with a good beer selection. I was exhausted and ready to leave by 11, but it took a while to get Mike out of the house. I left my rental car on campus and Doug drove us all back to their house.
We managed to get going a little earlier on Saturday, but they started the races earlier and Doug and Mike dropped me off at the starting line just after the second women's race started. I sat on the wall in front of GSIA and got up to see the finish, but couldn't see much. I did get a pretty good look at some of the buggies as they went by to go to the brake test. It was a much better look than seeing them whiz by in the chute, but no crashes. The results were pretty amazing, with PiKA bettering SDC's Friday record and edging them out of the top spot by 0.15 seconds, giving them a record seventh straight win. After lunch Mike and Doug left for Ohio and I checked into my hotel and took a half hour nap. I went back for the awards ceremony- the house won second place in the booth competition and felt like they were robbed. I went out for a rowdy dinner in a little Chinese restaurant near campus with my "family." Fortunately we were way in the back so we weren't bothering other patrons, and the staff was very patient and didn't mind the drunks throwing ice and whatnot too much. The undergrads I sat with were pretty amazed that I graduated eight years ago, and I got a few comments like "I was in middle school when that happened" to my anecdotes. I said a couple words as the oldest one there. The alumni at the table split the check, which worked out to be less than 30 dollars including a hefty tip. On the way back to campus I stopped in at PHI again, hung out with some alums from my era, then with a PiKA alum I knew from buggy for a little while before sitting down at a table with one of the undergrads I'd met at dinner. There was a party going on at the house when I got back. I was down near the dance floor for a little while, but once it started filling up I went and sat down upstairs since I couldn't dance and was worried about being stepped on. I was really tired and fell asleep before I managed to drag myself back to the hotel.
Sunday I putzed around my hotel room, reading my book, surfing the internet. I checked out, swung by the house but it was empty, and then got some lunch on campus. I went for a wander across campus to check out the start of the new Gates center and an addition to an adjacent building. I headed back to Mike and Doug's house but beat them back and read my book some more. After catching up on what had been going on, we pretty much sat around and vegetated before I left for the airport. No problems returning the car, there was no line to check in for the flight. Security had a big line but it was moving. After picking up some dinner I got to the gate and found out that it had been switched to the gate next door. The flight was actually on Delta Connection, so it was a smaller Canadair jet. It wasn't bad, I had enough room for my legs since it was a bulkhead row. In Cincinnati they had a wheelchair ready for me because I was worried about making my connection, but we had managed to get in a little early so it wouldn't have been a problem. The terminal my connection departed out of was very strange to me- there was a whole wall of doors that had two gate numbers and little desks between them. Once through the gate it was still a ways down a hallway to get to the appropriate exit to the tarmac. The aircraft was even smaller than the first. At first, before we got to cruising altitude I had my cast leg out in the aisle, but eventually I managed to get comfortable enough with it out of the aisle that I slept until the flight attendant woke me up to put up my tray table. The first parking shuttle filled up before I could get on, but the second one that came stopped right where I was standing so I was the first one on.
I woke up at 4:30 Thursday morning for my 7am flight. Of course there was no traffic, so it was easy to get there, and no problems checking in. As expected I went through extra screening since of course the crutches and cast set off the metal detector. Once I was able to sit down in the screening area they sent my crutches through the xray machine and tested my cast for explosives residue, then a thorough pat down. I bought breakfast from one of the only places that was open and went to my gate and read my book until boarding. The plane stopped in Atlanta, then continuing on to Pittsburgh. I would have just sat in my seat reading, but there was a crew change and they couldn't let me stay. They got me a wheelchair to go up the jetbridge, but once we got to the terminal I walked to the bathroom. Unfortunately there was another flight to Pittsburgh that was majorly delayed due to an equipment problem and since our flight wasn't full, they let the other passengers onto our plane. So instead of having an empty seat next to me for my foot like the first leg, there was an overweight woman. Getting these other people on delayed us out of the gate, first just getting them on, then getting the correct paper work. It was after 1 by the time I got my bag and rental car. For some reason my GPS didn't power up, I never did figure out if it was the power cord or the car's outlets. Fortunately it was pretty easy to get to Mike's with some directions over the phone.
