it's been a while since i've posted much, so i thought i'd leave a message so you all would know i was alive, and hopefully get a laugh at the same time. this is an email message (actually two) that i sent out at work today after the sad theft of my last english muffin.
hope this finds you all well -
.jason
:::::::
_____________________________________________
From: Me (.j)
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 1:57 PM
To: pretty much the whole Indy office.
Operations Team
Subject: Indy people only: RE: Muffin snatcher at large.
Importance: Low
Wide audience... consider it a slightly-less-than-amber alert.
(AP) - Indianapolis
Refrigerator users beware - there is a muffin-snatcher (MS) on the
loose. The individuals identity is currently unknown, but this
reporter can shed light on the food-snatchers habits. The MS made off
with my last english muffin today sometime between 0730 and 1130 EDT,
which to me is not a big deal - as far as item value is concerned.
What perhaps is of larger concern is that the individual not only took
it without asking, but they 1) took the last muffin, 2) tore the
muffin through the top of the package, and 3) left the now empty
package in the LL (lower level) fridge. So it makes a person wonder -
who would be so lame as to steal a persons food, and not even be kind
enough to dispose of the trash/evidence after the fact?
This falls close on the heels of another (possibly the same bandit)
lifting a deck of COPAG playing cards left behind in the LL break room
in recent months.
...I wanted to go on and have more fun with this, as it is a silly
item by nature, but I do want to waste too much time (on all sides) in
the process.
To the point:
a) Please do not be lame.
b) Please do not take things that are not yours... if you would have
asked, I would have gladly given it to you (after warning you about
the mold growth on the one I ate this morning).
c) If you (whoever) has my cards, I'd love to have them back.
Otherwise, I'll shell out the $20 to get another deck shipped to me.
(again, not a lot of money, but financial impact is not the point
here.
d) Really. Please do not be lame.
There are so many great people here, I would hate for the majority of
us to have to change our fridge use patterns, over a few individuals.
I'm sure there might be some great reason for making off with other
peoples stuff (maybe making a tracheotomy tube out of a playing card
with the aid of tape?) but none could really come to mind.
I miss the times when we could rant freely on threads about whatever,
but we're too big for that now (and probably were even then). So feel
free to spam directly to me, or a smaller audience so I don't incur
the wrath of oh so many whose names will not be mentioned, or waste
too much company resource on the thread.
Thanks, and consider the individial(s) responsible for these crimes
silly and not likely to be armed...
.jason
Follow up email:
______________________________________________
From: Me (.j)
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 2:22 PM
To: pretty much the whole Indy office.
Subject: RE: Indy people only: RE: Muffin snatcher at large.
Importance: Low
FAQ/Compiled Comments to save time:
1. Q: Didn't you mean have, not has?
A: Yes. I meant "have" instead of "has" after "if you (whoever)"
in item C below. I knew I should have reread the whole thing before
sending.
2. Q: What the heck are COPAG cards, and why do they cost $20.00?
A: Like KEM cards - nice finish, made of plastic, but in a good
way. They last a lot longer (~30 years) than most decks under normal
use, and they had an additional set of aces in both sets (it's a
double-deck) that I use to play other card games...
http://www.copagcards.com
3. Q: Have you considered the possibility the the muffin was so
spoiled that it became animate and tore its way out of the package and
ran off? [sic]
A: I have, however - there were no signs of life, organs, or
structure other than that of a normal muffin in the one I consumed
this morning. Aside from the bit of mold I tore off.
4. No one has asked in email yet, but No, I didn't send out the cool
thin client muffin-snatcher-slightly-less-than-amber alert.
5. Q: You know, I didn't do it, but I would if it meant you sending a
muffin alert every time...
A: Nope. I'll probably be terminated for foolishness. This may be
my last email ;)
6. Statement/Warning:
[TS-type-person wrote:] "We had a big problem with this at [some
other company], until we left some nice cat food salad sandwiches and
[chocolate flavored laxative] chocolate chip cake. Once you steal cat
food and have a big dose of [chocolate flavored laxative] for desert
you think twice about stealing unknown items. What if the Muffin was
first used as a [toy to induce arousal in a sexual manner]!"
- note: I can say that it wasn't be me, but apparently - I don't
have much control of who uses my food. Now I really don't want to know
where the string cheese has been going.
Okay. I think that's all. Back to work for me, while I still have a
job :)
slop
thoughts of one guy.
