Nearly normal

I wasn't sure if I should go in to work today, or stay home and take care of my bad back.  But then I hobbled around and sorted laundry and did other useful things this morning -- and I figured, if I was doing that now, I'd continue being active and foolish during the rest of the day -- in which case, I really ought to be at work.

I made the right call:  I had to walk around fairly carefully -- and use great focus to get in and out of my desk chair -- but due to sitting with unnaturally proper posture, my back was actually less sore by the end of the day than when I started.

So, I'm maybe 90% normal.  My back, I mean -- not my personality.


--GG

Back is vaguely better

As I noted in yesterday's blog entry, I somehow messed up my back yesterday afternoon -- by picking up a tiny packet of doggie treats off the floor!  I messed up my back about two years ago, by using poor lifting technique on a surprisingly heavy potted plant -- so this is probably a re-injury in the same vein.

Unlike yesterday, where I soldiered on and kept doing a bunch of tasks that I felt needed to be done -- today I (mostly!) took it easy:  I spent a lot of time in bed, reading and/or napping.  Although I did sort some laundry.  As much as I could, I had the kids carry things for me.

As long as I keep my torso upright, I'm okay:  it's more sore than painful.  But I can't bend over at all:  I have to squat or kneel to get things off the ground.  And I can't sit in a slouchy position.


I dislike being not physically able.  A precursor to old age, perhaps?  But hopefully not.

I just gotta remember to maintain good lifting technique -- even for tiny items!


--GG

Blew out my back

As I mentioned, I've been inspired by the Marie Kondo book The Joy of Tidying, so I've being going through the easy, and self-contained portions of our messy, messy house.

One insight that she shares in her book is that people in disorganized homes tend to buy multiples of things that they already have, because they don't have a sense of what they already own.  Yep.

In our instance, I went though the "doggy shelf" in the laundry room, and we had about 15 packets of various sorts of doggie treats -- some "best used by" 2016, some for 2017, and some for 2018.  About two-thirds of the packets were already opened -- indicating that the surplus packages were purchased (without regard for what was already in the cupboard), one or two items were given to the dogs, and then the new package was added to the pile.

Note that I already went through the doggy cupboard a year ago, and got rid of the truly old stuff:  so most of this is recent.


But, I digress:  the intended point of this blog entry is to note that at around 3pm,  as I bent down to pick up a small packet of dog treats off the floor, my lower back abruptly went into spasm and I had to drop to my hands and knees.  Weird.  And since, then, my lower back has been sore, and I've been walking like an old man.

Luckily it's muscular -- I presume -- rather than a pinched nerve or bad disk.  Still a nuisance, though.

Because I hadn't yet fed and watered the chickens yet, and it had to be done, I carried on -- slowly and carefully, and maintaining a regal posture.  (I was the only one home:  everyone else was out with The Lady, running errands.)  And I vacuumed the bedroom, too -- because I said I would, and it would've already been done if I'd done that first, instead of prioritizing doing "fun" things.

Stupid, probably -- but I don't think I made the injury any worse...


On the bright side:  I have a bottle of mysterious Chinese heat rub, which I rarely get to use.  So!  I'll get to use some of it tonight.


--GG

My shoulderversary

This is to my kids, and my future self:  my one-year shoulder-versary.

Friday, Oct 16, 2015.

It's good to be able to floss and tie my shoes without needing the help of children.  :)


--GG

Now left-dominant

As you know, I'm pretty much right-handed (with hints of amidextrousness), but had my right arm in a sling.

I've been out of my sling since Monday, and spent most of the weekend preceding out of the sling as well -- so, this is essentially my seventh day sling-less.


Curiously, my five weeks in a sling have made me left-hand dominant. Although I still instinctively use my right hand for writing, scissors, and knife work in the kitchen, everything else is reflexively left-handed: scratching my nose, opening doors, turning on faucets, brushing my teeth...

Since abandoning my sling, I've returned my cell phone "belt pouch" to my right hip -- which means I now take the phone out of the pouch, hold in in my right hand, and use my left hand to text.

Likewise, I've returned my public transportation "swipe card" to my right pocket: when I get to the train station I take it out with my right hand, hand it to my left, "swipe" with my left, then hand it back to my right hand to put it away.

When I get jugs of milk or juice out of the 'fridge -- if the jug is on the left, I'll pour with my left; if the jug is on the right, I'll pour with my right.