We drove to campus and went to the fraternity house, which was mostly dead other than Ned, who was an alumnus when I was an undergrad and always comes back for Carnival and is drunk the entire weekend. After chatting a bit, we checked out the booths on the midway and then went with some other alums to PHI, the nearest bar to campus. We hung out there for a while, catching up with other alums and a couple of older undergrads. The place was packed with CMU alumni from various years. Afterwards we went back to the house to hang out with alumni and the active brothers before heading back to Mike's house.
Friday morning we got a later start than I would have hoped driving back to campus for the buggy races, and to add to it the college radio station was having massive technical problems so we barely got any information. We arrived just before the end of women's races and sat down in the chute. Between the heats I chatted with a few former sweepstakes chairs I knew from my years. There was some good action- SigNu and PiKA were neck and neck until PiKA spun into the hay bales, but kept going; KDR lost their windscreen and kept going. I cringed as a former safety chairman, but as a spectator it was good in the same way as NASCAR crashes. The top teams rolled awesomely as expected but some teams had terrible rollouts, one barely made it into the chute. Amazingly the 20-year old course record was broken by two organizations. After the race I hobbled to the top of the hill hoping to catch up with other buggy alumni, but the place was pretty well cleared out by that time. I walked back to the house for some lunch and to hang out for a bit, then drove back across campus to watch a presentation on the history of buggy, and say hi to some other buggy alumni. After a while Doug made it to the house and we drank from their private beer stash before getting dinner at a nearby restaurant with a good beer selection. I was exhausted and ready to leave by 11, but it took a while to get Mike out of the house. I left my rental car on campus and Doug drove us all back to their house.
We managed to get going a little earlier on Saturday, but they started the races earlier and Doug and Mike dropped me off at the starting line just after the second women's race started. I sat on the wall in front of GSIA and got up to see the finish, but couldn't see much. I did get a pretty good look at some of the buggies as they went by to go to the brake test. It was a much better look than seeing them whiz by in the chute, but no crashes. The results were pretty amazing, with PiKA bettering SDC's Friday record and edging them out of the top spot by 0.15 seconds, giving them a record seventh straight win. After lunch Mike and Doug left for Ohio and I checked into my hotel and took a half hour nap. I went back for the awards ceremony- the house won second place in the booth competition and felt like they were robbed. I went out for a rowdy dinner in a little Chinese restaurant near campus with my "family." Fortunately we were way in the back so we weren't bothering other patrons, and the staff was very patient and didn't mind the drunks throwing ice and whatnot too much. The undergrads I sat with were pretty amazed that I graduated eight years ago, and I got a few comments like "I was in middle school when that happened" to my anecdotes. I said a couple words as the oldest one there. The alumni at the table split the check, which worked out to be less than 30 dollars including a hefty tip. On the way back to campus I stopped in at PHI again, hung out with some alums from my era, then with a PiKA alum I knew from buggy for a little while before sitting down at a table with one of the undergrads I'd met at dinner. There was a party going on at the house when I got back. I was down near the dance floor for a little while, but once it started filling up I went and sat down upstairs since I couldn't dance and was worried about being stepped on. I was really tired and fell asleep before I managed to drag myself back to the hotel.
Sunday I putzed around my hotel room, reading my book, surfing the internet. I checked out, swung by the house but it was empty, and then got some lunch on campus. I went for a wander across campus to check out the start of the new Gates center and an addition to an adjacent building. I headed back to Mike and Doug's house but beat them back and read my book some more. After catching up on what had been going on, we pretty much sat around and vegetated before I left for the airport. No problems returning the car, there was no line to check in for the flight. Security had a big line but it was moving. After picking up some dinner I got to the gate and found out that it had been switched to the gate next door. The flight was actually on Delta Connection, so it was a smaller Canadair jet. It wasn't bad, I had enough room for my legs since it was a bulkhead row. In Cincinnati they had a wheelchair ready for me because I was worried about making my connection, but we had managed to get in a little early so it wouldn't have been a problem. The terminal my connection departed out of was very strange to me- there was a whole wall of doors that had two gate numbers and little desks between them. Once through the gate it was still a ways down a hallway to get to the appropriate exit to the tarmac. The aircraft was even smaller than the first. At first, before we got to cruising altitude I had my cast leg out in the aisle, but eventually I managed to get comfortable enough with it out of the aisle that I slept until the flight attendant woke me up to put up my tray table. The first parking shuttle filled up before I could get on, but the second one that came stopped right where I was standing so I was the first one on.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Spring Drag Race
I just walked around Houston Raceway Park and boy are my arms tired! Seriously, my arms are totally worn out from hobbling around the track all weekend. I was glad that they had carts to shuttle people from the handicapped parking area to the track (even though it's not really far), but they obviously weren't there to take me around the pits. And while I like sportsman racing enough, I wasn't about to just sit in my seat the whole time. When I got to the track about 1 after checking into my motel and getting lunch, the guy in the handicapped lot said to wait a minute and he'd get a cart over. I was just going to walk but I figured what the heck, I'd take a ride. Since the other passengers were going to the spectator side, I got off just inside the gate near the tower. It wasn't really far, but by the time I got to the grandstand, I was already tired and sweating and just sat down in the first place that was free, nowhere near my actual assigned seat. The stands weren't very full at that point, since pro qualifying hadn't started, but it filled up more and more as qualifying went on. By the time nitro qualifying started, it was clear I was in someone's seat, but nobody really seemed to mind, and nobody even tried to get by me, they just climbed around on another row. After the first session, I went for a walk through the nitro pits before going to my assigned seat. By the time I sat down, my hat was soaked with sweat, but after a while sitting there in the breeze I was slightly chilled. I didn't really have any problems walking in the pits, but the stands were a bit of a challenge, I almost tripped a couple times on the stairs, and the aluminum was extremely slippery when wet, like from a spilled coke.