5.01.2006
12.07.2005
a day short of six months. (been a while)
well... hello there. i must first apoligize for what has been more than a lengthy absence in my random thoughts. i really did type up quite a nifty hello a few months ago - i was in the middle of a *huge* project at work and just thought it would be nice to let everyone know how i was doing. >oddly, this ties into my previous short post< i happened to be typing it in using the nifty blog posting widget. well... apparently something happened, and well... it died. or at least it never made it to my site, which was rather sad, considering how much work time i blew on it to bring you all salutations and greetings.
on a side note, while do people write "salutations and greetings"?? salutations *are* greetings. but i digress.
again.
so anyway - now i'm sitting here at church using some free wifi access to shoot out a post, as it seems to be the first time in a while that i've had time and access, and thought about it.
work was crazy for a while, i'll spare you all the details, but between work, band, and sleep, there wasn't much time for anything else for a good several months... and now...
well, now my HR people don't want me rolling more than a week of vacation to next year from this, so i'm stuck with every day off for the rest of the year (except for M-W next week).
hmm.
now i'll try not to blog/post too much, as you might all run away and hide - or get used to the idea that i could post so much. either way, nothing to fear. it's temporary.
where was i? ah, at church. anyway - the band (+1) is playing the new goo goo dolls song for the Christmas show - i think that it's cool, and you should come see it. 7pm on the 8th & 9th, and 1pm on the 10th.
of december (yeah, it's a Christmas show...)
2005.
okay - well - i just wanted to say hi and let you all know i was alive, as well as wish you a now belated giving of thanks, and an early merry Chirstmas.
sleep tight kids. i'll try to be back with more information soon.
.jason
on a side note, while do people write "salutations and greetings"?? salutations *are* greetings. but i digress.
again.
so anyway - now i'm sitting here at church using some free wifi access to shoot out a post, as it seems to be the first time in a while that i've had time and access, and thought about it.
work was crazy for a while, i'll spare you all the details, but between work, band, and sleep, there wasn't much time for anything else for a good several months... and now...
well, now my HR people don't want me rolling more than a week of vacation to next year from this, so i'm stuck with every day off for the rest of the year (except for M-W next week).
hmm.
now i'll try not to blog/post too much, as you might all run away and hide - or get used to the idea that i could post so much. either way, nothing to fear. it's temporary.
where was i? ah, at church. anyway - the band (+1) is playing the new goo goo dolls song for the Christmas show - i think that it's cool, and you should come see it. 7pm on the 8th & 9th, and 1pm on the 10th.
of december (yeah, it's a Christmas show...)
2005.
okay - well - i just wanted to say hi and let you all know i was alive, as well as wish you a now belated giving of thanks, and an early merry Chirstmas.
sleep tight kids. i'll try to be back with more information soon.
.jason
6.08.2005
ooooh. a blog posting widget
okay - not that this is important at all, but hopefully i'll be inclined to post a bit more in the future. i just found a nifty 'widget' for Mac OS X that lets me post right from this little sub-screen (almost like a screen you pull down in front of your computer screen) to my blog. it saves a lot of time in logging in, etc, and just being able to type up a quick thought and let it fly.
anyway - the link up there takes you to a page that describes this stuff in a little more detail if you are at all inclined to read more about it - i will not bore the rest of you with the details.
basically, i'm just pretty geeked up over it, that's all.
i hope you are all taking care of yourselves, as i'm trying to recover from a torn hamstring. (i have had more "bad" injuries in the last year, than i've had in my entire life)
more later that is actual useful information (i hope) or you can just use it as an excuse to send me some email.
anyway - the link up there takes you to a page that describes this stuff in a little more detail if you are at all inclined to read more about it - i will not bore the rest of you with the details.
basically, i'm just pretty geeked up over it, that's all.
i hope you are all taking care of yourselves, as i'm trying to recover from a torn hamstring. (i have had more "bad" injuries in the last year, than i've had in my entire life)
more later that is actual useful information (i hope) or you can just use it as an excuse to send me some email.
5.05.2005
what kind of dressing would you like with that...
funny thing. i've been a steak snob for quite a long time. quite simply - if you have to put sauce on it, you shouldn't have to pay for it. now at home it's a different thing... maybe you are buying a cheaper cut of meat to save some money, maybe you just jones for the stuff (ick), but hey - to each their own.
or not.
it seems i am sliding into salad snobbery, with the same guidelines - if i have to put dressing on it, it's probably not that good. i mean, i always like salad, i know i like the taste of "raw" lettuce, etc., yet i have this tendancy to always drown it in delicious blue cheese or something of the sort.