Even with writing, I've experienced a partial shift to my left hand: I tend to underline phrases in magazines and take note of the page number. Since removing the sling, about one-third of the time I've used my left hand for underlining and noting page numbers (i.e. writing the number on the magazine cover). Written notes (actual words), however, tend to be done with my right hand.


I'm curious to see how long -- if ever -- this behavior persists. It's probably self-reinforcing: the more times I do a task with my left hand, the more "normal" it seems to my system.


--GG

Rewritng my neural pathways

I'm right-handed, and I've had my R. arm in a sling for the last two and a half weeks, so my R. arm has been fairly inactive (although I sometimes use my R. hand for holding very lightweight things).  So almost everything I've done for the last three weeks -- opening packages, writing by hand, folding laundry, eating with a spoon -- I've done with my left hand.

A few evenings ago, I finished brushing my teeth -- and realized that I hadn't been paying attention to the process:  I had simply "brushed my teeth" without thinking!

 

And today at work, on a whim, I grabbed two pencils and used them as chopsticks, with my left hand, to pick up various small items.  No trouble whatsoever.

 

So, even though I haven't actively practiced chopsticks with my left hand, my daily use of my left hand for other tasks has generalized to a greater over-all left-hand dexterity than before.

 

I've always been somewhat ambidextrous -- but still clearly R-hand dominant.  So this is both interesting and neat-o.

 

 

--GG

A momentous year

On the bus ride home tonight, I realized that this year (2015) -- or alternatively, my current age -- has been the most tranformative year in my life, so far.

-More than going to graduate school

-More than my younger sister dying

-More than getting married

-More than moving to Australia

-More than becoming a father


All of those events changed me, to be sure.  But each of them occurred in separate years, and most had two years between them.

In contrast, I had three fairly eventful things happen this year.  And I'm pretty sure that the cumulative total of this year's events has changed my outlook and my personality more than the events of any one of those items.


The three things are (cryptically):

-The thing at work

-The other thing

-Breaking my shoulder (which was the second fairly stupid thing I'd done this year)


Here's hoping that I never have as "influential" year as this one, ever again.  ;)


--GG

Bone progress

Ventured out to the mall today: my first non-medical instance of leaving my yard since Friday a week ago.  The Lady drove, of course.

My sister recommended some calcium supplements for the bone healing, and glucosamine + chondroitin for the ligaments -- plus eating more protein.  Picked up vitamin supplements for the first two, and chicken muscle for the protein.

I was unusually wary of having people stand close to me at the mall, especially on my right-hand (bad) side:  I tended to keep my left hand up near my chest, ready to cross-block if anyone seemed like they would bump in to my bad shoulder.

I'm feeling much better, psychologically and emotionally, now that I know exactly what's wrong with my shoulder -- and that it's in the correct alignment and it's OK to start healing and re-building. No pain in some positions; some minor pain in other positions, or if I lift heavy things with my "good" side, which causes me to tense my entire shoulder structure (both sides); gah! So, I have to remember to not lift things.

Otherwise, I was taking the pain meds just out of principle, every four hours -- but I stopped as of last night. (Well -- I woke up with minor pain about 3am, so I popped some pills. But other than that, no meds today -- and it's now about 6:30pm.)

I feel a little guilty, having less pain from a self-inflicted (by way of stupidity) injury, when a friend at work has chronic headaches from no fault of his own.  Not that I want pain.  But it just doesn't seem fair.

I can now at least type with both hands, for brief busts.

Getting better using my left hand: cut up an entire cantaloupe with just my left hand, except for using my "bad" hand (R. hand) to steady the halves when I used my "good" (left) hand to scoop out the seeds. Otherwise, completely one-handed.

Also opened the screwdriver blade on my pocket knife, pried open the staples from a small Daiso purchase, all with my left hand.

But I can't tie my own shoes.  A weird feeling, to be dependant like that.  Haven't had that since I was four.


--GG

Good bone news

VERY good news:  we visited the specialist today, and it turns out that my shoulder was already back in position, and the broken bone was actually more like a greenstick fracture.

The Lady says that the doctor at the ER was not a native speaker of English (some sort of Eastern European accent?) -- which I hadn't noticed, as I was otherwise preoccupied.  So when he told us that "the end of my collarbone had broken off", he was incorrect.

