Thunder of Wade

As I got in my car today after work, I fired up the Great Clips app and used their online check-in option. Once checked in, I started my car and headed out to get my haircut.

I pulled into the parking lot and went in and up to the counter. The man in front of me was told their would be a wait – which was odd since there was only one person in the waiting area. He couldn’t wait and left – and I stepped up to the counter and checked in formally. I sat down and in a few moments – not even enough time to fold a crane – I was called up.

Ahead of the woman that had been waiting when I walked in. I realized that I was the “wait” that drove the man away.

By checking in online, I had jumped the physical line. Which is the whole point of the app – I suppose. That, and gathering some degree of data about me and my habits and travel for some wacky marketing scheme.

I got my haircut, paid, and was on my way in short order.

My next stop was Chipotle. I hadn’t ordered ahead and stood in line for nearly 1/2 an hour. When I got up to the front, I had to wait further as they made a burrito for someone that had called in their order ahead of time. Those folks jumped the line ahead of me and I had to wait – on people that weren’t there yet and who hadn’t stood in line.

The app for Great Clips seemed like a…well, great… idea. Check-in, head out, no line when I arrive, haircut and gone.

It seemed less of a great idea when the reverse happened and I was stuck in line for what turned out to be a not-great burrito.

The problem in both of these cases is that there are two ways to approach the same resource: the pre-order and the stand in line. If everyone pre-ordered, there would be no line. If everyone stood in line, there would be no line jumping – well, at least not any “legal” line-jumping. The mix, though, rewards the planners and punishes the spontaneous.

I have seen some Chipotle’s that segment off the pre-order and have a separate line and crew for that function. When they aren’t busy, that second crew does other tasks around the restaurant. Not sure how that would work at Great Clips without a lot of costly idle time.

What disappoints me is that technology is creating artificial and temporary class systems. And those are rarely good.

I resented the call-aheads at Chipotle and I’m pretty sure the woman in the waiting room at Great Clips wasn’t happy at my legal line jump – but short of redundant crews, I’m not sure how to fix the problem.

Food for thought as I ate my “just-okay” burrito…

I got another random bill recently. This was for the day of the surgery and covered the surgery room – but not the surgeon – and the anesthesiologist room – but not the actual dude. It covered some, but not all, of the drugs used to knock my ass out and some – but not all – of the supplies. The surgery was after the emergency room visit – which I’ve already been billed for (room, supplies, x-ray, and doctor all billed separately – naturally) but before the follow up visits and physical therapy, which I’ve already been billed also.

The total charges amounted to over 13,000 dollars – but the insurance company said, “nope, we’re only going to pay 1300 and Anthony is going to pay 300. Suck it.”

I’m rounding because the actual numbers don’t really matter to the point, which is “How in the world does that work?!”

If I didn’t have insurance, what would be my amount to pay? 13,000? 1300?1600? It’s like some kind of game show where you have to guess the actual amount of the good or service – without going over (because good luck getting a refund) or under (because they’ll turn you over to collections or put your ass in debtor prison.)

Or going in to pick up a pizza and when they give you the total of $13.00 and someone else walks up and says, “Nope. Anthony and his job have been paying me pizza money for a while now. I’m going to pay 6 dollars and Anthony is going to pay 2 dollars. Now give him his 8 dollar pizza and shut the hell up.”

Of course, to make that situation more accurate, we’d get a separate bill for the 2 liter of soda and we’d get charged for the napkins and the pizza box.

Which is ridiculous.

So, another check in the mail…

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I added the google tracking code to my website and my blog. Not entirely sure why – I mean, it’s not like I’m selling anything here – but it seemed like a good exercise since we use it at work. Interesting tools, but I wish Google would settle down and quit changing the interface so much. I can never find anything in there – getting tired of learning and relearning everything there.

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This weekend, I got outside and did some yard work. Pulled down some dead vines, raked leaves, and did a little trimming. It felt good to be outside and the sunshine was… simply wonderful.

I had a couple of tasks the other evening – paying bills and folding flowers.

The bills were expected – medical bills, car payment, and mortgage.

The flowers were an unexpected project – for a friend who’s mother had just passed away. I knew her mom, a little, but by the time I got to meet her she was already starting to… fade. And when we lost her, I made flowers. It’s kinda what I do.

For everything, there’s a little bit of paper to be folded and for funerals – it’s lilies.

