It didn’t work

My trip to the massage place failed to get my neck massaged. That’s because in spite of what Google and their web site said, they were not open for business. There are (were?) three massage places in close proximity including the one I normally go to and in spite of what their web sites said none of them were open for business.

So I still have a neck that locks up at random and hurts pretty much constantly, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.

In an attempt to distract myself from the pain I was still thinking about the steering and radiator mount for the Sprint-T. And yes because of proximity they will be a single thing for the frame the mount for the steering box will be welded to the lower mount for the radiator and also to the front bulkhead and the rest of the frame so it won’t move when the steering moves. There will be a bunch of light tubes running from the mount to the frame to triangulate everything. The frame is very narrow at the point where the radiator crosses it, but the front bulkhead provides lots of places for triangulation. One of the definite things I’m doing is tying the steering mount into the panhard bar mount to keep everything in sync and keep the tires pointed in the right direction.

And I apologize for the lack of coherence in those earlier paragraphs but I’m starting to lose it because of the pain from the neck spasms. Seriously, I can barely think straight from the pain, much less type coherent words. I really need to get that massage. As in really, really need. Not quite foaming at the mouth “in pain” like the old Mad Magazine Anacin parody ad, but in enough pain to get really short-tempered even for people who haven’t earned it.

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Busy day doing nothing

Well after all the emotions of yesterday I just vegged out today. The most effort I put out today was watching the Xfinity series on the toob this evening. It was a good race. Twitter has been occupying most of my time with #DotardDon acting the usual fool. There just isn’t much I can do right now as I’m still waiting on the donor car to be delivered and for the engine hoist of my dreams to magically appear in my garage to remove the engine and transmission from the donor vehicle.

I’m ready to do something, but there’s nothing I can do until I get some pieces of paper with pictures of dead guys on them. I know what I need to do to the engine, I’ll know what I need to build the frame once I get the engine out of the donor vehicle to measure where the mounts go, I know how I’ll get the transmission to shift once it’s in the car, I even know where the fuel tank and battery go. I’m ready and raring to go, but I have no place to go. I can’t even rev my engine because the engine is sitting across town in a rusty minivan. Actually it is sitting two towns over in a 21 YO rusty minivan, waiting for me to come get it. I really need to go there and start the engine and let it run a while to make sure it doesn’t seize up from lack of use.

I also need to write, but lack something to write about other than Twitter and the comics I have been reading. Just to go and do nothing requires buying a $5 bus pass to get there. Problem is I don’t even have the $5 right now to go do nothing (or go to the library or something). We are in that time of the month when there was more month than money. Most of the little side gigs I used to have to scare up a few bucks have dried up, and the ones I still have are not making up the difference no matter how hard I work them. The mobile game I played is gone. The other gigs are paying out pretty much the same. I can’t find regular work with all the abuse my body has been through and because when I get assessed for disability my injuries are considered separately I don’t get any money because I can still “work”. I can’t do any of the jobs they suggest because what they suggest for one problem is exactly what I can’t do anymore because of another problem, then they do the exact opposite of suggesting a job I could do with that one thing wrong that I can’t do because of the first thing.

Basically I have two handicaps compared to what I was. First is my mind is not as nimble as it used to be. I still come up with solutions to problems, but what used to be nearly instantaneous is now a prolonged process. Second is because of the scar tissue around the various things they had to put back together in my left leg there is a lot of things I physically can’t do, like getting down on the ground and getting back up quickly. Getting up from the ground is a major deal requiring room and time. But if you read this blog much you already knew that. I’m physically and mentally slow compared to what I was before the wreck. And I never was much good before the wreck except for mental work. Physically I have always been a slug.

Enough complaining, I need to get to bed and let my aches and pains take a break.

Still getting frustrated

Foot still hurts. Tires still look like something out of a cartoon. Cat still talking to ghosts. Office AC still just works on fan setting. Dent still in brick wall from beating my head against it. So, not much has changed.