then comes today - an email goes out that there are leftovers from some sales meeting in the breakroom at work (this generally causes the closest thing i've seen to a human lemming invasion with my own eyes... developers, support staff, and tech all jamming into the stairs in a mad dash to the basement kitchen) ... oh yeah, and i know - rough life... free food at work. anyway, i come in, already having eaten two hardee's slammers for lunch (quite tasty and cheap) and scan the table. (i have the benifit of working in the basement, along with my red swingline stapler so i get there before the crowd). there are various so-so fazolis leftovers, nothing too appetizing, and then i spot a panera box. (mmmmmm panera)
inside the box, i spot a salad and the obligatory roll. it's a caesar so i decide to run with it.
then i get back to my desk and taste the dressing.
okay.
i know i can't be alone in this.
who really likes the flavor of little salty fishy anchovies in their caesar dressing? i'll at least vote not me and stick with it. that stuff is nasty.
and then i remember. hey... you might just try it without... maybe it will be okay, maybe the man's just been forcing dressing down your throat for ever just to do it.
i try it.
it's tasty.
damn tasty.
i have to say that short of my girfriend's spinich salads, this has to be one of the most enjoyable salads i've had lately. and that struck me as odd. odd enough to post about it after not posting anything of use in such a long time. or maybe that just happens when you turn 31, you just start to ramble on about odd silly things. oh well.
aside from salad - works finally slowing down a bit, and i fear that the lull will be short, i guess that's why i get a paycheck anyway, but it's nice to be able to take a few minutes from my day to say hello to everyone, and hopefully give you all a few minutes to read something odd. but i would challenge you all to try a salad sans dressing sometime, and let me know what you think.
oh - my kid sister, her husband, and their baby are moving back near home from california... i am super stoked about how i'm going to get to see them more now.
and then it also makes me think about being the middle kid with no baby, but hey - it's not a race ;)
i hope you all are doing quite well, and if you know me, you know i mean it. drop me a line and let me know how you are doing sometime.
(btw - i moved back to indy in february... back down in south broadripple.)
take care.
.jason
or not.
it seems i am sliding into salad snobbery, with the same guidelines - if i have to put dressing on it, it's probably not that good. i mean, i always like salad, i know i like the taste of "raw" lettuce, etc., yet i have this tendancy to always drown it in delicious blue cheese or something of the sort.
then comes today - an email goes out that there are leftovers from some sales meeting in the breakroom at work (this generally causes the closest thing i've seen to a human lemming invasion with my own eyes... developers, support staff, and tech all jamming into the stairs in a mad dash to the basement kitchen) ... oh yeah, and i know - rough life... free food at work. anyway, i come in, already having eaten two hardee's slammers for lunch (quite tasty and cheap) and scan the table. (i have the benifit of working in the basement, along with my red swingline stapler so i get there before the crowd). there are various so-so fazolis leftovers, nothing too appetizing, and then i spot a panera box. (mmmmmm panera)
inside the box, i spot a salad and the obligatory roll. it's a caesar so i decide to run with it.
then i get back to my desk and taste the dressing.
okay.
i know i can't be alone in this.
who really likes the flavor of little salty fishy anchovies in their caesar dressing? i'll at least vote not me and stick with it. that stuff is nasty.
and then i remember. hey... you might just try it without... maybe it will be okay, maybe the man's just been forcing dressing down your throat for ever just to do it.
i try it.
it's tasty.
damn tasty.
i have to say that short of my girfriend's spinich salads, this has to be one of the most enjoyable salads i've had lately. and that struck me as odd. odd enough to post about it after not posting anything of use in such a long time. or maybe that just happens when you turn 31, you just start to ramble on about odd silly things. oh well.
aside from salad - works finally slowing down a bit, and i fear that the lull will be short, i guess that's why i get a paycheck anyway, but it's nice to be able to take a few minutes from my day to say hello to everyone, and hopefully give you all a few minutes to read something odd. but i would challenge you all to try a salad sans dressing sometime, and let me know what you think.
oh - my kid sister, her husband, and their baby are moving back near home from california... i am super stoked about how i'm going to get to see them more now.
and then it also makes me think about being the middle kid with no baby, but hey - it's not a race ;)
i hope you all are doing quite well, and if you know me, you know i mean it. drop me a line and let me know how you are doing sometime.
(btw - i moved back to indy in february... back down in south broadripple.)
take care.
.jason
12.30.2004
maintenance.
a guy doesn't post for a while and everything seems to break up on him. pardon this dust as i republish the entire blog...
*cough cough*
should be all better now.
thanks.
the mgmt.
