Moto Photos

Moto Accident 10.10

I am recovering nicely from the surgery it seems. Attached are the photos (before and after surgery). So far, I’m completely pain med free today. *knock on wood*

I’m real happy with the work. The scar is already smaller than the previous one. This doctor did such a superb job. I’m amazed at the difference in how the incision looks, even at this early stage.

I’m scheduled to go back to work on a modified duty [1]4 hour shifts next week. Barring any complications, the following week I go back to full duty.

Sadly, I got word today my bike is gonna be totaled. I knew it was the most likely outcome but I’m bummed. My blue beast was so lovely. I miss him. *sniffle* I’ll get another one but there is gonna be a delay until the insurance company decides fault. *sigh*

References

References
↑1 4 hour shifts

Recovery

The surgery to repair my left collarbone was an overall success. The surgery took an hour and half longer than originally expected though. Apparently, more of the bone was damaged and splintered than they originally believed. This took quite a bit more time. Today is the first day since the accident the pain was at levels I would consider manageable. I’m down to 1 pain pill every 3-4 hours and only 1 in the middle of the night. I fully expect to be off pain meds completely in a couple more days.  *knock on wood* I seem to heal quickly. I’ll post some before and after pics after my next check up with the doctor. I’m gonna try to get digital copies of the x-rays to share. This break was much more severe than the last one and would not have been able to heal w/o surgery. Ironically, I was going slower than the last accident and ended up with a more sever break…

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In other news, I think I mentioned I was interviewed by the local paper regarding Prop B. [1]It would have doubled my health-care contributions and most likely forced me into the Kaiser network. I’m happy to say the initiative failed, by a wide margin. I was pretty worried as I would have been faced with some difficult choices had it passed.

I didn’t really want to do the article as I didn’t really see myself as the best choice. Even though my classification as a job is severely underpaid in SF, I make a decent living. I’m also lucky to have protections as my job is considered a vital service. But, the Union asked me to do it so I agreed. They wanted someone other than the poorest city employee to show how the initiative would impact all city employees, not just the poorest ones. Everyone I spoke to liked the piece even though I felt it only touched on a lot of what we discussed.

All that said, the online comments for the article were about 90% negative, with some being pretty awful. I’m not upset or even offended as I know people are hurting with many folks still out of work. It was the primary reason I didn’t want to do the article. On the other side of the coin, I was really shocked at some of the real hatred expressed. Many thought I was acting entitled because I thought I should be able to afford to live in the city I work in. Many (by many I’d say most) thought I was being greedy because my gross salary is just over $70k a year.  That sounds wonderful until you look at my take home pay. I actually bring home just under $46k a year. [2]To be fair, I donate about 6% of my total annual income to charity, pre-tax  In a City as expensive and highly taxed as SF, that doesn’t go far at all.  Apple guy and I have even discussed moving out of California once the t-shirt business becomes more successful.

Anyway, with all  the negative feedback, I was really surprised the proposition failed. Not to mention, the accident happened the day after the interview. [3]I interviewed on the 25th, the accident occurred on the 26th, the article published on the 28th You can imagine my apprehension while I was laid up at home wondering if I was going to be able to cover December’s rent.

Anyway, the pain-killer is kicking in and I’m having a hard time seeing the purdy letters on my screen.  More later…

References

References
↑1 It would have doubled my health-care contributions and most likely forced me into the Kaiser network.
↑2 To be fair, I donate about 6% of my total annual income to charity, pre-tax
↑3 I interviewed on the 25th, the accident occurred on the 26th, the article published on the 28th

Surgery

I’m scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Thursday the 4th) morning. As mentioned, my left clavicle was broken in the accident and will need a metal plate to facilitate the healing process. I could just let it heal up but that would mean giving up working out. Lawd knows that ain’t gonna happen! lol

My buddy Christopher is giving Apple guy and I a ride the surgical center. Its outpatient surgery and I expect to be home and in the arms of some serious painkillers by early afternoon. I’m anxious for it to be over. While I’ve been more mobile these last couple days, I hate feeling like an invalid.

Wish me luck!

