(note: where I say today, I’m mostly talking about sunday, as I started writing this at about 5am monday morning, thinking still as if “today” were sunday. It’s a total brain dump/rant, but there’s a lot of good tidbits, anyway).

I can’t sleep. Maybe if I write everything down that’s on my mind, I can get some peace and rest.

The lawyer situation: I’ve made the initial contact with someone who is supposed to be good, but may or may not know anything about bikes/bike law. I sent along the police report, descriptions of my injuries and the photo of the bike I put on twitter. So, on that, I’m waiting.

Injuries: everything was better today, except for right after I woke up; moving around a little worked out the little bit of stiffness that I had, and the only thing that’s bothered me all day has been my ankle, and that only in the last couple hours. For some reason, bad days seem to follow the good ones, and I’m more than a little afraid of waking up in agony. Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep. No pain pills today though, that’s something.

On the subject of pain pills, I’m somewhat divided, because on the one hand, they allow me to function on the bad days, at the worst moments, I can still get out of bed and move about the house, but I’m always a little hazy on those days, and it’s nice to be clear. Would I just be in bed, suffering? Does pain by itself slow healing? When will I stop feeling like I’ve been hit by a car at 35mph?

Questions for the doctor (appointment on the second): How long will it take me to recover? How much of a recovery can I expect to make? Am I permanently damaged? When can I get rid of the shell? Where is the break exactly? Can I see my X-rays? How much PT (physical therapy) will I need?

Questions for the lawyer: How hard is this going to be? Is all of my stuff (bike, camera) covered? How much PT will I be able to afford? What about lost work time/income?

I’ve got lists of things that I need and/or want; things that are missing, notably my passport and notebook and flask; lists that I don’t know if I’ll ever tick off all the items or not. How is it that despite being an invalid unable to drive or walk I have so much to accomplish? And the number of little side things on my mind, besides. For example: I have to get my car registered and licensed this week, and I’m thinking about either getting an iphone or fixing the netbook, but I don’t really know which to do, and I can’t do anything at all about these things till friday, which is when I get my last paycheck from OSU. The paycheck is a surprise, though. I’m glad for it, and that I’ll be able to fix/do stuff once I get it.

Then there’s all the nice stuff people have done for me, from loaning books to bringing me beer to just coming over and hanging out and talking. I have a stack of comic books that I’ve read thanks to Cyrus and a bunch of DVDs that I’ve half watched on the nod, thanks to Adam M. I had the best cup of coffee I’ve ever tasted while I was still in the hospital thanks to Francois. I’ve got beer and good literature thanks to Stuart. I’m just now digging into the lit. Ken got me a freakin’ camera, even if it is just on loan for a while. That’s why there’s still a trickle of pictures up here. I haven’t forgotten any of you, and I’m trying to think of something nice to do, in gratitude, once I’m back on my feet.

That’s about it. I think I’ve gone from the surface to the deep parts of what’s on my mind. If I wrote any more, I’d be telling my life story, as all the other thoughts I have are just snippets of anecdotes from disconnected stories.

Posted by Matt on 2009-05-25T00:00:00Z GMT