So, no surgery necessary (good; surgery always carries risks, e.g. infection).  However, it turns out that I will always have a lump on my shoulder.  I had resigned myself to a scar, but not to the permanent bone lump and asymmetry that I'll have -- but the doctor said that I'd have the lump regardless of whether I had surgery (with a metal plate) or not.  So it took me a while to adjust to that shift in my body image and body structure.

Anyhow:  no surgery -- which is good, because it's less intrusive (risky), and less costly, and (presumably) a faster recovery time.

Also, it turns out that I could've gone back to work this week, after all.


So, back to work on Monday.

Despite my injury, it was kind of nice having a week away.  I was bored all to heck -- but I took a lot of naps.


--GG

Partway through day two

So, I'm partway through Day 2 of my little adventure.

I've learned that I can unscrew a jug of milk one-handed, make a bowl of cereal, and eat it -- but it's hard to get the last little bits by myself because I can't tilt the bowl and use a spoon at the same time.




When you try to butter toast, the toast skitters around, so you need to borrow a child to hold the toast.

I had to have someone else floss for me:  my right hand no longer reaches that high.

Typing one-handed is a nuisance -- but shockingly, one-handed keyboards cost $550:  a rip.

I've worked out a technique for folding some bits of laundry one-handed -- but haven't tried it on shirts or pants.




Until I see a specialist -- and get the bones pushed back into place -- I'm in limbo.  I don't want to move my right arm, for fear of shifting my pieces further out of alignment.  Ergh.



--GG

That was stupid

Yesterday around 5:30pm I managed to dislocate my shoulder and break off the end of my collarbone.  It was completely avoidable -- I was showing off for some little kids, was in a rush, underestimated the risk, and didn't prepare properly.

Funny how a single moment can put you on a completely different trajectory.   I was going to mow the lawn, then spend the rest of the weekend building things out of wood.  Nope:  you need two arms for that.

I also have to take the week off work -- and not in an interesting way (see above), and won't be able to drive for a while.  And, there goes my weight training for I-don't-know-how-many months.

So, I'm feeling a bit stupid.

But, I guess I've learned... stuff.

Possibly will need surgery -- but won't know until the swelling goes down and an ortho can see me (hopefully mid-week).


On the positive side, I might get a chance to get better at the piano (one-handed, at least).  And catch up on reading my e-mails (the writing of emails is cumbersome, as I'm one-handed).  Maybe record a keyboard-only song?  (Not my primary instrument -- or even with a level of competency, but...)


Going back to work will be awkward, as I'm a touch typist and (kind of) a programmer -- so, frustrating.


Ah well.


--GG

----------------

Addt'l:

I heard a gristle-sounding "crunch" as I drove my shoulder into the ground. 

A stuntman roll, across a distance, but I was too leisurely in my approach, so didn't get enough distance, AND let my arm collapse instead of keeping it in position.  So a confluence of things. 

Basically, accidents (workshop, driving, etc) seem to occur when you're in a hurry and/or not focused or planning properly, and/or take shortcuts from the best approach.  I was several of those.  Sloppy in both the planning AND the execution.  In hindsight, avoidable at several points -- as are most accidents.

---END---

Beard experiment

About two weeks ago, one of my male colleagues commented that he was only shaving once a week.  The topic eventually turned to how long it would take me to re-grow a beard.  I am empirically-minded, so...

(Click to enlarge, if you like.)

(Blogspot shows the photos as centered in the preview -- but left-justified when it's posted as a blog entry.  Eh.)

Day 0 (6pm; just shaved)

Day 1 (9am)

Day 2 (7am)

Day 4 (8am; whoops! Missed Day 3)

Day 5 (8am)

Day 6 (8am)

Day 7 (noon)

Day 8 (11am)

Day 9 (11am)

Day 10 (9am)

Day 13 (7am; eh -- that's enough)

I had intended to keep the time of day, my shirt color, and the background all consistent throughout each shot -- but that didn't happen.

It's hard to tell from the photos, but "in person" I think that Day 7 was passably "a beard" -- especially if I had shaved my neck, to enhance the contrast.


Special thanks to The Girl for taking all but two of the photos (and thanks to Stan, my co-worker, for the two that were at work).


--GG

Not really OCD

I freely admit that I'm **adjacent** to being OCD, and/or a hoarder.  But every now and again I give myself little tests, just to see.

I'm typing up some of my backlog for my "Tools that I've purchased" list, and I've wilfully omitted three items.  So:  if I ever have a need to calculate how much a year I've spent on tools -- or are seeking when I bought (or what price I paid for) one of these tools -- I will not know!!!

