I'm in some considerable pain this morning. My damaged left shoulder is not functioning correctly, I slept on it wrong or something. Neck, shoulder and upper back feel like somebody has shoved a screw driver in there and is trying to pry the joint apart. I can't turn my head to the left at all, and can barely feel my left hand. Lovely.
Took a hot shower, took a pill, got a heat patch on. Now I'm sitting on the couch poking at the laptop with my right hand.
Don't worry about it, this is a regular event for me. It'll be ok in a day or two, but until then I'm not much good for anything. So, go read Nathan's online novel, or get drunk, or get drunk and read Nathan's novel, make rudely derisive comments - you know, have fun.
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I just watched it turn 2008 in Hong Kong. What a great city.
I was in Hong Kong in 2002, here's proof. That's me on top of Mount Victoria with the city behind me. (Try to ignore the long hair, usually it's much shorter than that). I met Jackie Chan there (well, OK I didn't actually meet him - I shook his hand), he lives in Hong Kong and was filming a movie there. He came down to the harbor to meet us American Sailors and shake hands. A very down to earth guy, and a truly nice person.
Happy new year all.
I'm looking forward to it - this is the year that we all get our jetpacks and flying cars.
Ooh. Sorry about the pain. I don't know what yours is like, but when my sciatica flares up, I'm like an infant who's just learned to lift his head. Helpless. I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks so much for the pimp. Once I get other things set up, I'll be adding a links bar.
Sorry it sucks to be you, Jim.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be opening the rest of our prezzies tonight with my Hot Mom and my Smart Boy...I'll raise a toast to you (Mike's Light Cranberry - yum).
And Hong Kong - yes. My second favorite port of call in the far east...close behind Singapore.
Ouch ouch ouch! I hope your shoulder pain subsides quickly, and that the family waits on you hand and foot in the interim. ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Usually, it's pretty good to be me. But, yeah, when this crap flairs up - it sucks.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Singapore, Janiece. It's funny when I hear people talk about how restrictive the laws are there - I always thought the law basically translated as 'don't be a dick.' Clean, safe, beautiful - yeah, Singapore is terrific. I do like Hong Kong just a bit better though, especially Kowloon.
Jeri, my wife takes pretty good care of me.
ReplyDeleteUsually it takes a couple of days for this to go away. Every once in a while I've got to go to the doctor and have something done. Eventually I'm going to have to have surgery on at least the shoulder, and probably the neck. Currently I'm waiting on the VA to finish their assessment.
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHope our shoulder feels better.
Also, you look completely different without your hat. Much thiner. :)
Much thinner? Much?
ReplyDeleteI may have to photoshop that hat picture :o
I wasn't going to say anything, but yeah, I agree with Michelle.
ReplyDeleteWell, truthfully, I was a bit thinner 6 years ago. Especially when this picture was taken, since I worked out and ran every day and wasn't eating regularly - the picture was actually taken on my way to Iraq.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a big guy. In fact I weighed about 130lb when I joined the Navy way back. I'm considerably heavier now, about 180. Since I'm just a shade under 6 foot tall, that's a pretty good weight for me, though a little less of it is muscle mass these days. Sigh. All and all I'm pretty happy with it, though I have no desire to gain any more.
As I've said elsewhere, I've always depended on brains and not brawn, and that's always worked for me - though I've never lost a fight if I'm forced into it. Probably because I fight dirty :)
Yeah, I fight dirty too. I fight like a girl - I pull hair, will kick you in the 'nads, whatever it takes to win. Because really, at my age, if I'm involed in a brawl, it's because I'm fighting for my life or my safety, and all bets are off.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jim? Who wasn't thinner 6 years ago? Seriously, dude.
Janiece, I know. Me too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought about what you said regarding oil/gas prices on my last post, and realized I should have been a bit more clear in the original post - I posted a reply to your comment there.
Ouch. Hope you feel back in fighting trim soon, Jim.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say something about you looking younger in that picture, and then you brought up that you fight dirty, so I won't. ;)
One thing I should note, I said I've never lost a fight and that's true. However, today a girl scout and her trusty kitten could probably kick my ass with a box of wet cookies. Frankly it hurts to breath, and my whole left side is pretty much useless. So if you're looking to do me in, today's your opportunity.