*cough cough*
should be all better now.
thanks.
the mgmt.
greetings from under a pile...
halloooo!
i know it's been a while, and i can't possibly update everyone on everything as of late, but i can say hello. (and apparently i can say halloooo as well)
i just wanted to wish everyone a belated Christmas greeting, and a happy new year :)
okay, now that that is done, and i'm still under a pile o'work, i want to paste in here a letter i wrote from Hong Kong in the fall of 2003. some of you have read it, some not, so i figure i can put it here for safe keeping. i hope and pray you all have a wonderful new year... and stay out of socialist hospitals...
Original message dated 12 July, 2003 (pardon the spelling and grammar errors, this was all written after a bit of trauma)
____________________________________________________
What Jason did in Hong Kong today (July 12th):
Okay, I take the little shuttle bus to the customer site, and before it leaves the hotel Saturday morning he sees the opportunity to practice his english and let me know some of the sights of the city as well. After he drops me off, I had to walk a block or so to the customer site - and he drives by there but there's not a stop, which is why I got out of the bus where I did - and when he sees me walking that way, he opens the window to the bus and asks me if I needed to go somewhere else. Well, I'm walking kind of fast so I just look back and am trying to tell him I am okay and that I'm just going a few more buildings away and trying to understand his broken english...
I walk into a steel lightpost at full stride with a little access panel at about head height.
My head hurts so I put my hand on it for a minute and it's covered with blood.
What do I think,
a) "Wow, that's not good - I should probably get this looked at"
b) "Hmm... head wounds are always bleeders, it's probably not that bad"
or
c) "Shoot, I have no time for this, I have to get to the customer site and take a look at the logs for yesterday"
Sadly, it was (c).
And a little bit of (b).
Well, I walk into the customer building and the security people ask me if I am okay ("I'm okay," says the taller than most people there foreigner, with blood covering most of his right hand and forehead.).
They don't believe me, so I just ask if there is a restroom nearby where I can wash it and have a look.
They follow me with a first aid tackle box and show me to the staff restroom (they were very nice and helpful) where I proceed to wash it off and can't wash a big section of hair out of the way of the cut.
Ow.
I notice that that is not a clump of hair, it's a 1-1.5 inch long 1/8 wide and equally deep gash in my forehead.
("now it's going to be really hard to get these logs at this morning.")
Nice Hong Kong security guards keep telling me to go to the state hospital and that they will call an ambulance for me... I think they really wanted to call the ambulance... or they were distressed at the sight of my forehead.
I tell them (after giving up, and not being able to explain to them in chinese that I will probably be okay) that I need to wait for the customer to get there (I was a half hour early) so that they will know where I went... so they give me the little security guard chair and with Hong Kong precision place the chair nicely behind a large shrub in the building so that I have plenty of room to sit, and so people coming in the door don't have to see the bleeding guy. Half hour passes... man am I getting tired of applying direct pressure.
Customer (partner) shows up, and decides to take me to SARSville - the East Hong Kong hospital - where I find they have english writing but don't speak english so well. Plus (bonus), I get my free SARS mask. (Starts to make you feel a bit uncomfortable... open head wound, lots of sick people around... lot's of SARS posters... you get the idea).
Socialist medicine is odd.
First I sit in the waiting area until they take me to the triage station (after I paid my flat foreigner fee of $HK 550... or the partner did as they only take cash... in case you ever plan on getting hospitalized in HK) look at it... "Hmmm... might need sutures... it does not seem to be bleeding too much, this will be a priority 4 case (where 5 is the lowest).
I question myself as to why I was a good boy and applied more direct pressure and iced it a bit... I just slowed down my process :)
They use shiny scotch tape and take a big stipe of it across my head with a little gauze over the cut, take my bp 80/135... not to bad for having rocked my head on a pole and not being in anywhere near familiar surroundings.
I get sent back to the same waiting area.
Fifteen minutes back, I get to go back to curtain 12. Dr. asks me questions... does not seem to believe evil vicious lightpost did the damage after taking off scotch tape and gauze... it does quite look like a cut, but I hadn't gone back to see the lightpost yet, so I didn't know if had a bump out on it at my forehead height. He seems to think someone cut me, but he doesn't push it. He just asks me 4 more times or so, and then is done with it.
Dr. thinks I need an X-ray... wants to make sure there is no concussion on contusion (I mention that I already checked my pupils, but he checked them too). He gets ready to send me to the waiting room again, but then gives me a paper and let's me follow the green line to the X-ray dept. Oh. He puts some gauze on my head with scotch tape.