Bwah hah hah hah hah!!!


So, yeah -- breaking the chain.


--GG

Segmented sleeping

About five years ago, I asked a co-worker I was friends with why she'd replied to my e-mail at three in the morning:  had she been working late?

It turns out that she is a "segmented sleeper".  Apparently, segmented sleeping is when a person naturally wakes up in the middle of their sleep cycle:  it's analogous to the notion that people ought to be taking naps at two or three in the afternoon.

So, it was normal for her to wake up in the early morning, do some scholarly reading or work on some journal articles (she's a professor), and then go back to sleep after an hour.

Back hundreds of years ago, segmented sleeping was apparently normal:  peasants would wake up in the middle of the night, chat with their spouse, stoke the fire, maybe check on the animals -- and then go back to bed.  But in modern times segmented sleeping is mis-described as "insomnia".


So, when I had learned about this back then, I had filed that way as "something interesting".  But now it appears relevant:  about two or three months ago, **I** started doing this.

Usually my sleep habits are pretty poor:  even though my body prefers about eight hours of sleep, I'd typically go to bed around midnight (sometimes 1am, if I was disciplined I'd aim for 10am but really not 'til 11am), and get up at 6:30am.  However, about twice a month over the last few months I'd wake up -- totally alert -- get up and putter around the house for an hour or so, and then go back to sleep.

The frequency of this behavior seems to be increasing:  it happened about a week ago; and two nights ago; and last night.

Two nights ago, I went to bed around midnight; woke up around 3am or 3:30am (I checked the clock, but I don't remember precisely); lay back down and dozed off and on until 6:05am, upon which I got up and checked e-mail until the rest of the household got up at 6:30am.

And last night I woke up, also about 3am, and again dozed off and on until morning.


It does seem to correspond with when I've been getting sufficient sleep:  maybe I don't sleep as deeply when I'm not sleep-deprived?

I've also heard that its not uncommon for sleep patterns to change as you age.  And I'm comfortably middle-aged.


I don't mind it, though:  kind of interesting.


Addendum:  5:02am, Sunday morning, 5/31/15. This is regarding the next sleep-cycle after I wrote the above:  woke up, clock said about 3:50am, dozed, woke again about 4:45am, decided to get up for a bit.  And here I am.


--GG

A little bit of a worry

The boys had a birthday party after school today, at local trampoline-jumping place.  It's a clever idea, to have a warehouse-style building with a zillion trampolines embedded in the floor:  the kids enjoy it, and the place seems to have full bookings.

But.

I noticed the below sign for a reserved parking slot near their side door:

In case you can't read it, it says "AMBULANCE PARKING ONLY".

That they need to reserve a parking spot for ambulances is a bit of a worry.


--GG

Mostly better

Well, I had a weird week this week.

Monday I left work a few hours early, for an orthodontics appointment to get my braces tightened.

Tuesday I took the day off:  they boys had an eye appointment in the morning, and it it wasn't worth the commute to work a half day in the afternoon -- so I cashed in some Flex hours. 


It's school vacation, by the way -- so the kids are at home rather than at school.


Tuesday night Boy #1 developed a hearty cough and a fever, so Wednesday I stayed home with a sick kid. 

Luckily, the kids are old enough that they don't need real monitoring -- just an adult to stay home with them -- because I felt a little run-down myself.  I got up in the morning and saw The Lady off, then went back to bed.   And managed -- with occasional interruptions from the kids -- to sleep until 11:45am.

Sleeping until 11:45 is pretty impressive, since my office job means that I'm usually awake around 6:30am.  This means that despite my best efforts, now-a-days I can only "sleep in" until about 8:30am -- then I lie there, awake, until I figure "Eh; may as well get up."

So, clearly I was a bit fatigued.


Thursday, I actually managed to make it to work.  Felt pretty good, though not at my full capacity.  The Lady stayed home with the kids.

At the kids' Tae Kwon Do class in the evening, usually I've been doing a light jog around the school grounds.  This time, though, I didn't feel up to it.  Instead, I did a moderately brisk walk for just under a half hour; lay on my back in the school field and looked up at the stars for about ten minutes (been years since I've done that...); and then played guitar in the car for the remaining half hour.

Really enjoyed playing the guitar.  I really, really should play the guitar more often...


Friday, Boy #1 was still unwell, so it was my turn again.  This time I managed to sleep all the way to 12:30pm -- so, still not completely well.

