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June 10, 2002
PAIN! AUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
But first: Holy Shit! A Godamned Monkeybot!
So, why does it suck to be me right now?
Last Thursday was decently mundane. I went out to grab some dinner after work and stayed out for awhile before heading home by way of the PATH train to Hoboken. Normally, the commute isn't bad and I've done it many a time before at all hours of the night. It being around 10 pm didn't concern me.
As I was walking home from the PATH station in Hoboken, a walk that generally takes about 20-25 minutes over 11 blocks uptown and 3 blocks over, I was accosted by three men that were intent on relieving me of my cash. Ordinarily, as if this were the sort of thing that could be ordinary, I would surrender the cash and move on. It certainly didn't seem worth the violence to avoid it. However, money's really tight for me right now and I'd just taken cash out of the ATM so handing over some $200-300 would have set me back really badly.
Plus, I was in a pissy mood.
The long and the short of it is that there was a fight. I think I got the drop on them because the first guy went down pretty fast. Admittedly, I shoved a heel right into his solar plexus pretty forcefully. That was all I got out of surprise, though. I haven't sparred since high school, when I did Taekwondo, so I was totally unprepared for this. I did what I could, which meant that I had some moves, but not a lot of coordination. I certainly didn't have any preparation for multiple opponents. While tangling with one guy, I got pummeled pretty hard by his friend. I got free, though, and once I had some distance between them, the fight was more on my terms. I never thought an elbow would be quite so effective, but I'm pretty sure I broke something on the one guy's face. There was blood everywhere. The other guy ran after that.
We all pretty much ran off after that. They certainly weren't staying around and I didn't really want to have to answer questions to the police.
What did I get out of all of this? I still have my money, my dignity, and some pride, but I also have a really fucking sore left shoulder. From about the hairline down to the ribs on the left, it's all sore and consistently painful. It's most pronounced right at the neck and top of the shoulder toward the back. I don't remember what the muscle is called. I've been walking around stiff necked since Sunday. It hadn't been bad at first, but it got progressively worse. This morning, I awoke at 5:30 because it was too painful to sleep any longer. Rolling out of bed involved screaming in agony. The bus ride to work was murder.
I've called the doctor but the earliest I could get an appointment was Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. In the meantime, I've gotten a few suggestions from coworkers (sleep on the floor, don't use a pillow, put an Icy Hot on it) and I've scheduled a massage session tonight at 6:30. I hope this goes away because I really don't like living in pain, having to turn my entire body every time I want to look at something that's not in my direct line of vision.
That's my story. You can blame Liz for its telling.
[Now, wasn't that a lot more interesting than if I said I think I just slept on it funny?]
Posted by KinCross at June 10, 2002 12:46 PM