They turned out well: http://thunderofwade.tumblr.com/post/115903452699/origami-lilies

but even as much as I enjoy making these for people – and bringing maybe a little bit of joy to a sad time – I always remember all the others that I’ve made lilies for.

So, I folded and paid my bills. And as I got the stamps ready to go, I noted on them the word “forever”.

How strange that a sticky piece of paper can be something “forever” and the important people in our lives are so much shorter than that. Seems unfair.

The calling hours were today and I got to give my flowers away. They bought a smile – as they were intended to do – and will maybe bring some comfort in the days to come.

The fresh cut flowers at the funeral home won’t last more than a few days. My lilies will last much longer, but even paper doesn’t last forever.

What does last are our memories of the people that pass in and out of our lives. And those memories will bring smiles in the sad times – as they are intended to do.

My 9-5 (or rather, my 7-4) consists of working with websites. And some of those are…cluttered. It seems like sometimes the question is – “How much can be shoved onto this site at once?”

And while I can’t always simplify those sites, I do have complete control over my own site. Over the past few days – and much of that was this weekend – I tidied up my site and simplified it. The homepage is stark, the links are unstyled and straight-forward, and the images are reduced. It’s quite plain at the moment and I like it.

I’ve got some more work to do – updating text and adding in the google analytics code – but it’s very clean at the moment.

http://thunderofwade.com

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Cleaning up my website was much like cleaning out a basement. Some things got tossed – lists of links and jokes that were never very funny. Others got moved elsewhere – mostly the origami over to http://thunderofwade.tumblr.com And some things got saved off-line or to other resources – like that web comic I was so proud of when I first did it and became less proud of over time.

Some of it was good and made me smile – like the old blog entries where I just ranted up a storm.

Some of it made me sad – like the pictures of costumes I had helped Jeff with. I saved those images, but moved them to their own archive.

The most interesting bit were the photos of me. I really don’t like having my photo taken and those are really few and far between. I put all of those on one page and watched as my hair, facial hair, and build changed over time. The photos aren’t in any order and that’s okay – it’s more of a collage instead of a timeline.

Made me a little introspective about where I’ve been and how things are going now. I’m not one to really dwell on the past or the future and much prefer to focus on the present.

And things are good.

My arm is getting better and I’m kicking ass in the pool again. I’m really happy with my house and my cat is the coolest. I like my car and my job and co-workers are interesting and fun. I’ve got a great family and wonderful friends that share my adventures. And a pretty amazing special someone who looks out for me – and who I look out for in turn.

And now it’s time to put my blog and website – and me – to bed for tonight.

Sleep well, internet – I’ll see you tomorrow.

I’ve been very diligent about paying my assorted – and wildly (deliberately) inefficient – medical bills. The notion that some over-zealous random doctor’s office would turn me over to collections makes me anxious and so I’ve been quick to put the checks in the mail.

I’ve also been keeping careful documentation on everything and that includes making a copy of the bill before tearing off the payment section to send in.

I got a bill yesterday and decided to get it in the mail and out of the way that day. It was late in the evening, but I figured I could get a copy made at Staples and then drop the payment in the mail on the way home. I needed to get gas anyway, so it seemed like a quick and productive trip.

I get to staples and head over to the copy area. I had a pocket-full of change with me and figured I would just use the self-serve machine.

Except I forgot that I was living in the era of “let’s make things more complicated for no reason and fix things that aren’t broken”.  So, my coins were no good.

The self-serve machines require a copy card. Which I didn’t have and had no intention of getting. I needed one copy, after all – getting a card seemed like a waste of time.

I head over to the counter and the woman has me wait while she attends to a machine. Which is not a good sign.

When she’s finally ready to deal with the human, I hand her the bill and ask for one copy. And here begins the madness.

1. She picks up a copy card from the counter, inserts it into a reader, and spends a minute or two typing on the register. I’m guessing it was a blog entry on how freaking stupid I was.

2. The card pops out of the reader and she collects it and the bill and goes over to the self service machines.

3. She then inserts the card and makes one copy.

4. The card pops out and she comes back over to the register to reinsert the card and hand me the bill and the copy. She types for a bit, the card pops out, and she announces the total.

11 cents.

I hand her my two dimes and she gives me 9 cents in change and my receipt.

There was the briefest of moments. A pause. A stillness. And in that clarity, the horror of our situation was shared. All that time and effort, all the back and forth, all the sheer waste… it chilled us both.