As I was leaving the stands, one of the handicapped carts was just sitting there, so I jumped on for a ride back to the parking area. Traffic leaving wasn't too bad. I had dinner at the Outback, but there weren't as many racers as I've sometimes seen there. Other than Bob Gilbertson and other various crew people, the patrons didn't look like they were necessarily even race fans. I got to my motel, Travelodge Suites Channelview, about 10 and saw my room for the first time (although I had already checked in, it wasn't ready). The overall feel was of being old and run down. There was a large hole in the comforter. There was a big spot on the carpet. The most horrifying, plainly indicating its uncleanliness, was a coffee straw on the floor. I saw hairs in the bathtub, but felt too unstable to take a shower and too dirty not to bathe. I rinsed the tub out before taking a hot bath. The next morning, after checking out and dismissing their breakfast offering, I discovered that the door lock wasn't working properly and had stayed unlocked. I told the guy at the desk, who said he'd have it looked at. I managed to get the door to lock before I left, but was very unhappy to get back that evening to it being unlocked. If I hadn't been so exhausted at that time (and there were any vacancies in the area), I would have demanded my money back and gone elsewhere. When I checked out Sunday morning, I told the guy working then about the door and he said of the other clerk "yeah, he's a lazy fuck."
Leaving the motel Monday I got a McGriddle and a Dr Pepper at the McDonald's drive-through across the highway and headed to the track. There was some traffic once I got off of the new toll road, but it wasn't too bad and gave me a few minutes to eat my breakfast. I got a ride all the way to the grandstand, but since it was still a while before pro qualifying, I went for a stroll through the pro stock pits. I also went back to the pro stock motorcycle pits, which, like previous years (but not last year), were in their own area near the finish line. Unfortunately after I made a pass through I found my options to get back to the grandstands was either to go through a fence or go back through the pits, in the opposite direction I wanted to go. I decided against trying to negotiate the fence and ditch beyond, but kept hoping someone would offer me a ride. I made it back to my seat and settled in for a while. I only left between third and fourth sessions to go to the bathroom and get lunch. After the end of pro qualifying, I went for another stroll through the nitro pits, then to the Nitro Mall to get a t-shirt I decided I wanted. I thought about just heading to my car, but really wanted a drink, so I headed to the designated handicapped pickup area. After getting someone to call for a pickup and waiting about 20 minutes, I just walked. When I got back to the parking area, the coordinator (or whatever) apologized and said the one cart ran out of gas and the other was busy. I had dinner at Chili's, where the only people who were obviously associated were definitely not crew people, and went back to the motel, took a bath and passed out in front of the TV.
