an entry somewhere else

A few weeks ago I slipped and fell in my house due to the unique construction of a portion of it being open to the elements. When it rains heavily, some of the tile floor gets wet and slippery. It was one of these times that I slipped. Luckily, I protected a greater injury by putting out an arm as one is wont to do in these situations. Nevertheless, my shoulder hurt for a few days and I’ve noticed a loss of mobility. I also notice that where the clavicle connects to the shoulder is raised a little bit. So, off to the X-ray center I go.

I chatted with one of my former students, who also happens to be a doctor, and she agreed to take me over to the X-ray center/radiologist. The center doesn’t open until 5p and we arrive shortly after. She chats with the receptionist and we get moved up to the first x-ray. The X-ray of my left shoulder is taken and we’re told it will be about 30 minutes until it is developed and the radiologist can read it. I offer to spring for coffee & klappertort.

Getting back to the office, we see at least 20 people waiting for whatever. My former student tells me that this office is also the only place with a CT scanner in Manado and this is why there are so many people. We meet with the radiologist, a personable older lady with a quick smile. She speaks little English but with the amount of medical terminology in English and my ‘personal attendant’ I find out that the X-ray shows one of two things: 1) the jutting clavicle is a congenital condition and the fall I had simply aggravated it or 2) my mother dropped me when I was a child. OK, number two is a joke. What I mean is that if the condition is not congenital then it was because of an early childhood occurrence which could have been cause by being dropped, running into a wall, falling down—general childhood happenings.

I paid 100,000 rupiah ~ 12USD. Again, my medical costs fall underneath the deductible and I don’t get to bill my insurance company for any of it.

I am the doctor now.

By now, most of you know that there is something wrong with my optical drive of my computer. Anything I put in it comes out with a sticky substance (adhesive) on it. This has led me to ask for many of you to help me. Scott (the chap who lets Wayfaring Stranger exist) did some searching and found a page in French that has finally helped me. The pictures are a godsend. Do I understand French? No.

But the first in a line of mishaps was me taking the computer to the local shop. I’ll even say the best shop in Manado. The mastermind was not in so I left my baby (iBook G4 12�) for perusal. I go across the street with a guy from my office for a beer at the supermarket. We go back. The mastermind is in. He has my machine open and is fishing around the hard drive. I tell him the problem. He asks, “Where is Windows Explorer?� I think this might have been the first time he has ever really used a Macintosh.

We shut the thing down and we work together trying to open it (before I had the photos). We all fail again. He shrugs and says, “If this were a PC, it wouldn’t be a problem.� Hmm.

So, I finally follow up on Scott’s help and the pictures are similar enough to my machine that I think I’ll be able to take it apart tonight. All I need now is the Torx wrench to remove the three screws on the bottom. I’m told I can just go to the supermarket—the wrench is referred to as an L-key. Can you wait for the pictures?