One thing that has changed is Mrs. the Poet’s attitude about buying an engine hoist. After getting rental rates for 3 places around Garland that were within a dollar of each other and 2 rentals are 60% more than buying and several rental sessions needed just to move the engine out of the donor vehicle and set up for placing the mounts. Now all we need is the $108.24 before the coupon expires (hint, hint).

Watching the truck race from down the road outside Ft. Worth. Some good close racing but so far the only wrecks seem to be equipment failure, not drivers using the Braille system to find the track. I do love a good race, like the ARCA race from Pocono this afternoon.

One thing I have been doing is tracking down upgrade maintenance parts, like spark plugs and filters. Well oil filters, the air filter is already going to be an upgrade. I’m also considering changing the top half of the intake manifold just to relocate the throttle body for using ram air to make more power and fuel economy, because why not? I can use carved foam as a core and wrap fiberglass or carbon fiber around the foam to build the manifold. Probably won’t happen, but it could.

Truck race ended under yellow as there was a wreck after the white flag. One truck ended upside down with only 3 wheels just past the start-finish line. Driver unhurt, but when they turned the truck back up all the dirt and grass that the roof collected while sliding through the grass between the front stretch and pit lane at Texas Motor Speedway pelted the driver.

And I’m getting neck and shoulder problems again, to the point that I want to have a lie-down to stretch my neck out. Serious typing issues, ouch.

I got catcalled on my walk

While I was walking Monday evening a pretty girl drove beside me, rolled down her window and shouted out how sexy my body was “WHOO!” And I’m just vain enough to appreciate it. I was wearing a pair of my “just loose enough to let me walk” shorts and a shirt that wasn’t skin tight, but very much “not baggy”. I may be old and died once, but I’m not still dead. I like it when a woman someone tells me I’m sexy, even if I’m not interested in them.

The catcalls had the effect of causing my tension about the TGS2 to ease somewhat so that I’m not stressing about the build any more. I’m sure that if Mrs. the Poet had been the one doing the catcalling I wouldn’t be stressing about anything.

Anywho I did some looking up to find out how much the RWD version of the transmission in the donor vehicle weighed for a possible front engine RWD bucket and it looks like 100 pounds even. So that stuff to move the output from the end of the transmission to the other end and connect to the front wheels is either extremely heavy, or the previous reported weight for my transmission was way over reality. TBH I would be overjoyed if the 41te was in the 125-150 pound range, that would be 50-75 pounds off the rear axle. I tried to find another source for the 41te weight but all I found was another referral to the link with the 200 pound shipping weight with pallet less fluids. And the link to the 62te weight of 220 in same condition. What I really need is to have the donor vehicle in my drive with a hoist and a scale. Then I could stop looking for information on the web that might not even be there. Looking up the weight of a standard shipping pallet (bare) gives a range of 33 to 48 pounds which gives my transaxle a possible weight range of 152-167 pounds. 🙂 And the fill chart adds 65 pounds of fluids to that empty weight. 😦

So now I’m back to looking at odd tire combinations like 245/45R17 front and 315/35R17 rear Mickey Thompson Street Comps . The fronts are about right for the total weight of the car while the rears would be suited for a car much heavier than the TGS2, so I’m not giving up front grip, just going to extremes for rear grip. Welp, you gotta do what you gotta do. And I could totally drive around with those tires and just swap springs/shocks for Goodguys. They have the same diameter as the 255/60R15 Radial TA tires I was looking at for the street back when this project had a SBC in front of the firewall instead of a Chrysler V6 in front of the rear axle. So I can use the design ride height from all the way back to the beginning of this project back when it was the Sprint-T.

And my arm and neck are tingling and working wonky, so I’m putting this one to bed right now.