I get to the X-ray, and after giving them my paper, I sit down to wait again, only for about five minutes. They call my name, and I get my head bombarded with sub-atomic particles. (at least I think they are subatomic... yeah, not a single atom) and... you guessed it, I get to go back to the waiting room.
Oh yeah, early on a middle eastern man sees me, and he is there for something with his wife. He asks if I am from America, and I say yeah - almost hesitating first as I already have a gash and don't want extra reasons to stay at the hospital. He says "God Bless you."
I am flattered, but assure him I am just a normal guy, but he blesses me anyway, nice to know everyone from that part of the world does not hate us.
Okay, back to the story, I'm typing a lot here, so I'll wrap it up before going in search of Mah jongg.
After another 20 or 30 minutes or so, they call my name (phew... I finally get them to sew this thing up) ... I go back to good ol' curtain 12, he looks at my X-rays, and tells me that they look fine, but he is concerned about my headache ("I hit my head on a steel post at full walk... what do you expect?") and gives me paperwork on signs of a contusion/concussion.
Hospital Authority
Accident and Emergency Department
CARE AT HOME OF PATIENTS WHO HAVE SUSTAINED HEAD INJURIES
Bring the patient back to hospital IMMEDIATELY under the following circumstances:--
1. If the patient ---
(a) Has a convulsion or fit. >> okay, I think that should be understood. <<
(b) Complains of severe head-ache. >> Yeah, okay, this is migraine boy who just smacked his head on a solid object... I think I'm gonna have a headache. <<
(c) Vomits repeatedly. >> Now no matter what strange tentacled things I eat at lunch, I have to keep down, or I'll have to come back. <<
(d) Becomes irritable. >> What if I am naturally already that way. <<
(e) Becomes increasingly drowsy and difficult to rouse.
(Children should be woken every two hours during the first twelve hours after the injury to make sure that they are still rousable).
>> Let's see... I'm jet lagged beyond belief, not getting much sleep at night and yesterday I got sleepy at two. That's in three hours. must not let partner see I am sleepy. <<
2. If you are worried about the patient's condition any time.
Okay, I go get a can of coke. $5.50HK They're out of Vanilla coke, shoot.
One regular coke later they call me back to curtain 12 where I get pointed to the blue line that takes me to the "Minor Surgery Theatre"... hmm... no one said anything about a movie... I get back there to see a guy cleaning up the old supplies and calls me back to the bed (having flashbacks to every movie with an operation being performed in less than favourable conditions). It has some mostly dried blood on the sheet so he lays down a gauze sheet over it and has me lay down (nice enought to give me one for my head too). Numbs me, covers my face up and starts stitching... luckily there were only three as the subcutaneous injection didn't numb me so well until we were finishing number two
Anyway, stitches get done (just three), and I peeked at it and they don't look so good, but hey, it's just my forehead. :)
Oh yeah, I went to the pharmacy (with another place to wait in line and then in a chair) and picked up my meds... I thought I was getting an antibiotic... nope. Just pain killer and antacids... (hoping he cleaned it well before stitching as I didn't get to do too much with it). Headed back to customer site and did the job, had another lunch (with too many tentacles in places I didn't expect them... fried rice for one). And then ended up back at my hotel.
I went across the street to the grocery store to buy some film and I am happy to say that I found a Kinder Bueno bar and finally tasted it. (candy bar Kim told me about in Ireland) But they are very good...
So anyway, I am a little loopy, but I checked my pupils again and they still seem okay, so I am off to shop. If you don't hear from me again by Sunday morning, well... hmm. (really, I am joking about myself... I should be just fine).
Okay, just about fell asleep there... so I should go shop and then come back to bed.
I hope you guys are well.
Maybe by the end of the day tomorrow I will have more stories...
i know it's been a while, and i can't possibly update everyone on everything as of late, but i can say hello. (and apparently i can say halloooo as well)
i just wanted to wish everyone a belated Christmas greeting, and a happy new year :)
okay, now that that is done, and i'm still under a pile o'work, i want to paste in here a letter i wrote from Hong Kong in the fall of 2003. some of you have read it, some not, so i figure i can put it here for safe keeping. i hope and pray you all have a wonderful new year... and stay out of socialist hospitals...
Original message dated 12 July, 2003 (pardon the spelling and grammar errors, this was all written after a bit of trauma)
____________________________________________________
What Jason did in Hong Kong today (July 12th):
Okay, I take the little shuttle bus to the customer site, and before it leaves the hotel Saturday morning he sees the opportunity to practice his english and let me know some of the sights of the city as well. After he drops me off, I had to walk a block or so to the customer site - and he drives by there but there's not a stop, which is why I got out of the bus where I did - and when he sees me walking that way, he opens the window to the bus and asks me if I needed to go somewhere else. Well, I'm walking kind of fast so I just look back and am trying to tell him I am okay and that I'm just going a few more buildings away and trying to understand his broken english...
