Injured

I really do have to get back to blogging - I feel so guilty that I haven't posted anything substantial since August.  My only excuse is that I'm extremely busy and burnt out at work (and a bit depressed personally over some issues which leads to general apathy about some things).

Anyway, I unwisely decided to move a rock a couple of days ago (Sunday).  It was half-buried in a large mound of dirt in an old cement mine.  I stupidly stood downhill of the rock as I pulled it toward me, thinking I could better control it that way, and then I slipped on the dirt.  Fell onto my belly, looked up, and saw a large rock sliding toward my face.

The rest is a blur.  Somehow I jerked out of the way a bit so it didn't smash into my face directly but rather grazed it.  Next thing I know is that blood is pouring out of my nose and mouth and I'm trying to determine the extent of my injuries.  Fortunately, other people were around but I walked out, agreed to let them call 911, and cleaned up a bit while I waited for an EMT to check me out.

By the way, calling 911 was ridiculous.  All I wanted was for an EMT to check me out.  What showed up was an ambulance, a pickup truck with the fire chief, a full fire truck, the local police, and the sheriff's department.  A little overkill.  I spend more time answering their stupid questions for the paperwork (EMT and police) than I did getting examined.

Didn't seem too bad, so I had my wife drive me to one of those emergency care clinics (it was Sunday so my doctor's office wasn't open and I wasn't about to go sit for hours in a hospital emergency room).  They cleaned me up, put 8 stitches inside my lower lip which was ripped open, and sent me home.  Yesterday, I followed up with my own doctor who said I likely had a fractured rib as well (I thought I had pulled a muscle but the pain is localized right on top of a rib).  An x-ray would confirm but he said they don't do anything special for it anyway so I didn't see the point.

I really do hate walking around with scabs on my face and eating and drinking is a little tricky with a still swollen and tingly lower lip and painful stitches.  Lecturing for my 90 minute class is tough too - especially since I feel self-conscious about my appearance.

I am very fortunate, however, since if that rock had hit directly on my head, I could have easily had a major concussion or worse and a bit lower more directly could have busted cheek bones, the jaw, or knocked out teeth (I still have no idea how my nose and mouth got hit but my teeth, thus far, seem fine).

I'm a geologist, damn it, rocks shouldn't be smacking me in the face!