Almost a week with this splint, and my hand itself is still swollen and hurting. Even though I was told to come back in 2 weeks, I went back to the doctor's today to ask if there was anything that could be done. I was thinking ice or heat therapy. Well, he was concerned about the swelling, and took another X-ray. Turns out the original bone near my thumb which was suspect before, is just fine now. But instead, my pinky finger is partially broken (not the finger itself, but way down in the palm part.
So I have a different splint, on the other side of my hand. My thumb is free, but my fingers are more restricted. He said usually he could use a waterproof cast, but my hand was too swollen. Instead I get the splint. Estimated healing time 3-4 weeks! Next visit 2 weeks.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Super Ultra King Klutz
Fell flat on my face last night, just walkin down the sidewalk minding my own business. Well, not my face, but rather I caught myself with my right hand. And boy it sure hurt this morning.
Went to the doctor, and got lucky. It was 5 minutes before lunch, so they rushed me through, no wait (that I was the only patient helped, of course). Doctor said it was probably just a sprain, but took an x-ray to be sure. After studying the film, he said my scaphoid bone (don't know it? click here) might be fractured, it wasn't clear. Fortunately (well, not so fortunately since I'm right handed) the treatment is the same - put it in a "splint". More like 1/2 of a cast held on by a long bandage. The splint material looks like these modern lightweight casts they use these days instead of plaster. It got really warm while it was setting.
Anyway, he says come back in 2 weeks, and a follow-up x-ray will show more clearly whether or not there is a fracture. I sure hope not, or else he'll have me in this splint for weeks more. In and out in about 10 minutes, total cost about $40! And the doctor spoke English...
Went to the doctor, and got lucky. It was 5 minutes before lunch, so they rushed me through, no wait (that I was the only patient helped, of course). Doctor said it was probably just a sprain, but took an x-ray to be sure. After studying the film, he said my scaphoid bone (don't know it? click here) might be fractured, it wasn't clear. Fortunately (well, not so fortunately since I'm right handed) the treatment is the same - put it in a "splint". More like 1/2 of a cast held on by a long bandage. The splint material looks like these modern lightweight casts they use these days instead of plaster. It got really warm while it was setting.
Anyway, he says come back in 2 weeks, and a follow-up x-ray will show more clearly whether or not there is a fracture. I sure hope not, or else he'll have me in this splint for weeks more. In and out in about 10 minutes, total cost about $40! And the doctor spoke English...
Friday, July 17, 2009
Safe Recycling...
...or, how do you throw away a trash can?
I've noticed this iron safe located in our office building's recycling area.
Is the safe there to be recycled? Or is it store very expensive items to be recycled (gold teeth perhaps)?
I've noticed this iron safe located in our office building's recycling area.
Is the safe there to be recycled? Or is it store very expensive items to be recycled (gold teeth perhaps)?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Back to Seoul
I made it back to Korea okay. It's interesting that during 1 month in the USA, I don't think that I heard one news report about the Swine Influenza. On the flight, they handed out an extra form to fill out, regarding the flu. We were told to turn it in when we deplaned. That was interesting - the took my form and I think checked my temperature. It looked like a thermometer that you use in your ear, except this on didn't actually go inside my ear. He just pointed it into my ear.
Then two days later, I got a phone call from someone in the government (health department?). She said they were following up on all passengers arriving from America, and wanted to check that I was not experiencing flu symptoms (I am not). My colleague CH reported that they also called him two weeks ago when he returned from the USA. They are taking this flu very seriously here.
Today I made a short trip to Costco, and finally found a small George Foreman grill. It is a very small one, a good size for cooking for one. What kept me from buying one in the past is that the few such grills I've found here in Korea were all too large.
I noticed that Jackie Chan is now promoting the grill, along with George Foreman! There is an Asian recipie book entitled "Jackie Chan's 10 Favorite Recipes" included in the package. It is nice to have an owner's manual for a Korean appliance that includes text in English as well as Korean (in fact, there's Japanese and Chinese, too). I think I could do a lot more with my oven and rice machine if I could only read the instructions.