I walk into a steel lightpost at full stride with a little access panel at about head height.
My head hurts so I put my hand on it for a minute and it's covered with blood.
What do I think,
a) "Wow, that's not good - I should probably get this looked at"
b) "Hmm... head wounds are always bleeders, it's probably not that bad"
or
c) "Shoot, I have no time for this, I have to get to the customer site and take a look at the logs for yesterday"
Sadly, it was (c).
And a little bit of (b).
Well, I walk into the customer building and the security people ask me if I am okay ("I'm okay," says the taller than most people there foreigner, with blood covering most of his right hand and forehead.).
They don't believe me, so I just ask if there is a restroom nearby where I can wash it and have a look.
They follow me with a first aid tackle box and show me to the staff restroom (they were very nice and helpful) where I proceed to wash it off and can't wash a big section of hair out of the way of the cut.
Ow.
I notice that that is not a clump of hair, it's a 1-1.5 inch long 1/8 wide and equally deep gash in my forehead.
("now it's going to be really hard to get these logs at this morning.")
Nice Hong Kong security guards keep telling me to go to the state hospital and that they will call an ambulance for me... I think they really wanted to call the ambulance... or they were distressed at the sight of my forehead.
I tell them (after giving up, and not being able to explain to them in chinese that I will probably be okay) that I need to wait for the customer to get there (I was a half hour early) so that they will know where I went... so they give me the little security guard chair and with Hong Kong precision place the chair nicely behind a large shrub in the building so that I have plenty of room to sit, and so people coming in the door don't have to see the bleeding guy. Half hour passes... man am I getting tired of applying direct pressure.
Customer (partner) shows up, and decides to take me to SARSville - the East Hong Kong hospital - where I find they have english writing but don't speak english so well. Plus (bonus), I get my free SARS mask. (Starts to make you feel a bit uncomfortable... open head wound, lots of sick people around... lot's of SARS posters... you get the idea).
Socialist medicine is odd.
First I sit in the waiting area until they take me to the triage station (after I paid my flat foreigner fee of $HK 550... or the partner did as they only take cash... in case you ever plan on getting hospitalized in HK) look at it... "Hmmm... might need sutures... it does not seem to be bleeding too much, this will be a priority 4 case (where 5 is the lowest).
I question myself as to why I was a good boy and applied more direct pressure and iced it a bit... I just slowed down my process :)
They use shiny scotch tape and take a big stipe of it across my head with a little gauze over the cut, take my bp 80/135... not to bad for having rocked my head on a pole and not being in anywhere near familiar surroundings.
I get sent back to the same waiting area.
Fifteen minutes back, I get to go back to curtain 12. Dr. asks me questions... does not seem to believe evil vicious lightpost did the damage after taking off scotch tape and gauze... it does quite look like a cut, but I hadn't gone back to see the lightpost yet, so I didn't know if had a bump out on it at my forehead height. He seems to think someone cut me, but he doesn't push it. He just asks me 4 more times or so, and then is done with it.
Dr. thinks I need an X-ray... wants to make sure there is no concussion on contusion (I mention that I already checked my pupils, but he checked them too). He gets ready to send me to the waiting room again, but then gives me a paper and let's me follow the green line to the X-ray dept. Oh. He puts some gauze on my head with scotch tape.
I get to the X-ray, and after giving them my paper, I sit down to wait again, only for about five minutes. They call my name, and I get my head bombarded with sub-atomic particles. (at least I think they are subatomic... yeah, not a single atom) and... you guessed it, I get to go back to the waiting room.
Oh yeah, early on a middle eastern man sees me, and he is there for something with his wife. He asks if I am from America, and I say yeah - almost hesitating first as I already have a gash and don't want extra reasons to stay at the hospital. He says "God Bless you."
I am flattered, but assure him I am just a normal guy, but he blesses me anyway, nice to know everyone from that part of the world does not hate us.
Okay, back to the story, I'm typing a lot here, so I'll wrap it up before going in search of Mah jongg.
After another 20 or 30 minutes or so, they call my name (phew... I finally get them to sew this thing up) ... I go back to good ol' curtain 12, he looks at my X-rays, and tells me that they look fine, but he is concerned about my headache ("I hit my head on a steel post at full walk... what do you expect?") and gives me paperwork on signs of a contusion/concussion.