After I got up, I was feeling mostly good -- so I did some light yardwork.


And, today is Saturday.  Spent the morning indoors, and the afternoon in the shed, hand-slabbing (i.e. sawing) some small logs so that they could season without splitting.  In a few years I'll turn them into a small storage box or jewelery box.



--GG

Could have stayed home

A few days ago I had asked my manager permission to leave mid-afternoon, for a dental appointment. 

So, when I showed up today, she expressed surprise at seeing me.  For some reason, she had thought that my dental appointment would be an all-day activity.

I **offered** to go back home – if she advised it as my manager – but she said, “No, no…” ;)


--GG

Bruised hand

Thurday night at my Krav Maga class we practiced rolls and breakfalls.  Now, most of the things we do in class are either new to me, or so different to my previous martial arts experience that my old habits just mess me up.

But breakfalls and rolls?  Yep:  can do those.  Granted, it's been about ten years -- but I took a semester of Judo, and two semesters of Aikido -- and all you do in those styles are throw and be thrown.  So, a fair amount of practice.  :)


We started out by doing rear breakfalls -- like these:


And we spent 10-15 minutes doing them. 

My hands were getting kinda sore -- but I kept going.   They were especially sore around here:

Then, the next thing we did in class was practicing escapes from wrist grabs.  But the funny thing was, I couldn't grip with any strength with my right hand!  The pad of my hand -- the circled part -- is basically the thumb muscle.  So I could grab with my fingers -- but not my thumb.

It felt better the next day, though -- and by Sunday it felt fine.

But today is Monday -- and for some reason I was looking down at my hands at work, and I noticed this weird bruise:

(It was difficulty to get a good photograph of it.  It's more obvious in person.)


I don't think I've ever had a bruise like that.  Also, a little weird:  the **palm** of my hand was sore -- and yet the "web" gets the bruise.  Kinda like bumping your nose, and then ending up with a black eye.




--GG

HH of disease

So, here's three remedial tips:

1) When you're doing a series of vomiting, have the ''ring'' toilet seat down:  it's more comfortable than the porcelain toilet rim for supporting your forehead or cheek as you rest between rounds.

2) When you're lying on the tiled floor of the bathroom in the middle of the night, or the wee hours of the morning, use bath towels -- not blankets -- to keep yourself warm (and to provide insulation and padding relative to the floor).  Bath towels are more modular than blankets:  if you get vomit on them, you only have to wash the specific towel, not the whole blanket.

3) Medium-sized metal pots with long handles make great barf-bowls:  the long handle lets you keep it a slight distance away, yet bring it close quickly.


As you can probably infer from the above, we've had a cycle of disease in our household.  Mid-week it was blondie boy, in the wee hours of the morning:  several rounds of it.  I got to camp out with him.  A few days later, it was B2.  Then about 1am or 2am Saturday morning (the 14th), I was ill.  About every 30-45 minutes.  Well into the morning.

Monday, I was still very weak, and really not eating.  Blondie boy had a barking cough and a sore throat.  For both those reasons, I stayed home from work.

Tuesday, in the wee hours it was The Girl's turn.  Curiously, even though she's three years older than the boys, she was far worse at sensing when her vomits would come -- and thus, much more clean-up was involved.  Poor thing.

Gotta say -- all of the kids -- and myself, actually -- were pretty stoic about the whole thing.  Nasty business, though.

So, I was home Tuesday, to watch over The Girl -- and I was still not fully recovered -- and I'd been up much of the night.

Links

It's Thursday now (July 19th), and I finally made it to work.  Still only at about 80% capacity -- fairly weak.  I was marvelling at how long it's taking me to recover -- and then I realized that just because I've stopped throwing up -- it's been five days -- doesn't mean that I'm **well**.  Duh.


Still:  better than I was.


--GG

My review of Sucker Punch movie

Well, I'm feeling a bit better.  Well enough to be bored with being ill, and so I went out and rented a DVD.


Sucker Punch was on my ''to watch'' list for a while.  Rented it; watched it.

It was ''o.k.''.  Not brilliant, in this post Matrix world.  Cartoon-ish violence, serviceable dialogue, don't remember if there was cussing or not.  Loads o' empty action.

Some sexual overtones that some people will find unsettling.

The narrative structure was kind of a story-within-a-story, but I found it a little disorienting.


Not horrible, and worth a rent if you enjoyed The Matrix and you can't think of anything else to rent.


--GG