I rode a bike today, and the Feed

I pumped up the tires on Francis/es and took a lap around the block to see how my neck is doing. And let’s just say my neck is doing better but still not ready for prime time yet. One lap around the block is about all I can manage without a helmet on today. I’m still running into the limits of motion where I can’t contract that muscle under “Arthur, Arthur Dent” enough to quite get my head up enough to see where I’m going yet. It pretty much takes all I can do just to get up enough to see, then by the time I get ³/₄ of the way around the block it’s exhausted to the point that I can’t even hold it up enough to sit up straight… So time to dust off the welder and my fine detail cutting tools and build that stem extension.

Up first because I had to stop filtering and clear out some links and there are a bunch of links to this wreck. Cyclist Killed In Collision With Truck Driver In Ditmas Park and Cyclist dead after swerving into truck also Cyclist Dies After Box Truck Runs Him Over Near Prospect Park, NYPD Says even Cyclist killed when collides with a box truck in Brooklyn and don’t forget Cyclist killed in collision with truck The driver reported the cyclist “lost control” and rolled under the rear wheels of the truck. The only problem with that is that area is a blind spot not covered by mirrors.

Our Daily Ted, Part 1. Hemet mountain biker found dead on trail after being reported missing Sad, but it looks like natural causes or maybe heat-related.

And Part 2. Morning Links: Safer streets spread, except in Congress; aliens attack; and a non-dog hero saves a young cyclist The “non-dog” was that cat that ran off a dog attacking a kid riding a bike in the driveway of his home last year.

You would think that LEO would have more sense than this. Lawsuit claims Allentown police hit cyclist with stun gun Yeah this would be like using a stun gun on a driver of a moving car. And if they caught up to a guy riding a bike on foot he wasn’t trying very hard to get away, lending credence to the victim’s statement he didn’t know he was being pursued by LEO.

Update on the VT cyclist killed by a drunk driver. Cyclist killed on Ferrisburgh road; local woman cited for DUI

While we are in that part of the country. New Milford man charged in cyclist’s death Kill a cyclist, spend 6 months in jail and maybe get a $1k fine… TANJ!

And back in NYC for this fine example of driving prowess. Graphic Video Shows Drivers Running Over Man In Crown Heights, Driving Away The victim in this case violated NY’s door law, standing next to the car for too long but at any rate this comment seems to capture the emotions of the incident. A second part of the problem is the initial weapon vehicle has huge front blind spots, and should never have been allowed in a city in the first place.

At least this door prize winner will get some $ for his suffering. Staten Island Powerball Winner Sued For Dooring Park Slope Cyclist

More on the cyclist killed in London yesterday. Cyclist killed at Bank is London’s eighth fatality this year Eight fatalities, 7 HGV involved, and 6 women victims… Things are not so jolly in Jolly Olde.

Maybe if UK bicycle infrastructure wasn’t so universally crap when it even exists, people would stop dying? London cyclist deaths: What other cities could teach the capital Probably, but it still won’t get fixed.

Getting back to the US for more infrastructure news. San Diego Joins Vision Zero Ranks The problem with announcements like this is this is usually the last we see of anyone caring if anyone in a car lives or dies.

I wonder if this bill extends to bicycles or just stops with motor vehicles and Amish buggies? Committee clears bill to help motorcyclists stuck at red lights

Can a massive corporation change the infrastructure to suit its employee base? Google’s New Bike Plan Wants Silicon Valley to Be More Like Copenhagen

And last link, a GPS equipped bike share system let researchers track cyclists using regular bikes and e-assist bike to see if there was any difference in behavior. UT Study Could Improve Safety for Cyclists, E-Bikes Sadly, there wasn’t, both groups rolled red lights and stop signs, and went the wrong way on one-way streets.