Sunday, hoping to avoid the terrible traffic I've sometimes encountered in the past, I set the alarm for 6. I got ready, checked out, picked up some breakfast, and went to the track. There was no traffic at that time, so I parked and ate my breakfast before getting a ride to the pits. Since it was before 7:30 and they hadn't even opened the spectator gates, the teams were just starting to get things out and start preparations. I just wandered until the only thing I wanted to do was to sit down, but I did buy a pair of ear muffs with an AM/FM radio built in so I could actually hear the track announcer. I got to my seat at about 9:30 and stayed there until after the second round of pro eliminations, when I went to get some food and a drink. There was no aerial component to the opening ceremonies, possibly due to the heavy overcast and winds. Usually there is a parachutist and sometimes there is some sort of flyover. After the semifinals I went to the nitro pits again, but as expected they were all either mobbed or nearly dormant. At the end of the race I was expecting the winners circle ceremony to be near the starting line and I wouldn't have to go all the way around the tower, but the held it in the staging lanes like they did last year (which they had to do because sportsman racing was still going on). I sort of loitered under the tower until the pro winners' cars arrived and I got a chance to check them out up close and ask the crews some questions. I didn't stay long, and about 4:30 I hobbled back to my car. I grabbed a Full Throttle drink that was being handed out, but it turned out to be sugar-free and more disgusting than a regular energy drink and only managed to drink half of it. I got home, took a bath, and went to sleep exhausted.
As I was leaving the stands, one of the handicapped carts was just sitting there, so I jumped on for a ride back to the parking area. Traffic leaving wasn't too bad. I had dinner at the Outback, but there weren't as many racers as I've sometimes seen there. Other than Bob Gilbertson and other various crew people, the patrons didn't look like they were necessarily even race fans. I got to my motel, Travelodge Suites Channelview, about 10 and saw my room for the first time (although I had already checked in, it wasn't ready). The overall feel was of being old and run down. There was a large hole in the comforter. There was a big spot on the carpet. The most horrifying, plainly indicating its uncleanliness, was a coffee straw on the floor. I saw hairs in the bathtub, but felt too unstable to take a shower and too dirty not to bathe. I rinsed the tub out before taking a hot bath. The next morning, after checking out and dismissing their breakfast offering, I discovered that the door lock wasn't working properly and had stayed unlocked. I told the guy at the desk, who said he'd have it looked at. I managed to get the door to lock before I left, but was very unhappy to get back that evening to it being unlocked. If I hadn't been so exhausted at that time (and there were any vacancies in the area), I would have demanded my money back and gone elsewhere. When I checked out Sunday morning, I told the guy working then about the door and he said of the other clerk "yeah, he's a lazy fuck."
Leaving the motel Monday I got a McGriddle and a Dr Pepper at the McDonald's drive-through across the highway and headed to the track. There was some traffic once I got off of the new toll road, but it wasn't too bad and gave me a few minutes to eat my breakfast. I got a ride all the way to the grandstand, but since it was still a while before pro qualifying, I went for a stroll through the pro stock pits. I also went back to the pro stock motorcycle pits, which, like previous years (but not last year), were in their own area near the finish line. Unfortunately after I made a pass through I found my options to get back to the grandstands was either to go through a fence or go back through the pits, in the opposite direction I wanted to go. I decided against trying to negotiate the fence and ditch beyond, but kept hoping someone would offer me a ride. I made it back to my seat and settled in for a while. I only left between third and fourth sessions to go to the bathroom and get lunch. After the end of pro qualifying, I went for another stroll through the nitro pits, then to the Nitro Mall to get a t-shirt I decided I wanted. I thought about just heading to my car, but really wanted a drink, so I headed to the designated handicapped pickup area. After getting someone to call for a pickup and waiting about 20 minutes, I just walked. When I got back to the parking area, the coordinator (or whatever) apologized and said the one cart ran out of gas and the other was busy. I had dinner at Chili's, where the only people who were obviously associated were definitely not crew people, and went back to the motel, took a bath and passed out in front of the TV.
Sunday, hoping to avoid the terrible traffic I've sometimes encountered in the past, I set the alarm for 6. I got ready, checked out, picked up some breakfast, and went to the track. There was no traffic at that time, so I parked and ate my breakfast before getting a ride to the pits. Since it was before 7:30 and they hadn't even opened the spectator gates, the teams were just starting to get things out and start preparations. I just wandered until the only thing I wanted to do was to sit down, but I did buy a pair of ear muffs with an AM/FM radio built in so I could actually hear the track announcer. I got to my seat at about 9:30 and stayed there until after the second round of pro eliminations, when I went to get some food and a drink. There was no aerial component to the opening ceremonies, possibly due to the heavy overcast and winds. Usually there is a parachutist and sometimes there is some sort of flyover. After the semifinals I went to the nitro pits again, but as expected they were all either mobbed or nearly dormant. At the end of the race I was expecting the winners circle ceremony to be near the starting line and I wouldn't have to go all the way around the tower, but the held it in the staging lanes like they did last year (which they had to do because sportsman racing was still going on). I sort of loitered under the tower until the pro winners' cars arrived and I got a chance to check them out up close and ask the crews some questions. I didn't stay long, and about 4:30 I hobbled back to my car. I grabbed a Full Throttle drink that was being handed out, but it turned out to be sugar-free and more disgusting than a regular energy drink and only managed to drink half of it. I got home, took a bath, and went to sleep exhausted.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Crippled
So on the 9th, I decided to go out for dinner and then downtown. Having seen my family off the previous day, I wanted to get out. SXSW interactive was going on and I eventually met up with the same old friend who inspired me to start this blog a year ago.