Finally, I want to thank the kind family that let me sit at their table in the Costco cafeteria (chicken bake and sweet pickle relish - yummmm). As usual, I made the mistake of visiting Costco on Sunday, the most crowded day of the week, and there were no free tables in the dining area. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard a voice in English ask if I would like a seat. My table mates were Korean Americans, living in both Korea and Virginia, back here in Seoul for summer vacation.
Then two days later, I got a phone call from someone in the government (health department?). She said they were following up on all passengers arriving from America, and wanted to check that I was not experiencing flu symptoms (I am not). My colleague CH reported that they also called him two weeks ago when he returned from the USA. They are taking this flu very seriously here.
Today I made a short trip to Costco, and finally found a small George Foreman grill. It is a very small one, a good size for cooking for one. What kept me from buying one in the past is that the few such grills I've found here in Korea were all too large.
I noticed that Jackie Chan is now promoting the grill, along with George Foreman! There is an Asian recipie book entitled "Jackie Chan's 10 Favorite Recipes" included in the package. It is nice to have an owner's manual for a Korean appliance that includes text in English as well as Korean (in fact, there's Japanese and Chinese, too). I think I could do a lot more with my oven and rice machine if I could only read the instructions.
Finally, I want to thank the kind family that let me sit at their table in the Costco cafeteria (chicken bake and sweet pickle relish - yummmm). As usual, I made the mistake of visiting Costco on Sunday, the most crowded day of the week, and there were no free tables in the dining area. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard a voice in English ask if I would like a seat. My table mates were Korean Americans, living in both Korea and Virginia, back here in Seoul for summer vacation.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Fourth BBQ
We all stumbled to The Stumbling Parents' new home yesterday for a Fourth of July picnic. Let me count the food
We used their new BBQ grill:
I was given the job of grilling the ribs. There were three racks, having about 15 ribs each.
As you can see here, they were delicious. At least The Stumbler liked them (please ignore my grease-covered face and sauce-covered fingers):
Everyone else was more civilized eating their meal. Some folks actually used silverware!!!
We had a great time, and left fully stuffed.
- BBQ Pork Ribs
- Grilled Vegetables
- Squash
- Zuchinni
- Baby Red Peppers
- Mushrooms
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Salad
- Baked Beans
- Potato Chips
- Watermelon
- Pound Cake
We used their new BBQ grill:
I was given the job of grilling the ribs. There were three racks, having about 15 ribs each.
As you can see here, they were delicious. At least The Stumbler liked them (please ignore my grease-covered face and sauce-covered fingers):
Everyone else was more civilized eating their meal. Some folks actually used silverware!!!
We had a great time, and left fully stuffed.
The Stumbling Parents...
...have stumbled into town! They moved about 2 miles from our home, arriving last weekend. It has been a busy and fun week for them, unloading their trailer and shopping for lots of new things for the house. I have used these devices several times this week, as we moved a bed, refrigerator, washing machine and clothes dryer.
Hand truck and Dolly. My arms are still bruised from the refrigerator - boy, was that heavy. Anyway their home is slowly filling. A few more trailer loads and it will be full.
Unrelated to their move entirely... Young Stumber #3 and I went to see the summer blockbuster "Tranformers 2" the other day. We really enjoyed it, although we both agreed that the last hour could have easily been condensed to 15 minutes. As we left the theater, I noticed this unusual restaurant:
A restaurant that only serves Ketchup???? Surely not. We were in too much of a hurry to investigate further. It was really hot, we wanted to get to the air conditioned car as quickly as possible. Also, we've heard that almost every restaurant in this shopping center is over-priced. Maybe another time, after all, how much can a Ketchup meal cost?
Hand truck and Dolly. My arms are still bruised from the refrigerator - boy, was that heavy. Anyway their home is slowly filling. A few more trailer loads and it will be full.
Unrelated to their move entirely... Young Stumber #3 and I went to see the summer blockbuster "Tranformers 2" the other day. We really enjoyed it, although we both agreed that the last hour could have easily been condensed to 15 minutes. As we left the theater, I noticed this unusual restaurant:
A restaurant that only serves Ketchup???? Surely not. We were in too much of a hurry to investigate further. It was really hot, we wanted to get to the air conditioned car as quickly as possible. Also, we've heard that almost every restaurant in this shopping center is over-priced. Maybe another time, after all, how much can a Ketchup meal cost?
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