And today was rather long because of mowing the lawn and because I had to help Mrs. the Poet get ready for her vacation. My vacation $ got spent on kicking “Chris Christie” offa my neck and leaving behind “Arthur, Arthur Dent”.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I have sorta recovered, and I don’t stink anymore, and the Feed

Yesterday’s gig to repair an adult tricycle damaged in transit was lots bigger than what I posted in the haze of exhaustion and body funk I came home with. There were 2 wheels that needed truing that I couldn’t put on the truing jig because they didn’t have axles after removing them from the back of the trike, so I had to do the best I could on the trike, there was a persistent noise from one side that would not go away no matter what I did, that I traced down to the outer bearing on the left side (I think it no longer has any lubricant in it but I can’t get to it without taking it to a shop with more tools than I have). There is also an intermittent banging from the drum brake on the drive side wheel that nothing I do will make go away for more than a block or two, but goes away on its own after a mile or so. I think that is the brake drum hitting the brake band, because I don’t see any other sign of contact in the brake. And of course there was the dented fender that had to be repaired without damaging the powdercoat because the entire trike would have to be repainted it match the color if I damaged the coating enough to require a re-paint. That meant the dent could only be mostly taken out because there was nothing I could do to shrink the metal that was stretched in the original incident. As I posted yesterday the normal way to do that is to apply heat to a dull cherry color, then hammer and dolly smooth and quench to complete the shrinking process. I was just lucky that the back of my extra-large Crescent™ wrench was the right contour and had sufficient mass to work out that dent leaving minimal wrinkles behind.

Today we are having beans and rice, which means I’m cooking dinner. I so enjoy this particular vegan entrée that I taught myself how to cook it because nobody else would make it. I don’t know why, it’s tasty, completely nutritious (you could live on it and some leafy greens indefinitely) and aside from being time-consuming to make is not hard to cook (I mean I’m making it, how hard could it be?). People who eat it and don’t have to be nice to me say they like it, so why is it that I’m the only one making it? I guess that is just one of those mysteries. I know I’m going to get lots of chances to eat beans and rice when Mrs. the Poet goes to see her relatives in Upstate NY without me this year…

Up first is a link to the Wales edition of the World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR). Naked cyclists were a shock on the street – but all in a good cause

The “Big Story” is the Oz sportscaster getting a gentle caress on the wrist for deliberately running down a cyclist during a road rage dispute. Mark Bosnich handed 12 month good behaviour bond after ‘clipping’ cyclist’s back wheel with his BMW in road rage collision also Premier League – Mark Bosnich escapes conviction for running down cyclist in his BMW I mean really, what amounts to deferred adjudication for an assault with a deadly weapon, with injury? TANJ!

A little happy infrastructure news from NYC as a 167 YO bridge is reopened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Photos: Hurrah, The High Bridge Reopens After 45 Years I’m glad it wasn’t torn down during the time it was unused, because any street space in NYC that isn’t overrun with cars is a blessing, a bridge triply so.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Completing deadly Rosemead Blvd; Times seeks video of police shooting in Gardena bike theft

And Part numero dos. Breaking news: no sentencing in Eric Billings case today; driver found with narcotic drug behind bars

And also in L.A. Driver Sought in Hit-and-Run Crash That Killed Cyclist in South L.A.

A little good bike news from the city next to WoaB. Richardson Texas Gets Recognized As A Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community The Beautiful Suburbs of Hell are not even on the list for “Nice Try”.

Down the road a day’s ride from WoaB. Teen cyclist killed after colliding with car in East Austin The road is described as “narrow” yet the cyclist was blamed for “swerving” in front of the weapon vehicle. You can’t have both, either the road is narrow and the cyclist controls the full width of the lane, or it’s more than 14 feet wide and there is (barely) room to pass with 3 feet of clearance.

Next state over a pedestrian pushing a broken bicycle is hit at the side of the road. LSU professor, struck and killed while walking her broken bicycle, described as a distinguished, beloved faculty member

And I can’t tell if this person is trying to get more people on bikes, or warn those already riding to stop. Letter: Cyclists encouraged to be safe

One of the problems (as always) is infrastructure that varies in quality from crap to lethal. Cyclists urge drivers to share the road

Another academic is killed riding a bike, this one in KS. Washburn grad: Glenda Taylor was ‘a champion of students’ and Area art, academic community, cyclists mourn fatal accident

Many questions but few answers for the survivors of an AL hit-and-run victim. Family of woman killed while riding bicycle looking for answers And Stoopid comments about why she got hit.