I woke up the next morning and my left ankle hurt. Figuring it was just a sprain, I wasn't too worried but planned on going to my doctor to get it checked out. I called up a coworker who has been helpful in the past and lives in my general area. He was busy that morning, but not all day. I called another coworker, but it turns out she was out on vacation. I knew I couldn't drive myself in my manual transmission car, so I just laid around and hopped whenever I wanted to go anywhere. I put ice on the ankle and it helped, so I figured it was a sprain at worst. At about 2pm Raney called and said he was free, did I still need a ride. I called my doctor's office and got an appointment to see the Physician's Assistant. When we got to the office, I hopped all the way to the sign-in counter. When the called me back, fortunately they had a wheelchair for me to ride in. They took x-rays first, and when the PA came in with them it was quite obvious my ankle was broken, tibia and fibula. She immediately started calling to find an orthopedist who could take me and my insurance. Raney took me straight from my regular doctor to the orthopedist's. He pretty much looked at the x-ray and said he'd operate the next day, using some screws and a plate to perform "reduction with fixation." He kept referring to "lateral malleolus" and "medial malleolus" as if I knew what he was talking about rather than just saying outside/inside or fibula/tibia. He put on a plaster splint (which was nice and warm from the exothermic reaction) and sent me home with a prescription for pain pills. Raney tried to get crutches at the pharmacy, but they didn't have any in my size, so I had to hop around again that evening.
Tuesday morning Raney gave me a ride to the hospital and waited until they admitted me about 8am. They took me to the prep room, where I had to strip and put on a gown. There wasn't much activity for quite a while after that, every once in a while someone would come and do something with my charts or whatever. I was kind of surprised when they stuck me for the IV that they first gave me a little shot of lidocane before the actual needle- removing the tape they put over it the next day hurt more than the needle stick would have. I killed time by reading the newspaper I'd brought with me. About 10am the action started- I met the anesthesiologist, the OR nurse, the intern before the doctor came in and they wheeled me to the OR. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was being moved from the gurney to the operating table. The next thing I knew I woke up in the recovery room at noon, with my leg in a plaster splint similar to the previous one. I immediately felt clear-headed and as though I'd just had a great night's sleep. Once they noticed I was reading the paper, they decided I was ready to go to my room. The room was really nice- private, looked kind of like a decent hotel and had trees outside for a pleasant view. I spent the afternoon watching TV and reading the newspaper and my book, Kerouac's "Dharma Bums," in bed except for when the physical therapist brought crutches and gave me instruction on their use. I fell asleep about 10:30 and was awoken about midnight to take my vitals. I was awake for a while, then got some more sleep before waking up for good about 5am. Not too long after that, people started coming in for blood work, vitals, etc, etc. The doctor stopped in to say it went well and that my fibula had actually broken into three pieces. At 9 they started to get the discharge papers together, and Raney took me home again about 9:30.
I spent most of Wednesday through Saturday on my couch with my leg propped up on pillows. Every once in a while I hobbled up the stairs for the bathroom and to check my email. I ventured out to get my mail and newspaper every day, but otherwise didn't move around much. I got phone calls from my family, napped, but mostly watched TV. Eventually I got to where I only had one page worth of shows on my DVR and had gotten pretty stir crazy. Sunday my friend Jimmy picked me up and brought me over to his house for a barbecue for his future daughter-in-law's birthday.
