Sunday, May 13, 2007
I'M POSTING ALREADY!!!
As I'd received a hurry up on the posts, I thought I'd better put one up.
On the medical side of things, I went and attended a research interview with one of the surgeons who had worked on me when the paramedics dragged my somewhat rearranged body into the trauma centre last year.
Apparently the plate in my lower leg was a new kind of fixation that was being trialled in patients to see what affect it has on them.
The majority of my implants are composed of titanium, however this particular one is made of surgical stainless steel.
The surgeon informed me that the screws have a threaded head and that the head screws into the plate.
Over time, titanium plates and screws have a tendency to fuse together making the removal of the plate a rather complicated affair involving saws and all sorts of practices more akin to engineering workshops than hospitals.
Good to know that when this plate comes out it will be a relatively uncomplicated affair.
As for all the other titanium bits and pieces, I just hope they come out easily.
Good to know I'm doing my bit for medical research that will aid future trauma victims.
The good doctor also suggested an arthroscopy be performed on my left knee to see what the hell is causing it to emulate a popcorn machine.
I have received medical clearance to drive a motor vehicle.
Well, a car specifically.
This enables me to operate automobile on the state's highway and byways without fear of legal complications should I be involved in an 'incident'.
It also means my taxi account is closed as of last Friday.
I would be interested in finding out what my total taxi bill is, I'd imagine all those home visits, trips to physio, doctor's appointments and work would amount to quite a substantial amount.
Now I'm trying to find a vehicle to suit my current and future needs.
I'm thinking very much along the lines of a Subaru 4wd wagon for a number of reasons.
They're a pretty robust unit, relatively easy to work on, fairly frugal on the tanker juice, have aftermarket lift kits available for extra ground clearance, they have room for my bass gear ( which doesn't fit in a sedan ) and well, I like them.
As I still intend to go bush and touring It will be useful to have the all wheel drive for those dirt roads and the lift kit should enable it to deal with some of the rougher dirt roads, of which there are plenty of in Australia, with relative aplomb.
Some might suggest that I just get a proper 4 wheel drive, but as most of my driving will be in the city I see absolutely no reason to install myself in an UAV ( I prefer to call them what they are: Urban Assault Vehicle ).
They are also higher off the ground, meaning that any time I place or remove my rather bulky and heavy bass gear in the back it will be just that little bit more difficult.
I had my first proper road rage incident on Friday.
Generally when one arrives at an uncontrolled intersection in relatively heavy traffic, one does not just park the car in the middle and thus inhibit anyone who wishes to move across the said intersection or make a turn, especially when there are ruddy huge letters in the middle of the road spelling out ''KEEP CLEAR"!
Whilst driving with Bec on Friday I came across a young female in her early 20's who had done just that.
I was unable to make the turn right and was now inhibiting traffic flow on my side the road.
Upon moving Christine a little closer to her car, in order to make a little more room on my side of the road, the female starting making a number of unfriendly and downright insulting gestures towards us.
This I must say was completely unprovoked and beckoned me to question her parentage, as well as pondering what a delightful human being she must be.
As she finally drove off I could not help myself, but to call her a part of the female reproductive system using a term not found in anatomy books anywhere in the world.
My linguistic choice may have had more in common with the mechanics I work with, but as I only had a split second to voice my objection to her bogan demeanour I used the one word that could carry the most impact.
Just think, if someone calls you a 'fucking dickhead' through their windscreen or window, all you see is their mouth moving up and down, it has no affect what so ever, but that four letter word is instantly recognisable and in those times when you only have a split second it will get the message across.
Some may object to the use of that word all together, but I find in situations like that it is more than appropriate.
I only wish I had a bull bar on the front of the car so that as she started moving I could have clipped the rear corner of her car just so, enough to tear off a bit of bumper, break an indicator and dent the quarter panel, then I could have refrained from using that word.
Caught up with my sister and Glenn the other day, they brought me a present from Scotland in the form of a couple of little bottles of Edradour.
I haven't tried it as yet, but it sounds rather salubrious.
Today Bec has moved into her newly purchased unit and sis and Glenn have moved into her old rental house.
So it's moves all round.
It was quite nice sitting on the couches that had been stored in my place, out on the nature strip, drinking cold beer whilst waiting for the moving truck to turn up.
Sure we had some strange looks form some of the residents, but hey it was just too nice a day.
I simply must have a whinge about the 'place that sells bad beer'.
On Saturday night Gino and I went there to have a few birthday drinks with a mate.
I have never seen / heard / tasted that much crap in the four years or so that I have been frequenting the joint.
