Laurel's leg - the details

So the tendon that was ruptured was the plantaris tendon. According to my anatomy book the plantaris is "generally a small feeble muscle.... [which] may be absent." The tendon of this muscle attaches to the Achilles tendon and assists in knee flexion and plantar flexion. It doesn't do anything on its own, which is why I was able to move my foot right after it happened. I'm much happier to lose use of an "optional" muscle than one I actually depend on for movement, that's for sure. The pain has subsided greatly, and I haven't had to hit the Vicodin yet. All in all this turned out way better than it could have, because if it had been the Achilles tendon it would have had to be surgically reattached. The follow-up visit to the doctor is Tuesday afternoon.

A sort of bad day with no real longterm consequences, I guess

Everything was just FINE today until around lunchtime, when Laurel and I went to play racquetball. I was winning, sure, but Laurel was really starting to pour it on and, much like the women I knew in high school, was making it difficult for me to score.

But then:

Laurel goes for the ball and hears a "pop" from her leg. Turned out it was a ruptured tendon. Could have been a lot worse, but for a while, she thought it was just a cramp. So it took us about 20 minutes to decide to head to the emergency room for a look.

During those 20 minutes, the pain got so bad that Laurel passed out in the lobby of the Pro Club. Unable to bring her around, I had the staff call 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, she was better, so they let us drive to the emergency room in my car, as planned.

The wait was a little long, but a couple of hours later, we were on our way with a new pink cast (I'll upload a picture tomorrow), crutches, and a bottle of Vicadin.

Day over? No!

So we get home and check our messages. Two messages from the marina telling us that our boat is basically sinking. So ... I need to get in the car and head over there.

On the way, a cop pulls me over. Fortunately, just for a tail light, and I wasn't speeding, had my seatbelt on, and had all the proper documents. No ticket.

I get to the marina and realize I don't have the key to the dock, but they let me in with no trouble.

The boat turned out fine, one battery dead (probably just from lack of use in the cold) and the bilge pump easily took care of the extra ballast that was "sinking" the boat (it was just collected rain).

So, all in all, an interesting day. But the boat is fine, I'll get the tail light fixed, and Laurel will be up and walking within 5 days or less.

Dave has Oscar 2005 fever!!!

I was going to make a big joke and say, "Here are the Oscar-nominated movies that I actually saw this year: None." But as it turns out, that just isn't true! I've actually been to the movies this year, although not always by choice. Here are the films that I saw that intersect with those that got Oscar "nods" (and in fact, this may be a complete list of movies I've seen this year in the theater):

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Best Actress, Best Screenplay)
• The Incredibles (Screenplay, Animation, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing)
• The Passion of the Christ (Cinematography, Makeup, Score)
• Super Size Me (Documentary Feature)
• Spider-Man 2 (Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects)

I'm getting famous!

I've been "Scoblized" and called "Some clever people" as well as given props in French!

Seems folks like geo-moblogging.

MapQuake now does my photos

More like PixQuake ... check this out:

My new location-enabled mobile phone blog

What's this? Basically, I take a picture with my camera phone, and since the phone knows where it is (sort of -- it is actually only able to find the closest cell phone tower), I send all that information up to Flickr. The result is photos on a map! Something I've always wanted. And now I have it. So there.

(And no, I don't know why the bottom part of the pictures is getting cut off ... some buffer underrun somewhere. Always something to debug ...)

Think ink!

M&M&NPR

Were we in a sleep-induced haze, or did we actually hear the new Eminem album reviewed on NPR this morning? If it was real, they didn't like it much -- but not because it was rap, or because it was Eminem, but rather because Eminem wasn't stretching himself into new territory on this record! In other words, the reviewer was an Eminem FAN of sorts before this album came out ... and I thought those NPR guys just listened to jazz, classical, and hippie protest chants.

MapQuake

Click here for MapQuake

MapQuake is a little web app I wrote that returns a map showing any magnitude > 5.0 earthquakes anywhere in the world that happened today (on the day that you click it!). It is based on information published by the US Geological Survey.

Interestingly, while I was debugging this app, I noticed the map change -- a minor earthquake had hit near Iran.

Myself!Fitness

I started working out with my trainer Melanie again today. We're going to do strength training on Saturdays, and I'm promising to be good and do some cardio during the week. At any rate, she asked about the video game I had mentioned before, called Yourself!Fitness. I realized that I had forgotten to add a link, so here it is. And don't worry, Melanie, you're a much better trainer!

Yahoo! The dead will rise

Saw this interesting headline on Yahoo! News today (in purple):



Now that would be news!
Not making light of the situation, of course, just of the headline ...

More flying Daves data

Laurel points out that I forgot to mention the type of plane we were in ... that's because I didn't know. A quick call to the other Dave confirms it was a 1998 Cessna 172S. I knew that it had four seats, but I sure wouldn't want to be in the back two!

Flying Daves: The photos!

Got some OK photos from the flight; I posted more of them than I normally would if I were editing for "art" of course ;-) ... photos here, and slideshow here.

The Flying Daves

Pilot Dave Hale (of Internet Bell-Bottoms fame) took me on a short flight today! We took N174GF off from Seattle's Boeing Field, went to Bellingham (north of Seattle), did a "touch and go" landing, and came back. The flight was perfect and smooth ... I got a bunch of pictures, which I am working on converting and posting as I type ... I'll post a link ASAP! Round-trip cost: A little less than $200. Sitting at 3000 feet with another man in a cabin smaller than a loveseat: Priceless.

The continuing legacy of Dave and Laurel

Remember when we left a legacy tile at Epcot? Well, we finally found out the location, for all of you Dave's Stuff blog fans traveling to DisneyWorld: West 6-C-21-4-9 ... Westside rulez!

She walked all over me

I got my back walked on today by Jeni Spring at Edmonds Message Center. It was great ... unlike a regular massage, you get more depth and more "traction" ... it's hard to describe, but try it, you'll like it (and tell her I sent you so I get some $$$ off next time ).