Monday morning I got a ride with a coworker who lives just up the street from me. I was glad to get out of the house, even if it was to go to the office. It was a tiring day for me and I wasn't sorry my ride had to leave on the early side. He gave me a ride the rest of the week until I had Good Friday and the weekend to again lie around doing nothing. Monday morning (again having the day off by virtue of working for a British company) I got a ride to my doctor's. The intern removed the splint (without cutting it), dressing and staples (some of which hurt slightly). The wound was really gross, some bruising on the heel, swelling, and some blood around the incisions. Then I got an x-ray to check on how it was going, then a little later the doctor came, looked things over before putting on a simple bandage and getting me into a boot-type cast. He gave me instructions, recommendations, etc and a prescription to get a handicapped placard. He didn't exactly recommend driving my car, but didn't say I couldn't, so after I was home for a little while I figured I would try it out. I didn't have much trouble, so I decided to go have lunch at Chuy's. From there I went to the county offices to get my placard, and stopped at the grocery store for a couple things before getting home. Once I did get home I was exhausted and didn't even go out to get my mail. Tuesday through today I've operated somewhat like normal, driving to/from work and to lunch, but as I suspected traffic really sucks. So far I've found that leaving at 6:45 traffic is ok, but sucks if I leave after 7:30. Going home, 4:30 is about the latest I can leave before traffic starts building.
I'm kind of concerned about the traffic at the drag race this weekend. Friday won't be bad, Saturday shouldn't be bad, but Sunday could really suck. I'm going to plan on heading to the track about 7am.
I woke up the next morning and my left ankle hurt. Figuring it was just a sprain, I wasn't too worried but planned on going to my doctor to get it checked out. I called up a coworker who has been helpful in the past and lives in my general area. He was busy that morning, but not all day. I called another coworker, but it turns out she was out on vacation. I knew I couldn't drive myself in my manual transmission car, so I just laid around and hopped whenever I wanted to go anywhere. I put ice on the ankle and it helped, so I figured it was a sprain at worst. At about 2pm Raney called and said he was free, did I still need a ride. I called my doctor's office and got an appointment to see the Physician's Assistant. When we got to the office, I hopped all the way to the sign-in counter. When the called me back, fortunately they had a wheelchair for me to ride in. They took x-rays first, and when the PA came in with them it was quite obvious my ankle was broken, tibia and fibula. She immediately started calling to find an orthopedist who could take me and my insurance. Raney took me straight from my regular doctor to the orthopedist's. He pretty much looked at the x-ray and said he'd operate the next day, using some screws and a plate to perform "reduction with fixation." He kept referring to "lateral malleolus" and "medial malleolus" as if I knew what he was talking about rather than just saying outside/inside or fibula/tibia. He put on a plaster splint (which was nice and warm from the exothermic reaction) and sent me home with a prescription for pain pills. Raney tried to get crutches at the pharmacy, but they didn't have any in my size, so I had to hop around again that evening.
Tuesday morning Raney gave me a ride to the hospital and waited until they admitted me about 8am. They took me to the prep room, where I had to strip and put on a gown. There wasn't much activity for quite a while after that, every once in a while someone would come and do something with my charts or whatever. I was kind of surprised when they stuck me for the IV that they first gave me a little shot of lidocane before the actual needle- removing the tape they put over it the next day hurt more than the needle stick would have. I killed time by reading the newspaper I'd brought with me. About 10am the action started- I met the anesthesiologist, the OR nurse, the intern before the doctor came in and they wheeled me to the OR. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was being moved from the gurney to the operating table. The next thing I knew I woke up in the recovery room at noon, with my leg in a plaster splint similar to the previous one. I immediately felt clear-headed and as though I'd just had a great night's sleep. Once they noticed I was reading the paper, they decided I was ready to go to my room. The room was really nice- private, looked kind of like a decent hotel and had trees outside for a pleasant view. I spent the afternoon watching TV and reading the newspaper and my book, Kerouac's "Dharma Bums," in bed except for when the physical therapist brought crutches and gave me instruction on their use. I fell asleep about 10:30 and was awoken about midnight to take my vitals. I was awake for a while, then got some more sleep before waking up for good about 5am. Not too long after that, people started coming in for blood work, vitals, etc, etc. The doctor stopped in to say it went well and that my fibula had actually broken into three pieces. At 9 they started to get the discharge papers together, and Raney took me home again about 9:30.