Hospital Authority
Accident and Emergency Department
CARE AT HOME OF PATIENTS WHO HAVE SUSTAINED HEAD INJURIES
Bring the patient back to hospital IMMEDIATELY under the following circumstances:--
1. If the patient ---
(a) Has a convulsion or fit. >> okay, I think that should be understood. <<
(b) Complains of severe head-ache. >> Yeah, okay, this is migraine boy who just smacked his head on a solid object... I think I'm gonna have a headache. <<
(c) Vomits repeatedly. >> Now no matter what strange tentacled things I eat at lunch, I have to keep down, or I'll have to come back. <<
(d) Becomes irritable. >> What if I am naturally already that way. <<
(e) Becomes increasingly drowsy and difficult to rouse.
(Children should be woken every two hours during the first twelve hours after the injury to make sure that they are still rousable).
>> Let's see... I'm jet lagged beyond belief, not getting much sleep at night and yesterday I got sleepy at two. That's in three hours. must not let partner see I am sleepy. <<
2. If you are worried about the patient's condition any time.
Okay, I go get a can of coke. $5.50HK They're out of Vanilla coke, shoot.
One regular coke later they call me back to curtain 12 where I get pointed to the blue line that takes me to the "Minor Surgery Theatre"... hmm... no one said anything about a movie... I get back there to see a guy cleaning up the old supplies and calls me back to the bed (having flashbacks to every movie with an operation being performed in less than favourable conditions). It has some mostly dried blood on the sheet so he lays down a gauze sheet over it and has me lay down (nice enought to give me one for my head too). Numbs me, covers my face up and starts stitching... luckily there were only three as the subcutaneous injection didn't numb me so well until we were finishing number two
Anyway, stitches get done (just three), and I peeked at it and they don't look so good, but hey, it's just my forehead. :)
Oh yeah, I went to the pharmacy (with another place to wait in line and then in a chair) and picked up my meds... I thought I was getting an antibiotic... nope. Just pain killer and antacids... (hoping he cleaned it well before stitching as I didn't get to do too much with it). Headed back to customer site and did the job, had another lunch (with too many tentacles in places I didn't expect them... fried rice for one). And then ended up back at my hotel.
I went across the street to the grocery store to buy some film and I am happy to say that I found a Kinder Bueno bar and finally tasted it. (candy bar Kim told me about in Ireland) But they are very good...
So anyway, I am a little loopy, but I checked my pupils again and they still seem okay, so I am off to shop. If you don't hear from me again by Sunday morning, well... hmm. (really, I am joking about myself... I should be just fine).
Okay, just about fell asleep there... so I should go shop and then come back to bed.
I hope you guys are well.
Maybe by the end of the day tomorrow I will have more stories...
9.23.2004
support your local...
hi there kids...
i know, it's been a while. since i last wrote, my site moved to a new server, i set up a nifty mailing list so you all can use it to publicly emote if you fell the need too - well, if public is counted as a small handful of family and friends... anyway, i've also changed jobs at work, and changed cars... but i'm not really writing about any of that today.
as the autumn winds begin to blow across the state, my mind starts to drift with those winds. i know it's the 30th time i've been exposed to it, but i seem to always look to it with a certain expectation of change, and time to relax with those you know.
change is always hard when you don't want it to happen, and it's not always for the better. sadly, i'm experiencing one of those moments now. it's hard to believe that i could grieve for a business, a little coffee shop, but i do, and that's why i'm writing. cath is closing it's location in meridian/kessler (south of broadripple) - now i know that most of you don't know anything about cath, so i'll try to explain as i go. cath coffee shop "CATH" was opened by Cathy Peachy twenty one years ago in the indianpolis city market. my exposure however began with their little shop out of the city market that moved seven years ago to a little old oil change building in the parking lot of another lost local business - atlas foods - (for those of you who don't know, it was a little mom & pop chain of i believe two stores, maybe three - and where David Letterman learned his well honed grocery bagging skills). anyway, they made this little old oil change shop into something more than a coffee house. at least to me, and i think to a lot of other people.
cath could almost be considered a little part of the heart and soul of the area. it's a small building, and if i were to list it off by specifications it wouldn't sound too interesting (a handful of tables with a few chairs around each, a couch, a few more comfortable chairs, a large rocking horse, two of the chairs have writing all over them, and are quite interesting to read, the counter, display, and all... maybe it can sound interesting) - but it goes beyond that. cath was my favorite place to see live music from great artists as their skills grow and often friendships with them. cath was a place where i would look forward to see my friend Edie Carey swing through as she would be touring through the area, back when she had this poor old ford escort that had more than it's share of miles. cath was a place for me to sit and listen to artists express themselves with their music, and through their music hear my own heart. there's so much about it that has to be experienced, and will not be able to be experienced for those that have not already. sometimes, cath was just a place to sit and be.