Smash

In case you missed it, I got into a motorcycle accident this week, 6 blocks from home I might add. The picture is a fuzzy version of my left [1]Ironically, the last accident I broke the right one shoulder wound. Pretty bruises huh? 

I was headed to work on my bike. I’m cruising along when the guy in front of me signals he is going to turn left. No biggie, I’m on his right side and continue on my merry way. Well, that is until he suddenly veers to the right and directly in my path. I attempted to swerve around him but it was too late. He made contact w/some part of my bike knocking my back tire around at an odd angle. Still moving ,I try to recover but quickly see that’s not going to happen. As luck would have it, not only did I go down but I slid up under a parked mini-van. Unlike the last accident, there was no momentarily black out or forgotten consciousness. I, in true Southern fashion, jumped up swearing like a sailor. The guy immediately denied he had his blinkers on. This doesn’t explain why he was turning, either direction, nor does it explain why he felt the need to run over and turn on his hazard lights before the police arrived.

Anyway, as soon as I stood up I knew my collarbone was broken. It had that all too familiar ‘bump’ to it that I had the last time. A quick self-check and I can’t find any other serious injuries. I called Apple guy [2]repeatedly, as shitty AT&T kept dropping my calls to him.  I then called work to have them send help. Naturally, several people I work with showed up and added to my embarrassment. I knew several of the officers as well as two of the medics. Color me embarrassed but glad of their assistance. Apple guy met me at the hospital and sat with me thru the x-rays. Lord only knows what I was saying but apparently, one nurse bumped me and I said “some things” to her. I was high on drugs and things are a little fuzzy.

I saw the specialist today. I have a broken left clavicle, a displaced shoulder joint, and a torn rotator cuff. I’m scheduled for surgery this next Thursday. They’ll put a plate on the left collarbone just like the right one and do some minor stitching on my rotator cuff. I’m eagerly awaiting the surgery as this sitting around w/a broken bone shifting under the skin every time I move is for the fucking birds! Don’t even get me started on the havoc it has caused w/our sleeping arrangement. Ugh!

I don’t know the status of my bike yet. My poor blue beast didn’t look so hot wedged under the mini-van but I am hoping for the best. I really love that bike and I’d hate to lose it. Yes, I’m more upset over the bike being damaged than I am my own injuries. On top of it all, I had literally just switched insurance companies. I can only imagine how happy they are with me right now. Oh well, wasn’t like I planned it or anything. If you’ve ever had a broken bone, you know its not something you look forward to.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and support. I’m just sitting at home until Thursday driving poor Apple guy nuts. Gifts, cash, and random visits bearing free food are appreciated. lolol  Just kidding of course.  I’m on the mend and thanks to modern pharmacology, I’m getting by w/o too much pain. I’ll update w/more details on my bike as I get’em.

References

References
↑1 Ironically, the last accident I broke the right one
↑2 repeatedly, as shitty AT&T kept dropping my calls to him.

Free Shipping

Thanks to everyone who purchased a shirt (or 2) from Apple guy’s new website.

You’ll be happy to know he added about 15 new designs this week. The new ones aren’t quite as adult oriented so you can wear’em anywhere. heehee

Speaking of, Apple guy decided to offer everyone who reads my blog free shipping! Just add the coupon code “sfmobius” when you add your payment info on the site and you’ll get a discount for free shipping!

Props

I rarely weigh in on political shenanigans here in SF but sometimes certain issues really need a proper beating.  The most frightening and potentially catastrophic is proposition B.

Prop B will force city employees to start paying their own retirement and insurance costs in full. Costs for themselves as well as all of their dependents. Forgetting for a moment local unions have already negotiated with the city to restructure retirement payments, it totally misleads people into believing the proposed changes will solve the cities financial problems. Even worse, it bars the city from raising base salaries in any way to compensate for the sudden and significant burden it dumps on the worker’s backs. Oh but it gets better, the person who wrote it works for the city as an attorney. Naturally, he exempted himself and his cronies from the cuts. So he expects us line workers to give up our hard earned benefits while he keeps his. Oh yeah, that sounds really fair.