I spent most of Wednesday through Saturday on my couch with my leg propped up on pillows. Every once in a while I hobbled up the stairs for the bathroom and to check my email. I ventured out to get my mail and newspaper every day, but otherwise didn't move around much. I got phone calls from my family, napped, but mostly watched TV. Eventually I got to where I only had one page worth of shows on my DVR and had gotten pretty stir crazy. Sunday my friend Jimmy picked me up and brought me over to his house for a barbecue for his future daughter-in-law's birthday.
Monday morning I got a ride with a coworker who lives just up the street from me. I was glad to get out of the house, even if it was to go to the office. It was a tiring day for me and I wasn't sorry my ride had to leave on the early side. He gave me a ride the rest of the week until I had Good Friday and the weekend to again lie around doing nothing. Monday morning (again having the day off by virtue of working for a British company) I got a ride to my doctor's. The intern removed the splint (without cutting it), dressing and staples (some of which hurt slightly). The wound was really gross, some bruising on the heel, swelling, and some blood around the incisions. Then I got an x-ray to check on how it was going, then a little later the doctor came, looked things over before putting on a simple bandage and getting me into a boot-type cast. He gave me instructions, recommendations, etc and a prescription to get a handicapped placard. He didn't exactly recommend driving my car, but didn't say I couldn't, so after I was home for a little while I figured I would try it out. I didn't have much trouble, so I decided to go have lunch at Chuy's. From there I went to the county offices to get my placard, and stopped at the grocery store for a couple things before getting home. Once I did get home I was exhausted and didn't even go out to get my mail. Tuesday through today I've operated somewhat like normal, driving to/from work and to lunch, but as I suspected traffic really sucks. So far I've found that leaving at 6:45 traffic is ok, but sucks if I leave after 7:30. Going home, 4:30 is about the latest I can leave before traffic starts building.I'm kind of concerned about the traffic at the drag race this weekend. Friday won't be bad, Saturday shouldn't be bad, but Sunday could really suck. I'm going to plan on heading to the track about 7am.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Maverick and a Cave
I had planned on riding to Maverick County Sunday, but after a dreary rainy Saturday, I almost felt like moping around the house another day. But I woke up Sunday morning to a nice sunny day, forecast for a bit on the cool side, but no more rain, so I set off to Maverick County after all. I dallied a bit to let the day warm up some more, but it really wasn't that cold. I set off with my chaps on and jacket fully closed up with liner. I put on a bandanna over my mouth, with the idea mainly being to block any pollen, but the cedar hasn't been bothering me nearly as much lately. It did help block the wind and it was cool enough out that it was nice to keep my face warm. After gassing up and hitting I35, I had to mess with my GPS because it was trying to tell my that, since my start/end point was not where I activated the route, I was almost done with the ride and I needed to head back home and the ETA was only minutes away. At 80 miles an hour I re-activated the route, despite OKing that I would not operate it while driving every time I've started it up, and got it into proper working order. I sped down I35, skirted San Antonio on 410 to US Highway 90. I got gas, a drink and a snack in Hondo, and continued on to Uvalde, where I got on a farm road. Since my mapping software doesn't show county lines, I guessed the Zavala county line for a waypoint. It turned out to be several miles off and I was worried I had missed the county line sign. I soon came upon it, however, and got my Z, as well as turning around to get Uvalde County. Since the farm road cuts the corner of Zavala County, it wasn't 10 miles before I was into Maverick County. Once I got to US 57- just an intersection, there was nothing there- I turned and headed back home. The wind had picked up at the Maverick county line, and once I turned it went from being to my right to my left side. I had to lean into the wind a noticeable amount for a while, but eventually as I headed back east it died down to a level where I could still feel it, but it wasn't pushing me around so much. I could tell I was close to the Mexican border (other than that I had studied the map) by the roadside stands selling Mexican goods and the truckloads of junk headed the other direction. It was also pretty evident in the little one-horse town I stopped in for gas. It was only about 50 miles from there back onto I35. I decided that since I was making good time, I would plan on stopping at Wonder Cave in San Marcos, about 100 miles up I35 from where I got back on.