ReplyDeleteHowever, be warned, I'm pretty sure I can still shoot fairly straight with my right hand - so, you know, you pays your money you takes your chances.
Just puttering around it the shop, cleaning up, because that hurts marginally less than sitting still.
Well, Anne, I was younger 6 years ago. However, even though I'm closer to 50 than 40, I think I'm holding up pretty well. :)
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, your shoulder pain sounds a lot like mine was before the chiropractor showed me how to fix it - can't turn head to left, feels all stabby, came about due to sleeping on it wrong, etc. In my case it was a stuck rib. (He used the word "fixated.") Apparently it had gotten lodged in my spine. His solution was to squash me inward like a clamshell. Later on when it came back, I managed to get rid of it on my own by lying curled up on my side with my shoulder and head pulled down and forward and my knees pulled up and forward, until eventually the muscles relaxed enough that it could pop back out with a slight jerk farther forward.
ReplyDeleteNice photo. I like the hatted one better though - fits you more for how you are nowadays.
I, the motion picture genius in residence will solve your fat-Jim/thin Jim conundrum.
ReplyDeleteWhen we're shooting weight loss commercials, the director always tells the girl to frown in the "before" picture and smile in the "after" picture.
In Jim's case, what you're looking at is the "I'm freezing my ass off picture" against the "Isn't it a nice day and no-one's shooting at me yet" picture.
Glad I could help resolve that.
Happy New Year!
Well, thanks Nathan, glad we cleared that up :)
ReplyDeleteMWT, I'm afraid a chiropractor wouldn't be able to help me much. The shoulder has sustained several dislocations, and I've torn the rotator cuff. As you might imagine, the ball and socket aren't quite right any more, and to top it off I'm developing arthritis and there are calcium spurs and bits of crap floating around in there. And, just for fun, I have some degradation to the C4/C5 vertebrae in my neck.
So, at this point, chiropractic manipulation or physical therapy does more harm than good as it tends to abrade the tendons against the sharp bone bits. Yeah, if you're looking for fun, do that.
As to the hat - it was given to me by the Royal Australian Navy Commodore's staff, who at that time was the combined task force commander in the Northern Persian Gulf. It means a great deal to me, though it's getting fairly faded these days. Since the picture was taken on the way to the Persian Gulf, I obviously didn't have it then. These days, it's pretty rare to find me without it.
Um... Just a little thinner?
ReplyDeleteBut I really do like the hat. I'm a big fan of hats myself. Wear 'em all the time. They help keep my hair under control.
Well that explains the allure of the hat -- it's an Aussie hat. They really know how to do hats well. I have one of my own, in fact. I took it to Italy with me and was happily mistaken for an Aussie a couple times. I really need to get it stretched though. I mistakenly got it a little tight and I think the leather band on the inside shrank to boot.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm holding up pretty well.
I think we'd all agree. Just adds to your legend. :)
I love Nathan's explanation (especially the rationale for each expression).
Oops. Should point out that my hat is not like yours with the cool folded up sides. It's flat brimmed, like the one the Man from Snowy River wears.
ReplyDeleteI have a legend? Cool.
ReplyDeleteThe hat is an Australian Navy Bush Hat - usually worn by their boat crews and boarding teams. I was given two of them, one from HMAS ANZAC and one from HMAS Kanibula. I wear the ANZAC hat, because I like the way it fits.
When I was in Fremantle, I bought an Australian boonie hat - the classic mesh fedora with a wide flat leather brim - in this case kangaroo leather. I wear that when I go fishing or hiking.
I'm not big on baseball style hats, though I occasionally wear one from the Traverse City Lighthouse (TC Michigan).
Because I usually wear my hair very short - military high and tight, much shorter than in the picture above - I almost always wear a hat, especially in the winter, otherwise my head gets cold.
Sadly, although I think hats are cool, I do not wear them. I do not have a "hat face," and look like a retard when I put one on. Just one of the benefits of being a civilian...
ReplyDeleteI was looking through these to see if I could find your very first blog post, and I stumbled upon this one. Oh, my God, you were such a cute young thing!! I'm tempted to post a link to this on FB to make sure the other minions see it. :D
ReplyDeleteWhere are the flying cars??? I know, just down the road in the future. I saw Karen's comment on the latest Stonekettle Station post and had to come for a look.
ReplyDelete