i know that it's nothing that can change, as they sustained an oppressive rent for all that time, even with competitors around, and now they are being asked by the landlord to leave. i'd like to beg and plead that they stay, but there is a lot of competition. a lot of good places to buy your beans - before and after being turned into coffee. but i can't think of another cath in the area. i don't want to sound like i'm ranting against the landlord, but i do wonder if he/she knows - really knows - what they are closing.
i'm moving back to the area when i can. i've been looking for a while, but it feels like a little hole opened up in me when i realized that i *wont* be able to walk over to cath once i get moved in. i *wont* be able to see old and new friends and artists there, and that touches me somehow far more profoundly than one would think it should. and i'll just smile and nod if you think that i'm off my rocker on this, because it's something that can't be argued or defended, it can only be felt.
enough with all of that for now. i guess i just want to say that i've loved the place from the first time i stepped foot in the door. i am ever thankful to Nora and her crew for keeping it running so well for so long through so much. i take my hat off to you all. and i will always remember the smiles, the shows, the coffee, and the heart - in mine.
i know, it's been a while. since i last wrote, my site moved to a new server, i set up a nifty mailing list so you all can use it to publicly emote if you fell the need too - well, if public is counted as a small handful of family and friends... anyway, i've also changed jobs at work, and changed cars... but i'm not really writing about any of that today.
as the autumn winds begin to blow across the state, my mind starts to drift with those winds. i know it's the 30th time i've been exposed to it, but i seem to always look to it with a certain expectation of change, and time to relax with those you know.
change is always hard when you don't want it to happen, and it's not always for the better. sadly, i'm experiencing one of those moments now. it's hard to believe that i could grieve for a business, a little coffee shop, but i do, and that's why i'm writing. cath is closing it's location in meridian/kessler (south of broadripple) - now i know that most of you don't know anything about cath, so i'll try to explain as i go. cath coffee shop "CATH" was opened by Cathy Peachy twenty one years ago in the indianpolis city market. my exposure however began with their little shop out of the city market that moved seven years ago to a little old oil change building in the parking lot of another lost local business - atlas foods - (for those of you who don't know, it was a little mom & pop chain of i believe two stores, maybe three - and where David Letterman learned his well honed grocery bagging skills). anyway, they made this little old oil change shop into something more than a coffee house. at least to me, and i think to a lot of other people.
cath could almost be considered a little part of the heart and soul of the area. it's a small building, and if i were to list it off by specifications it wouldn't sound too interesting (a handful of tables with a few chairs around each, a couch, a few more comfortable chairs, a large rocking horse, two of the chairs have writing all over them, and are quite interesting to read, the counter, display, and all... maybe it can sound interesting) - but it goes beyond that. cath was my favorite place to see live music from great artists as their skills grow and often friendships with them. cath was a place where i would look forward to see my friend Edie Carey swing through as she would be touring through the area, back when she had this poor old ford escort that had more than it's share of miles. cath was a place for me to sit and listen to artists express themselves with their music, and through their music hear my own heart. there's so much about it that has to be experienced, and will not be able to be experienced for those that have not already. sometimes, cath was just a place to sit and be.
i know that it's nothing that can change, as they sustained an oppressive rent for all that time, even with competitors around, and now they are being asked by the landlord to leave. i'd like to beg and plead that they stay, but there is a lot of competition. a lot of good places to buy your beans - before and after being turned into coffee. but i can't think of another cath in the area. i don't want to sound like i'm ranting against the landlord, but i do wonder if he/she knows - really knows - what they are closing.
i'm moving back to the area when i can. i've been looking for a while, but it feels like a little hole opened up in me when i realized that i *wont* be able to walk over to cath once i get moved in. i *wont* be able to see old and new friends and artists there, and that touches me somehow far more profoundly than one would think it should. and i'll just smile and nod if you think that i'm off my rocker on this, because it's something that can't be argued or defended, it can only be felt.
enough with all of that for now. i guess i just want to say that i've loved the place from the first time i stepped foot in the door. i am ever thankful to Nora and her crew for keeping it running so well for so long through so much. i take my hat off to you all. and i will always remember the smiles, the shows, the coffee, and the heart - in mine.
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