I decided I would try to stretch my tank a bit and not fill up before going to the cave, hoping not to arrive 5 minutes after a 3 o'clock tour left. I walked into the gift shop at 5 minutes before 3 to get a ticket for what turned out to be a 3:15 tour. The cave is quite unique- it is dry formed, having been created when the Balcones Fault opened and was blocked from closing up again. There is some water that flows in the cave, but very little and there are very few speleothem. I was also disconcerted that they tell everyone that they're allowed to touch anything, their theory being that the few formations are already dead. The crack is not wide, only maybe 20 feet, but it left a long enough gash to be interesting. The initial stairs down to the bottom are pretty steep and offer lots of opportunities to crack your skull. The unique cave offers a very different set of rock layers than most caves. Whereas most caves are water-formed they are softer sedimentary rocks, but since Wonder Cave was formed by an earthquake, it has the full strata of the area- all the way to below the bedrock (which has flint stones throughout) of the sea that covered Texas millions of years ago. The lighting was bad- they leave most of it on all the time, so there is lots of algae looking green growth, and one spot where water flows is covered in moss; also some lights have colored gels. I couldn't tell if any colors in the cave were natural, but I suspect not. The most interesting parts of the tour, to me, were the layer of what the guide called "cave coral," swiss cheese-like rock; and the petrified mud tunnels of prehistoric clams, the crown jewel of which being one and a half fossilized clams (which looked more like prawns)- the other half having been broken off for scientific study. At the end of the cave they blasted in an elevator shaft to the surface. They had also blasted a ventilation shaft, which kept the humidity low and made the cave feel cooler. Instead of just taking the elevator to the surface, we went up to the top of an observation tower, where you can see the rolling gulf plains to the east of the fault and the hillier area to the west. The view was otherwise unremarkable, the area around the cave is crowded with development. I did test out the full extent of my camera's zoom to snap a picture of my bike in the parking lot. The 6x is quite noticeable over the 3x of my old camera. We all crammed back into the elevator to go back to the surface level, accidentally by way of the cave again, where the tour continued to the "anti-gravity house," just a gimmick illustrating an optical illusion. I rode the short distance home, fortunately remembering to get gas, getting home about 5.
I had thought about doing some more riding today, since I got Presidents Day off (or is that President's Day? or is it Presidents' Day? I've seen it different ways but not sure which it should be), but after rollerblading in the morning I decided the best use of my afternoon was to do some house chores in anticipation of my family visiting in two weeks.
I decided I would try to stretch my tank a bit and not fill up before going to the cave, hoping not to arrive 5 minutes after a 3 o'clock tour left. I walked into the gift shop at 5 minutes before 3 to get a ticket for what turned out to be a 3:15 tour. The cave is quite unique- it is dry formed, having been created when the Balcones Fault opened and was blocked from closing up again. There is some water that flows in the cave, but very little and there are very few speleothem. I was also disconcerted that they tell everyone that they're allowed to touch anything, their theory being that the few formations are already dead. The crack is not wide, only maybe 20 feet, but it left a long enough gash to be interesting. The initial stairs down to the bottom are pretty steep and offer lots of opportunities to crack your skull. The unique cave offers a very different set of rock layers than most caves. Whereas most caves are water-formed they are softer sedimentary rocks, but since Wonder Cave was formed by an earthquake, it has the full strata of the area- all the way to below the bedrock (which has flint stones throughout) of the sea that covered Texas millions of years ago. The lighting was bad- they leave most of it on all the time, so there is lots of algae looking green growth, and one spot where water flows is covered in moss; also some lights have colored gels. I couldn't tell if any colors in the cave were natural, but I suspect not. The most interesting parts of the tour, to me, were the layer of what the guide called "cave coral," swiss cheese-like rock; and the petrified mud tunnels of prehistoric clams, the crown jewel of which being one and a half fossilized clams (which looked more like prawns)- the other half having been broken off for scientific study. At the end of the cave they blasted in an elevator shaft to the surface. They had also blasted a ventilation shaft, which kept the humidity low and made the cave feel cooler. Instead of just taking the elevator to the surface, we went up to the top of an observation tower, where you can see the rolling gulf plains to the east of the fault and the hillier area to the west. The view was otherwise unremarkable, the area around the cave is crowded with development. I did test out the full extent of my camera's zoom to snap a picture of my bike in the parking lot. The 6x is quite noticeable over the 3x of my old camera. We all crammed back into the elevator to go back to the surface level, accidentally by way of the cave again, where the tour continued to the "anti-gravity house," just a gimmick illustrating an optical illusion. I rode the short distance home, fortunately remembering to get gas, getting home about 5.
I had thought about doing some more riding today, since I got Presidents Day off (or is that President's Day? or is it Presidents' Day? I've seen it different ways but not sure which it should be), but after rollerblading in the morning I decided the best use of my afternoon was to do some house chores in anticipation of my family visiting in two weeks.
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