A bit of catching up

[fenchurch]

Whoa... I just realized I haven't updated for over a week!

Let's see... last week I got a chance to go in and do some usability testing for Microsoft. I've done this sort of thing before (I got called in to do a study with the Xbox 360 last year, before it came out... sadly, it wasn't to play any games, but to try setting up a unit based on the hieroglyphics they were using in their instructions), but it's always a slightly disconcerting experience. Imagine you're a trained monkey, sitting in a fishbowl with an unknown and possibly changing group of people that you can't see peering in at you and a camera recording your every move while a voice from on high tells you what to do. Yeah, it makes for an interesting afternoon.

On the plus side, they give out cool gratuities for the input. This time I picked up a Microsoft cordless mouse with a fingerprint reader! Really a rather clever design, since you've got to have a base for the wireless mouse anyway... may was well do something with it. And now I don't have to type my username and password every time I want to play Asheron's Call. Yay! *is a geek*

We went grocery shopping last Saturday and rackham realized that the orange juice we'd grabbed didn't expire until after we got back from England!!! In fact, we leave two weeks from tomorrow!! Squee!!!!

Last night I dreamt that we'd arrived in London and had checked into our hotel, only Rackham was exhausted after not sleeping on the airplane and wanted to lay down for a bit, then had fallen asleep. I got increasingly frustrated with the whole situation, because here I was in London and all I'd really seen was the hotel room... so I decided to put our stuff away, write Rackham a note to tell him where I'd gone, and head out to see if I could find anything interesting nearby. Then I went into the bathroom and turned on the light, which is when I realized it was an American style switch and therefore I must be dreaming (odd that my subconscious didn't just fill in the blanks with an Australian style switch, though). You know, I actually woke up feeling really relieved.

And, finally, a bit of an update on physical therapy and accident recovery -- it's been a pretty long time since I last posted anything about it. I've been at a bit of a plateau for the last few months... it's been really bugging me and puzzling my PT (the worst is the shoulder I didn't break, which still does a *catch*pop* every time I lift my arm). Well, a few weeks ago she was doing an evaluation update and was checking along my clavicle when she noticed that any sort of pressure on the edge of the left clavicle at the base of my throat made me nearly jump out of my skin. Oddly, I'd had no clue it even hurt until then (but, really, how often do people go poking at random areas around their throats).

She started quizzing me about what I'd had checked when I'd gone to see the Orthopedic Surgeon and whether I'd had the clavicle or my ribs x-rayed at any point... then scheduled me for a dual consultation with her boss to double-check her suspicions. Flash forward a week, and we discover that she was right... I had a dislocated rib. And it has most likely been dislocated since the car accident, it's just that everything else hurt so much I never noticed (broken shoulder pain is seriously all encompassing... I believe I've mentioned the shard of glass sticking out of my foot that I couldn't feel at all), and by the time it would have become noticeable, I'd gotten used to it.

My PT's boss really worked me over (this is why my PT had delayed trying to treat it until she had her boss around... the boss is trained in some techniques very specific to this sort of problem). The difference has been unbelievable... for both shoulders, which makes a lot of sense, since essentially the framework that the shoulders rest on had been warped and was not supporting them properly. The *catch*pop* in my left shoulder is still there, but not nearly as pronounced... and I've got a lot more strength now in my right shoulder than I did just a week ago. We're hoping that the problems with the left shoulder will start to fade away now that it's no longer being torqued out of shape.

This couldn't have come at a better time... I'd been getting more than a little depressed about the lack of progress, and it'll certainly help a lot for the nine hour flight to London!

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Notning better than finally starting to feel better. Here's hoping that it's good and swift progress from now on.