Firstly, there was Dean Martin playing on the sound system, not that I have anything against the old crooner, but on a Saturday night I would expect Sly and The Family Stone or The Strokes, not some soporific version of Someone To Watch Over Me.
It's Saturday night damn it !!!!!!
Secondly, the place that sells bad beer had outdone itself this time.
It had reached a new all time low in beer quality.
The basic standard beer was flatter than a shit carter's hat and tasted like he might have been involved in the brewing process.
There was nothing for it, we had to resort to drinking fancy pants beer, which I don't particularly like due to the fact that it tastes rather ordinary compared to my favourite Cascade brews and I don't think the taste or quality is directly proportional to the higher asking price.
Thirdly, the first set on stage was some tool wigging out on his MIDI keyboard.
He'd found some swooshy sound on an Enya Album and was quite happily murdering everyone's ears with it for 3/4 of an hour.
The music itself would have been appropriate in a movie soundtrack about whales or something, but not as a live set in a rock 'n' roll pub.
All he did was slowly play a few chords over and over, and when he'd finished that song he would start another one that sounded exactly the same as the previous one!!!!
Lord give me strength!!
I've been enjoying my new flute.
Managing to make it sound more like a musical instrument than a dying goose, so I don't think it's annoying the housemates to much.
Tonight it's Eurovision time again.
As much as I would prefer to watch something else, there is simply nothing else on that is remotely worth watching.
It has reminded me of the last Eurovision, when I was 'enjoying' that bizarre event from the 'comfort' of my hospital bed.
It's not looking much better this year, although Finland has done away with the nasty B grade sci fi movie costumes and gone for an Emo approach.
I really don't get Emo, as far as I'm concerned 'Less Emo, more Elmo!'
Emo fans really have forgotten how to laugh haven't they?
Shit, if you're white, from a middle class family in a western country then you really don't have a lot to be depressed about do you?
No injustice, violence, death, nothing even close to a good reason for feeling all mopey.
I did notice there was a Moomin playing chess with Father Christmas though!!!
It's worth watching just for that.
Go Moomins!!!!
On a genuinely sad note, another one of my good mates has been hospitalised in the last few days.
Not road trauma this time though, unfortunately this one has flipped and been committed due to a drug induced psychosis.
No idea how long the hospitalisation will be, and at the moment visits are out of the question.
We'll see how that one pans out.
This person helped me a lot during my stint in hospital and I hope that there is something I can do to help.
.
On the medical side of things, I went and attended a research interview with one of the surgeons who had worked on me when the paramedics dragged my somewhat rearranged body into the trauma centre last year.
Apparently the plate in my lower leg was a new kind of fixation that was being trialled in patients to see what affect it has on them.
The majority of my implants are composed of titanium, however this particular one is made of surgical stainless steel.
The surgeon informed me that the screws have a threaded head and that the head screws into the plate.
Over time, titanium plates and screws have a tendency to fuse together making the removal of the plate a rather complicated affair involving saws and all sorts of practices more akin to engineering workshops than hospitals.
Good to know that when this plate comes out it will be a relatively uncomplicated affair.
As for all the other titanium bits and pieces, I just hope they come out easily.
Good to know I'm doing my bit for medical research that will aid future trauma victims.
The good doctor also suggested an arthroscopy be performed on my left knee to see what the hell is causing it to emulate a popcorn machine.
I have received medical clearance to drive a motor vehicle.
Well, a car specifically.
This enables me to operate automobile on the state's highway and byways without fear of legal complications should I be involved in an 'incident'.
It also means my taxi account is closed as of last Friday.
I would be interested in finding out what my total taxi bill is, I'd imagine all those home visits, trips to physio, doctor's appointments and work would amount to quite a substantial amount.
Now I'm trying to find a vehicle to suit my current and future needs.
I'm thinking very much along the lines of a Subaru 4wd wagon for a number of reasons.
They're a pretty robust unit, relatively easy to work on, fairly frugal on the tanker juice, have aftermarket lift kits available for extra ground clearance, they have room for my bass gear ( which doesn't fit in a sedan ) and well, I like them.
As I still intend to go bush and touring It will be useful to have the all wheel drive for those dirt roads and the lift kit should enable it to deal with some of the rougher dirt roads, of which there are plenty of in Australia, with relative aplomb.
Some might suggest that I just get a proper 4 wheel drive, but as most of my driving will be in the city I see absolutely no reason to install myself in an UAV ( I prefer to call them what they are: Urban Assault Vehicle ).
They are also higher off the ground, meaning that any time I place or remove my rather bulky and heavy bass gear in the back it will be just that little bit more difficult.
I had my first proper road rage incident on Friday.