UK cyclists are pretty steamed about the (lack of) quality in their infrastructure. ‘Die-in’ staged for cyclist killed in Camberwell and Cyclists hold ‘die-in’ vigil for Esther Hartsilver after fatal crash in Camberwell That was a very loud, very eloquent protest with very few words used.

Not every driver in the UK is a homicidal maniac all the time. Injured cyclist thanks Good Samaritan who came to his aid in Trowbridge Most are not (homicidal maniacs) som are for a small amount of time, and a tiny minority are full-on raving batshit crazy 24/7. The one that stopped to help was in the majority that is the first category.

And someone wrote a book about bicycle couriers in today’s London. On Your Bike Life expectancy slightly better than a soldier in a war zone, with crappy pay that sometimes gets stolen by the company you work for to pay the “rent” on required equipment.

It’s a good bet that the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell will never see any of this money. 7 Cities Get $375,000 to Work on Bike-Share Equity In order to study bike share, one must have a bike share to study.

Update on a WI bike wreck. Bicyclists killed in crash were longtime Northwestern Mutual employees What got left out was they were also extremely experienced and safe cyclists, but they still got killed.

Update on a MA bike wreck, as the victim gets buried. More than 1,000 mourn Mansfield teen killed in bike crash

Last link, a FL media outlet asks if cycling over the age of 70 was worth the risks. Biking over 70: Do the rewards outweigh the risks? Well if you live outside of the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike (and also walk) maybe…

And I’m (finally) out of links. This has been a terribly long day.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Did some maintenance on the blogger, and the Feed

I went out and had my toes done this afternoon because I ruined 2 pair of socks in 3 days this week and I can’t keep doing that. One of the things that happened as a result of my wreck was a lot of nerve damage in the wrecked leg and when I try to cut my toenails the last two toes on the wrecked leg tuck under and out of reach. As a result I have to either try to con Mrs. the Poet into cutting those two toenails or pay for a pedicure. I almost always end up getting a pedicure and since they don’t reduce the fee for not doing things I get some stuff that for a guy might seem a bit strange, like putting color on my toenails. I got a lovely blue metalflake this time 😉 Then this evening I went to a chant workshop put on once a month by my church which also ate up a large chunk of time.

Up first because they attacked a secondary cause rather than the primary cause of the wreck. Distracted driver who caused deadly crash banned from using phone The driver was depositing a check via his cell phone banking app while driving between jobs, but instead of taking the vehicle away they took the phone away. Now the cyclist did not die because he got hit with a phone, he died because he got hit with a truck, that was being driven by a guy using a phone. So they are not restricting him from the deadly thing that was not properly used and killed the cyclist, but merely a contributing factor.

And continuing in the same concept, here is another convicted distracted driver. National guardsman who killed Minnesota cyclist warns others of distracted driving and Man who killed cyclist warns of distracted driving Again, distracted driving was only the trigger, the gun is the motor vehicle, which our former soldier still has unfettered access to after he completes his initial sentence.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: San Bernardino police unfairly blame victim; bike commuter dares Sepulveda Pass sans spandex The exchange with the cop sounds like he was being deliberately obtuse, ignoring statute that was permissive for the deceased cyclist and ignoring statute that was prohibitive for the killer driver.

Local (almost) to WoaB is this protest ride. DENTON TOUR DE FRACK – SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 7:00 AM, MCKENNA PARK And no, that is not a BSG reference, this ride is to protest the TX state law that just overturned the Denton TX law prohibiting fracking within city limits.

