Ouch

During the 2K swim of my triathlon on Sunday morning my neck started to sting. This was because my wet-suit wasn't sitting just right against my neck. I had applied BodyGlide to prevent this sort of friction burn, but it seems I missed a spot. There was nothing I could do other than keep going.

This afternoon I finally decided I had to see how bad it was, and took a snapshot of the back of my neck. Not too bad, but I'll have to make sure I don't pick at it. I'll be going for another open water swim on Saturday morning.

I'm starting to get a bit nervous about my next race, a full Half Ironman event in just over two week's time. Not sure if I'm properly ready for it yet!

Listening to: Poor Boy by Split Enz from True Colours.

The Day Before I...

The day before I started classes my first year at the University of Waterloo (back in, um, 1979) I was at a social event for my department playing "flying disc" football. As I reached for a low-flying Frisbee someone stepped on my outstretched hand. And broke the middle finger and thumb of my writing hand.

I looked down at my hand and thought "ouch! I have a dislocated finger. I can fix that." So I applied my lifeguard training to 'relocate' the finger. I gently tugged the finger tip, which was at pretty much a 90 degree angle to the rest of the finger, outward. Then I slowly straightened it and just as slowly relaxed the tension I was applying. By that evening though I had to admit that the finger was awfully swollen and tender, and so was my thumb.

Someone drove me to the hospital where an X-ray confirmed that I had broken the base of my thumb and my middle finger above and below the last joint. However I had done an excellent job of setting the finger fracture myself! Only a metal splint was required. So why does the photo indicate that my fractured finger was not well set? Two nights later I assisted my student residence companions in stealing all the mattresses from the adjacent women's residence.

My injury happened twenty years ago, but it still serves as a good conversation piece...

Listening to: I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones from Road to Ruin.

The Cat's Away...

Sheryl's job with the Lord of the Rings producers is winding down as they prepare to return to London and plan the West End production. In fact they are both back in England for the week right now. The pool has been cleaned and 'opened' though and the weather has been so nice that, well...

We've kind of moved in during their absence.

With their permission of course! Actually we've just been preparing our dinner in their kitchen and enjoying it on their patio. But tonight and tomorrow night Sheryl's going to have a few friends over to enjoy it with us. Ahh, the good life.

Postscript: Sunday night was the close of the Sprockets Children's Film Festival, so all the staff and volunteers gathered at the hip Drake Hotel to drink ourselves under the table. We had the roof-top patio set aside for us and fortunately I'd had several "Sprocket Rockets" (think raspberry-flavoured vodka) before I managed to get my middle finger caught in a closing bathroom door. I don't think I'm going to lose the nail...

One final bit of Sprockets news. Last Friday I was Volunteer Captain for the the screening of Emmanuel's Gift at Theatre D. Emmanuel's Gift is a documentary about a young Ghanaian man born with a deformed leg. He received a bicycle and crossed Ghana with it, raising the profile of disabled people there. A lot of wonderful things flowed from that, including this Oprah Winfrey-narrated film. Emmanuel, now an adult and family man, was in Toronto for the screening and he made an amazing connection with the children in the audience.

Listening to: Make It Mine by The Shamen from En-Tact.