I took my change, my receipt (which, ironically, used nearly as much paper as my copy), and my papers and I was on my way.

I dropped the bill with payment in the mail on my way home and then filed the copy in with the rest of my bills.

Next time, I’ll either man-up and buy a card – or just wait until Monday and make the copy at work like everyone else does.

So, I’ve got my elbow brace. And it’s miserable. I mean, yeah, it’s working and I can handle the pain that goes with it, but it’s miserable to use.

1. It’s too short. My torso is kinda long and I have to hunch over to rest my arm in the brace. I still haven’t worked out the right base to add to it to get it high enough to not hurt my back.

2. The gauge is on the wrong side so I can’t see it to track my progress – and keep me motivated.

3. The frame is either loose around my arm or digging into my skin enough to leave marks. It just doesn’t fit very well.

And it’s boring. Super intensely over the top boring. And I’m in there for 2 hours a day.

On the bright side, it’s working. At least a little, according to my physical therapist. And, unrelated to the brace, my hand strength is almost back to normal. Along with that, I’ve regained enough arm strength to drag my ass out of the pool without using the ladder.

Before I get on the rack again tonight, I’m going to try some push-ups. At one point, I could do 100 without stopping – but I’m a long way from there. If I can do one, I’ll be pleased.

It’s all just so damn slow…

On Friday, I took a slightly longer lunch (I stayed late to make up for it) and hit the pool. Despite the constant Irish folk music over the loudspeakers, I still managed to push through and do a mile. This is the first time I’ve done this since I broke my arm and while it took me a while, I was really pleased that I could still go that far. I’m not fast enough to do that every day in my lunch hour, but I’ll get there.  Oh, and apparently the Head Guard gets to pick the music and he wasn’t quite done with St. Patrick’s day.

Yesterday was an evening of games with friends. We played Zombie Fluxx and Love Letter – both simple games to learn, but deep with nuance. I like a game that requires a little brain power. We had pizza, played with the kids, and laughed the whole evening. I count myself lucky to have such good friends who “get me” – which is a rare and wonderful thing. 🙂

This afternoon, I headed over to Best Buy to donate blood. Another double red donation – and it went like clockwork. Very easy and a very quick recovery. I had some cookies and juice and I was on my way. I’m glad I’m healthy enough to donate and that I can do some good. And I’ve got O-, which makes my donation even more useful.

Tomorrow, I get fitted for my rental brace. It’s supposed to help straighten out my arm and also flex it further – in two separate, 1/2 hour sessions per day. Not looking forward to it – or the time it will take. It’s basically just a specifically shaped crank – and this is as high tech as it gets. Sigh. Sometimes science is disappointing.

Finally, a book recommendation… I just re-read Stephen King’s Insomnia. Really excellent book and the ending is some of the finest writing I’ve ever read.

Time for another round of stretching out my arm – not sure if I’ll need to keep this up when I get the brace – and then off to bed. Long day tomorrow, I think. Hoping for some sunshine…

[Event photos here]

This was my third year participating in the Portage Lakes Polar Bear jump and I was getting more and more excited as we go closer to the destination and the jump time.

We saw people we knew right as we arrived at the lake around 12:30 and it made the event feel even more like a community. A community of people of varying degrees of crazy, but still.

Met up with my fellow jumper – George, in his kilt – and headed through the snow to the beach. The crew was working to keep the hole in the ice from freezing over with shovels and heaters and we watched as snow mobiles raced across the lake. The day was warmer than we’d had recently, but the snow was coming down heavy and we soon lost site of the other side of the lake.

We enjoyed the music and chatted for a bit and at 1:45, I decided it was “time to get stupid” – and I stripped down to my speedos. Blue, square-cut – very tasteful.

Most folks were still bundled up, but I figured that if I was going to do this, I needed to do it up right. I walked around a bit and found some other people I knew – and then a woman walked up and said she was from the Beacon Journal and wanted to interview me.

I talked to her for a bit, then went back and found my friends at the edge of the lake in time for the Star Spangled Banner – and the launch of a quad-coptor.

The Very Important Bears (VIBs) jumped in and it was time for me to get ready. I left my friends with cameras ready, and headed for the jumping area.

Then, the moment of truth. I took a deep breath… and jumped. I was in the air for a fraction of a second and then I hit the water.

Cold.

Just… cold. Beyond any other cold of the entire winter. Outer space cold.

Let’s do this!

