It's more of a Veebow

It's been two weeks since the accident and I'm finally rid of the splint. I've also started physio. I'm not able to straighten my elbow 180. It's more 150 degrees. It also gives the illusion my arms are different lengths.

Speaking of bizarre elbows, some of you may know about my hypermobile elbows. They bend past 180 and have the power of freaking people out. Why, I don't know. The therapist says my hypermobility is probably why I dislocated my elbow instead of breaking a bone.

Arone and Kristi are on their way down from Edmonton. Tomorrow we may see a cute baby elephant. And congrats to Alan and Megan for their new baby, Elinor.

Long weekend? How about the hospital?

I am typing this post one handed.

I've been on a real biking kick lately and I usually ride 2 to 3 times a week with Tony. Jeff has moved back to town and we've added him to the mix.

Thursday, we're going to meet Jeff at the Bridgeland LRT. I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself since my biking ensemble is appropriate for the weather. Usually I'm over dressed or under dressed, but the long sleeved shirt, windbreaker and shorts are working great.

Tony says we should take 1 St. which passes under the railroad; downhill one side and up the other. He's been really good at slowly easing me into traffic and I wasn't worried. We start our descent when Tony notices there's traffic and it's not pleasant to get stuck at the bottom and slows down to ride on the sidewalk. I, however do not notice and our tires rub.

I'm not sure what happened but I fall over. In a bid to fight the inevitable I stick my left arm out behind me and land right on it. I shout "Tony!" and thankfully he hears me over traffic and a very nice passer-by helps me off the street.

I'm in no condition to walk and looking at my elbow there are definitely lumps where there shouldn't be. Tony calls an ambulance and we sit in front of Bill's. I really am thirsty at this point; it really sucked sitting in front of Bill's. I'm feeling light-headed although it could be the car exhaust.

Ambulance arrives and they hustle me in. They take some vitals and offer me hits of NO (laughing gas) to dull the pain. It doesn't work great but it was fun to huff on it. And my shirt! They had to cut the sleeve so now I have a nice-sort-sleeved shirt once I get the other sleeve to match.

We go to the Sheldon Chumir Centre which just opened. It's a lot nicer than their former digs at 8&8. Go through the processing and am left to wait. The only person of interest to look at is a prisoner in full leg and arm chains, white booties, and two cops.

Go to X-rays where I start crying like a baby because it hurts so much to move it. X-rays are done but the radiologist never offered me a lead shield. I'm hoping future babies have cool mutant powers.

The orthopedic consult on duty tells me I've dislocated my lower two bones but they'll try to fix it. I then question their use of the word "try". Another doctor comes in and introduces herself as Dr. Tran and I snicker a little. The docs prep me with some drugs that will sedate me and make me forget. They also gave instructions to Daorcey as he was waiting outside of the room. I may cry out for help but don't come in. Daorcey also reports hearing a snap and then giggles. I can neither confirm nor deny.

I come to and their "try" did not work so I'm whisked off to the Rockyview Hospital which we learned has a special nickname among the medical community. Just before I pass out again from the sedation, I apparently said "Now my fucking husband gets to ride the new bike." That scandalized people who routinely deal with other people's poo. I discover one of the doctors pulling on my arm also helped me out when I sprained my ankle. I promise not to see her again.

After, we head to Humptys where I eat the best BLT evar.

The arm is not sore now and I get the danged soft cast off tomorrow. I start physio on Friday with the same guy who helped me out with my ankle. On the upside we missed the mudslide in Golden and we played a ton of GTA. And my co-worker made me a great card that incorporated Comic Sans and a pink Hello Kitty bike.

I think for the July long weekend, I'll stay inside.

I have my X-ray a few lines below, if you're curious. The autograph at the bottom is from my ortho consult. He said it would be worth more with it.

Meet the newest member of our family

And no, its name is not Bikey.

I had a bike left behind by Meru's old roommate, and I've been tooddling around on it. My eventual goal is to ride to work so the beater wasn't going to do. It's a performance hybrid ie mountain bike frame and road tires.

Check the stats out here.

Now to find those fluorescent click-clack things that go on your spokes.

That's as exciting as...

Not sure how to describe the simile in play here. Free free to comment on what you see.
(Thanks to Crap and Arone)

Did I ever tell you the time I won $3000?

It was the summer of 2002 and I was working at a crap phone surveying company. At the orientation, the team leader told us proudly this was their first non-jail call centre. After I heard that, it was hard to shake the idea a prisoner in Bowden was doing a better job than me.

I worked the 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. shift. After negotiating the train from downtown to the bus home, I was usually home around 10:30 p.m. I’d check e-mails, look for better jobs, watch Star Trek: Voyager, and play Diablo II. I was depressed that my job was so awful. I had had high hopes, applying to the City. I needed the money as I was applying to study abroad in China in the new year.

At the same time I was using a website to gather intel on potential scholarships. You’d fill in the info fields and the website would spit out a list of scholarship you could apply for and not win. I was hating my job, hating the university, and doubting I could scrape up enough dough to get to the motherland.

Then this survey from the scholarship site drops into my inbox. It was a survey about universities and it encouraged us to rate our university. In exchange they would reward $3000 to the lucky winner. I wasn’t very kind to the U of C on my entry. I pressed send and forgot about it.

A couple weeks later, I received an e-mail from that site stating I had won $3000 and all I needed to do to collect my cash was send my name and address. Of course I was suspicious and e-mailed back how could I know they were legitimate. They sent their address in Toronto. What good that would do me in Calgary, I don’t know. You can insert your Nigerian e-mail scam joke here. My mom said not to answer back but it was hard to turn it down. However, I had a friend living in Toronto where the website office was located. I sent him the address and a couple days later, he was standing in front of the office. He went in, asked if they were said company and if I was really a winner. I think they reassured him and he sent an e-mail to me confirming their legitimacy.

I quickly e-mailed them back, got my $3000 cheque in my mitts. And then I got a job at the City which paid $13/hr which allowed me to save up for the trip. With the cheque and new job, I was able to pay my way to China without asking the folks for a dime.

As for GTA, it's slow going. This is the first time Daorcey and I have tried to play a long video game as "adults" ie with real jobs. Inevitably, one of us is never home in the evening due to working out, biking, or meetings. And if we are both home, we only get one or two hours in because there's stuff to do. Did you know that entropy is a fact? I can't imagine trying to play this game and having a family. I'm not complaining but it marks a sure difference from the last game where we had marathon sessions and we weren't living together. Cue "I'm an adult now".