Generally when one arrives at an uncontrolled intersection in relatively heavy traffic, one does not just park the car in the middle and thus inhibit anyone who wishes to move across the said intersection or make a turn, especially when there are ruddy huge letters in the middle of the road spelling out ''KEEP CLEAR"!
Whilst driving with Bec on Friday I came across a young female in her early 20's who had done just that.
I was unable to make the turn right and was now inhibiting traffic flow on my side the road.
Upon moving Christine a little closer to her car, in order to make a little more room on my side of the road, the female starting making a number of unfriendly and downright insulting gestures towards us.
This I must say was completely unprovoked and beckoned me to question her parentage, as well as pondering what a delightful human being she must be.
As she finally drove off I could not help myself, but to call her a part of the female reproductive system using a term not found in anatomy books anywhere in the world.
My linguistic choice may have had more in common with the mechanics I work with, but as I only had a split second to voice my objection to her bogan demeanour I used the one word that could carry the most impact.
Just think, if someone calls you a 'fucking dickhead' through their windscreen or window, all you see is their mouth moving up and down, it has no affect what so ever, but that four letter word is instantly recognisable and in those times when you only have a split second it will get the message across.
Some may object to the use of that word all together, but I find in situations like that it is more than appropriate.
I only wish I had a bull bar on the front of the car so that as she started moving I could have clipped the rear corner of her car just so, enough to tear off a bit of bumper, break an indicator and dent the quarter panel, then I could have refrained from using that word.
Caught up with my sister and Glenn the other day, they brought me a present from Scotland in the form of a couple of little bottles of Edradour.
I haven't tried it as yet, but it sounds rather salubrious.
Today Bec has moved into her newly purchased unit and sis and Glenn have moved into her old rental house.
So it's moves all round.
It was quite nice sitting on the couches that had been stored in my place, out on the nature strip, drinking cold beer whilst waiting for the moving truck to turn up.
Sure we had some strange looks form some of the residents, but hey it was just too nice a day.
I simply must have a whinge about the 'place that sells bad beer'.
On Saturday night Gino and I went there to have a few birthday drinks with a mate.
I have never seen / heard / tasted that much crap in the four years or so that I have been frequenting the joint.
Firstly, there was Dean Martin playing on the sound system, not that I have anything against the old crooner, but on a Saturday night I would expect Sly and The Family Stone or The Strokes, not some soporific version of Someone To Watch Over Me.
It's Saturday night damn it !!!!!!
Secondly, the place that sells bad beer had outdone itself this time.
It had reached a new all time low in beer quality.
The basic standard beer was flatter than a shit carter's hat and tasted like he might have been involved in the brewing process.
There was nothing for it, we had to resort to drinking fancy pants beer, which I don't particularly like due to the fact that it tastes rather ordinary compared to my favourite Cascade brews and I don't think the taste or quality is directly proportional to the higher asking price.
Thirdly, the first set on stage was some tool wigging out on his MIDI keyboard.
He'd found some swooshy sound on an Enya Album and was quite happily murdering everyone's ears with it for 3/4 of an hour.
The music itself would have been appropriate in a movie soundtrack about whales or something, but not as a live set in a rock 'n' roll pub.
All he did was slowly play a few chords over and over, and when he'd finished that song he would start another one that sounded exactly the same as the previous one!!!!
Lord give me strength!!
I've been enjoying my new flute.
Managing to make it sound more like a musical instrument than a dying goose, so I don't think it's annoying the housemates to much.
Tonight it's Eurovision time again.
As much as I would prefer to watch something else, there is simply nothing else on that is remotely worth watching.
It has reminded me of the last Eurovision, when I was 'enjoying' that bizarre event from the 'comfort' of my hospital bed.
It's not looking much better this year, although Finland has done away with the nasty B grade sci fi movie costumes and gone for an Emo approach.
I really don't get Emo, as far as I'm concerned 'Less Emo, more Elmo!'
Emo fans really have forgotten how to laugh haven't they?
Shit, if you're white, from a middle class family in a western country then you really don't have a lot to be depressed about do you?
No injustice, violence, death, nothing even close to a good reason for feeling all mopey.
I did notice there was a Moomin playing chess with Father Christmas though!!!
It's worth watching just for that.
Go Moomins!!!!
On a genuinely sad note, another one of my good mates has been hospitalised in the last few days.
Not road trauma this time though, unfortunately this one has flipped and been committed due to a drug induced psychosis.
No idea how long the hospitalisation will be, and at the moment visits are out of the question.
We'll see how that one pans out.
This person helped me a lot during my stint in hospital and I hope that there is something I can do to help.
.