I surfaced and immediately began to power my way to the ladder – swimming with remarkably good form. I struggled a little with the ladder since my left arm is still weak, but got out of the water. Someone asked me how it was and I replied, “Brisk”

I was almost back at the tent area when someone with a video camera tried to interview me. They asked how the water was and I gave a more truthful – “Cold!”. They tried to ask me something else and I shook my head and said, “Sorry, gotta go!” and headed out.

Dressed and back at the edge of the lake, we waited until it was time for George to jump. He had a pretty loud cheering section and nearly forgot to hold down the front of his kilt as he jumped.

After he was dressed in a fresh kilt and warmed up a bit, we said our good byes and headed out. I got a hot chocolate on the way and then spent some quality time at home with my feet in the tub.

I raised over $240 myself and the event cleared over $100,000 raised with over 700 people participating.

Special thanks to Dennis, Scott, George, and Jim for joining me on the cold winter day and getting great photos. And especially to Jim for keeping track of my gear and looking out for me.

Next year? Hmmmm…

My physical therapy at home involves heating up my arm, then doing some stretches. The other evening, I decided the warming up part could be done in a hot bath. I don’t take many baths – preferring showers because I would rather save some water and time – and as a result, ThunderCat was very puzzled by my behavior. He stretched up on his back legs to peer into the tub as it filled, looking at me questioningly. Or so I would assume.

When the tub was finally filled, I climbed in and looked forward to relaxing. Instead, I was confronted with tension that would rival any Hitchcock thriller.

Thunder hopped up onto the sink and carefully reached down onto the edge of the tub to investigate. He pulled himself back up – amazingly – and then carefully reached down again and crawled onto the curved edge.

I lay very still as he balance-beamed his way along the edge over to me. There are some cats that actually like water – or so I’ve heard – but Thunder is not one of them. If he slipped and fell into the water… well, he’s still got all his claws and I was naked.

With my left arm heating up in the water, I carefully moved my right hand to cover my “junk” – and waited for him to either fall into the water and ruin both of our days or get bored and wander off.

After stopping to lick my head and reaching down to “bat” at the water, Thunder retreated to the hall to keep an eye on me from a safe distance.

And I let out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted.

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I got back in the pool on Friday – first time since the accident that broke my arm. I kicked off from the wall and hit the first stoke.

And it hurt – like a sharp pain.

As did every single other stroke. I got used to it – sort of – except for once when I over-extended my arm and got a stabbing pain. And then I curled up in a ball underwater until it stopped and/or I needed to breathe.

Twelve laps later, I got out of the pool and into the hot tub for a few minutes. When I was down, I stretched my arm out. It wouldn’t go out all the way – but far more than my current “usual”. So, it’s working and worth the pain.

This week is more swimming and more a trip to the physical therapy again.

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Coming up on Saturday, the 12th Annual (3rd time for me) Portage Lakes Polar Bear Jump. Looking forward to it – but I seriously need to figure out how to relax in water again.

I had my 6 week follow up with my surgeon today. I got good news, bad news, and good news.

The Good News Part 1:

I’m healing up very well. The hardware hasn’t shifted, the bones are healing, and there’s no sign of infection. So, I’m making a good internal recovery from being opened up, having a Home Depot dumped in my arm, and then stitched up like Frankenstein’s monster.

The Bad News:

I should have been doing physical therapy this entire time. The doctor asked how the PT was going and I had a puzzled look on my face when I told him I hadn’t done any. He asked if I had gotten a prescription (from him) and I said I got a prescription for the pain meds and was directed to not lift anything any heavier than a coffee cup.  And that was it.

There was a moment of awkward silence as we reflected on how badly the ball had been dropped and then he said, “Well, you’re about 5 weeks behind and you’re going to have to hit the physical therapy pretty hard to get caught up. Do you have time today for a session” and I said I did. He wrote me a prescription for the PT and told me he wanted to see me in a month.

I’m cranky about that, but there’s not much to be done about it.

The Good News Part 2:

I headed down the hall to the on-site PT, got checked in, and filled out some paperwork on what I can do at that point and what hurts.

The Physical Therapist was great. She measured how much I could move, then heated up my arm and massaged it a bit, then measured it again. Just heating it up improved my range of motion by about 15 degrees – which is huge. I’ll lose some of that, but get it back with exercises. It hurts, but I’m determined.

For now, I’m headed off to a hot bath to warm up my arm – then exercises, cold, and then an early bed.

So 5 weeks behind – but I’ll catch up.