I was thinking recently about the times I’ve been in the hospital. For my own benefit I am going to try to make a list of them. I’m going to go reverse-chronologically, because I’m working on my tachyon impression.

• About two years ago, I think (so 2006ish) I crushed my hand in a machine at work. Hours later the bleeding had not stopped and when I got to ER, I found out I’d lost a fingernail. Not a terribly long wait time. Some X-Rays and some poking and I got called a very good patient. It did take the convincing of like eleven people at work to get me to bother taking that trip. And even then I didn’t go straight from work. I went home to check my email and got a slice of pizza before I finally walked to the hospital.
• Around Summer 2001 I had what appeared to be blood in bodily functions that blood is not supposed to be a part of. It was my mother’s idea to get it checked out at the emergency room, plus I got to miss a day of work (I was a security guard then). So… this trip was essentially me getting probed in those certain regions. I remember making lots of jokes that the doctors and nurses either didn’t get or weren’t paying attention to. I don’t remember the wait being too long and the problem went away on its own immediately after that with me never actually getting an answer what caused it (though the doctor mentioned that some cereals have dye that can look like blood when it comes out…) More importantly I remember we decided to stop at KFC on the way home from the hospital and they were out of chicken. No fooling. Also when I called my employers to tell them I’d miss a day, they demanded I get a note from the doctor. They never came to get the note from me and I think I still have it around here somewhere (I keep it because like a week later Kip wrote his medical opinion of me, “Yer ah jackass!” on it).
• Another time, I think I was about sixteen, but don’t ask me to figure out what year that would have been, I was taking out the garbage on a snowy day and slipped in the ditch and twisted my ankle. I remember my brother asking me if I was okay and, being embarrassed I just told him to go inside. I literally crawled up the stairs to the house and eventually went to bed. I lived in the basement back then, so the next morning I again had to literally crawl up some stairs to get and my mother, seeing this, brought me to the hospital. I remember being impressed by the fact that when they saw me limping my way to the door with my mother’s help some orderlies greeted me with a wheelchair. I suppose that they do that stuff every day, though, so they know what they’re doing. The wait this time was really bad. Hours of sitting in that wheelchair and waiting. I got some X-rays but nothing was broken, so it was ice and not using the leg. Made sense.
• Junior High I got a weird rash one day. It was all over my legs. I don’t remember all that much of that particular trip, aside from the female doctor seeing my junk. I do remember that the rash was because of something which Sounded like “Hypo-purple-itis” and that made sense because the rash was purplish, but of course I don’t know what the thing actually was called.
• And once a very, very young PDR had some manner of dehydration and actually had to spend a couple nights in the hospital. It was over the holidays and, the way I remembered it growing up I missed Christmas. I have been assured though that I was actually home at Christmas and it was New Years Eve that I missed. I guess my child-mind equated not getting to play with all his (no doubt awesome) presents as essentially missing Christmas. The only important thing to come out of this is now, when I get a physical and they ask if I’ve ever had a stay in the hospital I have to answer about this vague thing instead of just saying that I’ve not.
• Also, my understanding is that I was born in a hospital. I’m taking other people’s word for that one, though because I sure don’t remember that. And you’d think you’d remember something that important.

So that’s that. The stuff of future medical textbooks.

Tachyons are the one that move backwards in time right? Am I making that up?

And so another month ends and another year ends. Before I even knew what hit me, 2007 is over and it is time for the Dark Lord Char’Nagh to make his rounds collecting sacrifices and delivering weapons or something.

Haiku!

New Years is a scam.
It’s the calendar makers.
They made it all up.

Beyond that I don’t know what I feel like saying, so I’m not going to say it. Unless it was that. Maybe it was…

I noticed last night that I have made it this far this year without getting a single Christmas Card. That works out much better than previous years when I’d be up to like three by now. Much better. That said, I have not been to my Grandmother’s yet. I’ll probably not end up with a card-free year, but at least it’s closer.

And since I decided that the theme for this post was “Cards” I now have to come up with something else on that topic. Years back, a friend named Adam invented a card game called Pivonka which had the most complex system of rules I ever did see. Unfortunately those rules are now lost. Someday I might have to go under hypnosis or something to make them come back.

I remember it was Adam and I who first sat down to play the game which he offered to teach me. He told me he picked it up during his travels in the Middle East. Now, I got that that part wasn’t true it took me far longer than it should have to realize that he was just making it up as he went.

And the best thing was that he made certain there was some rule in the game that made everyone playing have to back up and yell “Pivonka!” in shock or admiration or something. Good times.

Three years ago, I would have been worried about how many things I could be writing for Halloween at this time of the year. Five years ago, I actually would have a bunch of stuff written. This year, I’m about to go to work. Haven’t written anything Halloween related (or not) in far too long. Sucks to be me.

But this is still my favorite holiday. Happy Halloween.

Okay, it’s the end of the calendar year (but more importantly, not the fiscal year) and you all know what that means, right? It’s time to make sacrifices to the Dark Lord Char’Nagh! Hooray! He prefers innocent souls, like robots and lizardmen, but any sacrifice will do.

Meanwhile, I didn’t care for much of 2006, I don’t think. I mean, I’m glad it was there and all, but it’s not going to be winning any awards from me. Except “Best Year of 2006”, but that one has no competition…

And I think this one really will be my last post of the year. Next year, I’ll do better.