Pimp

I'm walking again, at long last. It was 16 weeks, 3 days between steps. Last thursday, my doctor removed the largest screw holding my fibula in place by connecting it to my tibia. That was the last obstacle to walking. In the hospital, i took my first step, which was toward the bathroom.

In fact, easily the biggest inconvenience has been the bathroom. I can exhibit remarkable control in a pinch, but I often wake up having to use the loo, so this whole roll-a-bout thing was quite a hassle. Of course, now I'm either crutching or caning to the john, but it's a trade-off between difficulty moving forward, or difficulty turning. And beside, as a man, there is something primal in planting both feet in front of a toilet.

I have a new cane, but I'm not quite ready for it. I was going to go pimp, but the pimp-style canes don't have the cushioning and support I wanted. I got one of those cool aluminum telescoping trekking poles from REI. It has a shock-absorber and a camera mount on top.

It hurts like hell to walk. It feels like I've been working a 12-hour day on my feet, or rather foot. Pure agony. I love it. As a lazy-ass couch-potato, I'm proud to say that I missed walking even more than I myself would have expected. The way I think of it, every bit of pain I feel today is pain I don't have to feel tomorrow. Today, though, my foot is soft and dainty, almost japanese in its pleasantness. It's almost nice enough that Nadine would touch it, but not quite.

I was awake for the surgery. It wasn't that bad, they gave me valium to chill me out. I remember it all, but it wasn't unpleasant. I've had dental surgery that was far worse. Actually, that's not true. My father is my dentist, and he's fantastic. He hooks me up with the nitrous, so every visit is like going to a good outdoor concert. And, he's fast as hell, so even the worst grinding and drilling is over quickly. I joked with him that my leg surgery was only a little longer than his average root canal, about 15 minutes.

Today, I'm in school on Percosets for the second time ever, the first being last friday. I'm not a fan of pills, I don't find Percosets all that interesting, but I do feel a little more mellow than usual. In any case, if any of you reading find out that I bludgeoned a poor schmuck for talking too much in class, please don't mention to any prosecutors that I was on drugs at the time.

New Plasma TV arrives tonight. For such a techno-geek, you would think I would have bought a nice TV before now, but the woman thankfully keeps our budget on a short leash. Nothing huge, it still has to fit inside our wood cabinet, but after spending 12 years watching the same crappy old 20"-er, I can't wait. If any of you need Hi-Def buying advice, I did a hell of a lot of research, and I'm a Consumer Reports subscriber now, too, so I can help you out.

Bonnaroo this weekend, I've never been, and I'm not going this year. Aaron and Dave left for camp. What the hell happened to my summers?