The surgery to repair my left collarbone was an overall success. The surgery took an hour and half longer than originally expected though. Apparently, more of the bone was damaged and splintered than they originally believed. This took quite a bit more time. Today is the first day since the accident the pain was at levels I would consider manageable. I’m down to 1 pain pill every 3-4 hours and only 1 in the middle of the night. I fully expect to be off pain meds completely in a couple more days. *knock on wood* I seem to heal quickly. I’ll post some before and after pics after my next check up with the doctor. I’m gonna try to get digital copies of the x-rays to share. This break was much more severe than the last one and would not have been able to heal w/o surgery. Ironically, I was going slower than the last accident and ended up with a more sever break…
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In other news, I think I mentioned I was interviewed by the local paper regarding Prop B. [1]It would have doubled my health-care contributions and most likely forced me into the Kaiser network. I’m happy to say the initiative failed, by a wide margin. I was pretty worried as I would have been faced with some difficult choices had it passed.
I didn’t really want to do the article as I didn’t really see myself as the best choice. Even though my classification as a job is severely underpaid in SF, I make a decent living. I’m also lucky to have protections as my job is considered a vital service. But, the Union asked me to do it so I agreed. They wanted someone other than the poorest city employee to show how the initiative would impact all city employees, not just the poorest ones. Everyone I spoke to liked the piece even though I felt it only touched on a lot of what we discussed.
All that said, the online comments for the article were about 90% negative, with some being pretty awful. I’m not upset or even offended as I know people are hurting with many folks still out of work. It was the primary reason I didn’t want to do the article. On the other side of the coin, I was really shocked at some of the real hatred expressed. Many thought I was acting entitled because I thought I should be able to afford to live in the city I work in. Many (by many I’d say most) thought I was being greedy because my gross salary is just over $70k a year. That sounds wonderful until you look at my take home pay. I actually bring home just under $46k a year. [2]To be fair, I donate about 6% of my total annual income to charity, pre-tax In a City as expensive and highly taxed as SF, that doesn’t go far at all. Apple guy and I have even discussed moving out of California once the t-shirt business becomes more successful.
Anyway, with all the negative feedback, I was really surprised the proposition failed. Not to mention, the accident happened the day after the interview. [3]I interviewed on the 25th, the accident occurred on the 26th, the article published on the 28th You can imagine my apprehension while I was laid up at home wondering if I was going to be able to cover December’s rent.
Anyway, the pain-killer is kicking in and I’m having a hard time seeing the purdy letters on my screen. More later…
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Well, I'm glad to hear you are on the mend.
And do you think some of the negativeness was because you are gay/partnered??
Speed recovery, Moby! What done is done and what interviewed is interviewed. Let people have whatever they want to say. You have done your part and now all you need is rest.
Wow, I vanish for awhile and you go and get yourself almost killed… It's good to know you are alive and walking. Didn't the last bike get bumped too? I hope your bike is repairable and the mini van people's insurance will cover it as well your own repairs!
Take it easy while you are on the mend and be careful when you return to the gym. Take it slow! You are a brave soul riding around San Fran on that thing!
Good job on the article. I don't know how y'all do it out there. Every now and then I the old wild hair I have about moving out there resurfaces, but then I hear about things and I'm like, No! LOL
Best wishes.
k-a
Get well and then you and Kirk can compare collar bone stories. He had to have his "reset" and a bar and a handful of screws installed. It just wasn't healing straight.
Also, as far as comments to the article I've noticed that people that agree don't tend to comment and people who don't snipe with venom. It's so much easier for some to criticize behind a screen and not DO anything about issues. F*ck them.
Feel better soon!
You should see the battle I'm having with a tea bagger on Facebook about unions. They seem to think unions are the detriment to my city and state.
I had to point out to them our Sec of State's LobbyTracker page.
Then I had one tea-bagger talking about how they stood for liberty. I told him yeah sure, if only for white males and not gays, blacks or women.
@TonyP ~ Unions have their problems that's for sure. That aid, corporations (and their greedy executives) are always quick to blame Unions when profits are down. I guess that's why the American middle class is disappearing and most of the nations wealth resides with only 1% of its citizens. I worked in corporate America for 10 years before moving to SF. I can honestly say, problems or not, I'd rather work in a job represented by a union than not.
I'm glad the surgery went well, and you seem to be healing nicely. As Martha Stewart says, "Prescription pain killers are a good thing."