Here's a few photos (untouched!) from our trip to Portland and it's environs over Turkey Weekend. Great sights, crazy shopping, some marvellous photos, and–as always–brilliant company.
![[bones of the hand]](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/bonesofwrist&hand.jpg)
It's not what you're thinking (well, I suppose that depends on what you are thinking).
In the first game of the soccer season with my new (all English) team, I bounced off a couple of tackles from over-rambunctious 21 year olds, and fell on my right hand—which went *pop*. Loud enough for the ref to hear, and a few of their younger players to come over excitedly and want to see it.
Dislocated finger said the physical therapist on our team. Maybe a fracture, see if it swells. Didn't continue the game as we were up 4-1, and I was feeling a little woosy. But no major pain, so went for beer after the game, and then went out that Saturday night. and drank a lot more with The Wife and others. Besides a few occasions where she grabbed my hand, it was easy to keep out of harms way.
Wife left for 4 weeks that Sunday (we see each other next in Portland for Thanksgiving), and Monday morning I decided to see my doctor as there was clicking in the knuckle, and some swelling. He sends me to hand specialist (whos first request is to ask you to fill out 4 pages of insurance paperwork?!), One x-ray later — broken hand. Middle finger meta-carpal (#11 in the image) went snap, clean and diagonal.
Still no pain, unless you count what a pain-in-the-arse having a splint on your right hand is. It is a half circle cast from pinkie finger almost to the elbow, and the three fingers on my right hand, as well as the rest of the forearm are bandaged into it. You should have seen my signature on the payment at the doctors. Amazingly, this is really my first major broken bone (minor fractures during my martial arts days, and all my major sports injuries are joint related - knees, spine, ankles). So this whole splint thing is new to me. All I can say is that my gorgeous wife, being away for the next 4 weeks, is getting off easy. I better get sympathy credit.
Heres the daily frustration list: Things that are more difficult to do now:
Things that are damn near impossible to do now:
If, as a man, you think there is a notable exclusion from the list (especially considering my wifes absence), it's because I was willing to persevere with that task, no matter what it took.
We find out this week whether they will want to pin it. Surgery seems to be a 50-50 proposition these days, so I'd rather have none (never been under a general before either), but then again, its not a finger you want healing crooked and not 100%.
The Aussies gained revenge for 2002 in Sydney today when we vanquished Uruguay in the second leg of our World Cup Qualifier to book our place at the worlds greatest sporting event (ok, after the Olympics) in Germany 2006. It took a penalty shootout, and some saves by Schwarzer to get us there in a nailbiter.
This is only our second appearance in the finals, first was 1974, which I believe was also in Germany. Ohhhhh.... it's good to get that monkey off our back (next World Cup, we will be in the Asia qualification group, which does not require multiple qualification rounds as Oceana does).!
![[Fall Leaves]](http://www.horizoncardsandprints.com/Image%20Gallery/Plant%20Gallery/Fall-Leaves.jpg)
Thursday brought us a classic Autumn morning. Rain-soaked cobblestones outside the apartment, and thick, languid clouds of deep rolling grey filling the sky with wet promise. Lynnhaven Parkway even lived up to the "park" moniker, as small gusts of wind blew streams of red, orange and ochre leaves across the street like fluttering confetti.
Love it. Too bad I had to work.
Wednesday night saw a small crowd of us at a Scotty Quixx "belly-dancing" theme night. Lounge/bar is done up in middle-eastern linens, cushions, and hookahs, and belly-dancers and costumed people parade their skills. I have to say that it was actually a lot better than I had imagined, with the dancers being talented and personable, and many people from the crowd getting into it. Music was also great, with a middle-eastern theme but a slightly more electronic-style remix, which the dancers knew very well, as illustrated by their perfectly timed hips and thumb-cymbals.
My favourite quote of the night goes to The Brad, while I was talking to him about his shiny new digital camera:
Me (shouting over the music): "How long does the flash go?"
Brad (shouting back): "A few seconds"
Me: "No. I mean in feet."
Brad : "Yeah. I love that they are wearing no shoes."
![[fLETCHER celebrates]](http://msn.foxsports.com/id/5060992_7_1.jpg)
To think, I almost didn't watch it.
I agonized over whether to dump another $20 into Fox's burgeoning coffers in order to watch Manchester take on the reigning premiers Chelsea. A recent form slump with 2 embarassing losses didn't fill with hope, and Chelsea have the best record at Old Trafford of any team in the Premiership. I reasoned though that this is what supporting is all about (supporting Manchester that is, not Fox). And let's face it, after my drinks out Saturday night and my 8am kick-off at Princess Anne with a 9 man-team Sunday morning, me and the couch had some inevitable time together scheduled. I must have stared at the Purchase Now screen for about 3 minutes before buying.
Unlike the fortress of years gone by, Old Trafford has yet to produce a win for us this season -- but all that changed Sunday. The lads acquitted themselves with sheer dedication and a deafening level of support form the 67,000 at the ground (as well as some couch-leaping screams from my place). A delicate Fletcher header as well as a point-blank Van der Saar save to deny Lampard brought home the bacon, and gave the Blues not only their first defeat in about a year, but also their first goalless game this season. That was the Man U of old. After questioning him in my last post (it's been 2 weeks? yowza!), I must give full props to Alan Smith for a bulldog performance that keep the much-vaunted Chelsea midfield out of the game. This game reminded me of our 4-1 win against Arsenal last year which turned our season around and broke their wining streak, and their spirit. This one felt like a Cup Final, including a heart-pounding 4 minutes of injury time. Whew!
With GW home for one night, and having troubles finding agreement on the Sunday night TV schedule, we began to wonder when BSG was gonna make its return, since that is a show we truly both enjoy together. TV slops then when we discovered that the series doesn't restart till January. WTF?
![[Family Guy PTV]](http://z.about.com/d/animatedtv/1/0/q/R/fGuyPTV_v2_125.jpg)
TV props though to Family Guy for the best opening titles I have seen in a long time in their "PTV" episode. Police Squad meets pop-culture, and a hilarious episode to boot.
Last weekend was a trip to Teaneck NJ for a wedding - as expected we had a blast. A funny Amercian Football related story of that weekend to come, and a few photos to boot. Sorry about the recent hiatus!
(c) 2006.