Remember those two cyclists hit in the same intersection in Portland? Crosswalk enforcement action uncovers rampant law-breaking on SE Powell Turns out they were writing tickets as fast as they could get the motorcycle cops back to the intersection after writing the tickets. Suggestion: don’t let the motorcycle cops write the tickets just stop the cars until another LEO can get there to do the ticket and then get back at the intersection to pull someone else over. Station the ticket writers about 100-200 feet down from the crosswalk and let them know by radio what violations the initial stop was for and let them take care of secondary tickets like no license or insurance. Put a sniper there with a car-stopper of a gun like the Barrett 0.50 caliber to get the ones that don’t stop immediately.

How do make change with something as entrenched in society as automobilism? My opinion: Protests, politics, and progress? Two cyclists left hooked in the same intersection in a single month and massive protests resulted in left turn signals that will be installed in less than 6 months, because those signals had already been approved and budgeted years ago but placed way down on the priority list until the two wrecks in quick succession. And the problem here is that this is the wrong way to roll out projects where it is an entire street that is the problem, not just one or two intersections that happened to roll craps.

And then you get $&(% like this. Six days after man dies crossing SE Chavez, his ghost bike memorial is mangled too (UPDATED) And a late comment seems to show it was a semi cutting the corner. Which is even worse when you think about it, because there could have been someone waiting to cross the street there instead of a Ghost Bike.

And our last link from BP, a comprehensive look at changing bad infrastructure to somewhat-less-crappy. Fixing Southeast: Three achievable proposals from a fast-rising advocate

A BOLO for a total douchebag driver in the Windy City. Police release photo of car in hit-and-run that injured bicyclist

Hey, let’s make cyclists as distracted as other road users with GPS. This High-Tech Helmet Shows Cyclists the Best Bike Route in a City Not saying this wouldn’t be useful, just that it would be a distraction, just like having GPS on your handlebars would be a distraction. Putting the information directly in your line of sight with the HUD would make it potentially more distracting, but also make it possible to read the information and redirect attention back to the outside environment much faster than the same information on a handlebar display. Still a distraction though.

While we are back to that subject here’s another distracted driver in the UK. Julie Watson killed cyclist after using phone while driving What is shocking here is the judge remanded the driver over to jail to await an inevitable prison sentence. Two years ago this would have been maybe a year in gaol or a few hundred hours of community service on weekends, this time it was go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 (Monopoly game reference).

Infrastructure news from the IL town where a woman riding USBR 36 was killed by a car driving in the bike lane. Bicycle, roadway safety in wake of cyclist death

Infrastructure news from far West Canuckistan. Editorial — Cyclists, take care Gee, one would think cyclists did not know that getting hit by/with a motor vehicle is painful and potentially deadly every time it happens. And that more times than not there was nothing the cyclist could have done to prevent it.

Final link about that Workmen’s Comp protest ride in the Great White North. Riders seeking financial justice for injured workers

Lifestyle in Wales as cyclists raise money for an injured rugby player with paralysis. Father of injured Blues player Owen Williams among those heading off on Cardiff to Paris bike ride

Another “greatest thing” battery chemistry for e-assist bikes and EV. Next Generation Battery Technology

And I’m outta links and patience, fortunately links ran out first.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Tired

Too tired to make a full post, so I’m doing a post about the dent in my neck

Let’s just say that the trip to the surgeon’s office could have gone better. I had the time wrong for the appointment and got there 4½ hours early which meant that I got back to the house with just enough time to swallow a sandwich and a glass of tea before I had to leave again to get back for my actual appointment.

The actual appointment was peachy, mostly. The pathology report was the mass massed just over a pound, and was all fat and blood vessels, i.e. NO cancer. Now the bad news. in order to keep the dent from filling with fluid and getting infected they are leaving the skin sutures sticking up out of the back of my neck in the middle of “Arthur, Arthur Dent”. I would take a picture except you couldn’t see anything in one I could take and Mrs. the Poet is like the world’s worst cell phone photographer. She has other qualities that make up for this shortcoming by a wide margin. The deal with the sutures is they are keeping the dent compressed so it doesn’t fill with fluids by going down into the muscle under the dent and up over the skin with other sutures that wrap up the muscle and everything is made from various sizes and formulas of dissolving sutures so that it will take 2-3 months for everything to come loose and let the muscle expand.