As a civil service worker, I’m extremely afraid of this initiative passing. If it passes, I will lose roughly $450 a month out of my take home pay. I already give up between 30/40% of my gross salary for taxes/benefits. And I only have one dependent. Imagine what it does to someone who has 2 or 3 kids? Not to mention I’ve already given up almost 15% in cost-of- living increases for the last 3 years and any cost-of-living increases for the next 2 years.

If this initiative passes, I’ll be forced to choose between having insurance for myself and my partner or move out of the City into a cheaper smaller apartment just to make ends meet. I’m lucky in that I make a decent salary for what I do. I shutter at the thought of how all the folks who make much less than I do will be impacted by this initiative.

I’ll be the first to admit the city has fiscal problems. This initiative is being sold to the public as an attempt to fix those problems. The reality is its nothing but a political ploy for power and clout. Besides part of it being possibly illegal, it also would cost the City $100 million in federal funding if it passes. This tiny little detail alone negates any positive impact of the ordinance. Not to mention, the fuzzy math used to sell it is deceiving.

I support budget cuts and initiatives that make sense. But blanket cutting hard-working employees benefits to gain political clout is shameful and extremely damaging for SF. Even worse, this proposition pits the unemployed and non-unionized employees against unionized city employees. It does nothing to solve the real problems we all face. I can only hope that people realize the truth of what this proposition means before its too late.

T-shirts

As many of you know, Apple guy has been working on launching his own t-shirt/jock (strap) business. Folsom was the official launch.  And after a plethora of bugs and hiccups with ISP/domain transfers, the website for the t-shirts finally went live today! (The jock strap site is coming soon!)

http://www.monkeywrenchtshirts.com

Now keep in mind these are just a few of the designs that will eventually be available. [1]He has almost a 100 already.  He plans to roll out the rest as time goes by. Some of the shirts are edgy, some are funny, and some are a little of both.  Either way, feel free to pick one (or more) up now while they are still on sale. Once the sale is over, its full price for everyone. 

And if that doesn’t convince you, look at it this way, every shirt you buy goes to the “feed the Moby and Shane” fund. lolol  Ok, all joking aside, he has put a lot of work into it [2]I’m so proud of him! and you’d be doing me a solid if you picked one up. Or at the very least, pass on news about the site.

*TV Announcer voice*  But wait! There’s more! As an extra special tease, I have a secret (and somewhat dirty) surprise for the person who buys the most shirts while they’re still on sale.

Whaddya waiting for? Go check’em out already!

References

References
↑1 He has almost a 100 already.
↑2 I’m so proud of him!

Year 1

Apple guy and I reached our first anniversary this week. Wow! Where does the time go!?  It seems like just yesterday I was wooing him home with me, curling up together and falling asleep for the first time. [1]Yes, there are other memories but those are just for me! :p

The irony is when we met, I was content being single. I still wanted a partner but wanting one and needing one are two very different things. I’d reached a point where I’d outgrown the notion that I needed a partner to be complete. Lucky for me, he was in the same place mentally. I can’t help but wonder if that made our connection all the better. Anyway, I fell for him hard and I love that fucker something fierce! We are alike in many ways and different in so many others.

That’s not to say we haven’t had our problems. We both realized beforehand we were moving in together a bit soon. We were ok with the decision but I think it did lead to some of the friction between us. We had a pretty bad patch a few months back. I’m very happy to report, we got past it and worked things out.

So here we are our first year in and I’m still very much in love. I know I’m in love because (Ok here comes the mushy part) every time we crawl into bed together and I wrap my arms around him, all is right with the world. I find myself staying in bed every morning as late as I can just to enjoy the moment. So here we are our first year in and I’m looking forward to the next, and the next, and the next.

References

References
↑1 Yes, there are other memories but those are just for me! :p

FB Fail

If you’ve tried to log-in to my blog via Facebook recently you’ve probably noticed it ain’t working. Apparently, they changed the api for that shit and I don’t have the time or patience to go back and figure it all out again.

All of the other log-ins work though. Amazing how simple of the others were to setup but Facebook’s is a nightmare of BS. Why am I not suprised?