That means I will still have limited range of motion in my neck (subject to my legendary pain tolerance) for the rest of the summer but that range will slowly expand week after week. Another thing that means is I will have some level of discomfort lower than with “Chris Christie” for the next 6-8 weeks. It will still hurt (a little) to lean my head back or turn all the way to the right, but it will be because the stitches are getting pulled on as the muscle contracts. Leaning my head slightly forwards and to the left will stop all the pain instantly.

And because I know you have been waiting for a long time for links, here’s Our Daily Ted. Update: 66-year old woman killed riding her bike in Laguna Hills

And now I want to go to bed.

PSA, Opus

Still not ready to deal with the Feed, so an update on my surgery instead

I got sliced and diced yesterday, but I got so dehydrated waiting for my surgery that I got held up from leaving post-op until I was hydrated enough to pass urine which was about 2 hours and 2 liters of water and IV fluids later. As I wrote, part of the issue was I was restricted from food and fluids from midnight before the operation but did not get into the OR until between 1130 and 1145. The last thing I remember was transferring out of the gurney to the operating table and then getting woozy from the pre-op drugs. Next thing I remember is waking up in post-op from the nurse shaking me gently.

Anyway, getting back to the dehydration, I was denied fluids for 12 hours before the operation so that I wouldn’t throw up during the operation, and I was given very dry O2 during the operation that dried me out even more. After the operation I had about 1500 cc of oral fluids (water and coffee) and 500cc of IV fluids and I managed to get a trickle of urine about 2 hours later.

After I got home I had iced tea and water pretty much solid for another 4 hours, until I was passing urine normally. Then I just hung out with my Peeps.

Mrs. the Poet was able to get a good picture of “Chris Christie” after removal.
I should tell you that this doctor does not have small hands, if anything they are larger than normal.

I was told that there would be a dent left behind when Chris was evicted from my neck, but I was not expecting anything like this dent.

That is a friggin huge dent, especially when you compare the “before” shot.

And a lump that large takes a large incision to remove.

With all that the relief in pain was immediate, from about a 2 or 3 to maybe a 1 on the 0-10 scale. And that was with no post-op pain drugs. I was forced to take 1 Hydrocodone after the operation because maybe I would have some pain after the shock of the operation wore off, or the last of the anaesthesia wore off or something like that, but I haven’t needed anything for pain at all. I feel less pain now than I have in months.

The only thing I regret is I will have to miss the Ride of Silence tonight because I can’t let the incision area get sweaty.

PSA, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

OK now I’m pissed

Short post today while I’m not playing with my RPG group, which I bowed out from because I was supposed to work with the Wendy Davis campaign to GOTV, but the event was cancelled at the last minute without telling the workers. I don’t know why.

Something that is really chapping my butt is my daughter took out student loans that my father cosigned because my credit rating did not exist as I have been on the cash-only economy for almost 20 years now. Now that the people that took over Sallie Mae finally noticed that my dad is dead (we sent a death certificate right after dad died but that was to Sallie Mae…) they want their money NOW. Now as in they are filing collection actions against ME, who didn’t take out the loans or cosign any of them. But they are demanding that I pay the loans in full in 30 days any way…

And tonight is Death High Court held by the Arms of Verity at my church, a kind of Day of the Dead celebration, using one of the 6 archetypes revered by Verity. Those archetypes are Builder, Nurturer, Healer, Trickster, Death, and Destroyer. I’m still trying to decide if I’m going tonight, but my neck is telling me it isn’t very likely.

Speaking of my neck, I think it’s a good time to go ahead and end this post, because my neck is killing me…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet