Friday, January 13, 2006

Unlucky morning

Today I woke up pleased and amused that it was Friday the 13th. Adam was born on a Friday the 13th. In fact, he turned 13 on a Friday the 13th, so we tend to be fond of the day. (I know. Kind of stupid. But what's life without such silly little pleasures?)

The day is unseasonably warm and bright. I was feeling motivated to get back to my intensive writing schedule.

And then, on my way to my office, I managed to walk over the only patch of black ice in the parking lot.

"Wipe out" is an understatement for what happened next. I had been carrying a stuffed satchel on one shoulder and my laptop computer on the other. In my arms, I had balanced many accordian files and a tower of library books. The computer went flying and landed with a sickening "crack," despite its padded case. The satchel puked its contents (and my lunch) all over the pavement.

The library books scattered like so many dead birds. At least they and the fat accordian files prevented my belly from hitting the ground. I landed, frog-style, on one hand and both knees. I watched the soup I'd packed for lunch go trickling by. And I thought, "Oh, good. At least I didn't hurt the baby."

Then I felt the stabbing pain in my knee and thigh bones and started to cry.

And this is how my colleague found me. Sobbing face down among my books in the parking lot. It was not my most dignified professional moment. Luckily, this colleague is a friend. She helped me limp into work, insisting on carrying most of my stuff. A few minutes later, I called Adam, who said sweet, comforting things.

The casing of my computer is bent and cracked. I am about to initiate a major back-up before taking it in for a diagnostic and repair.

I have one dark purple knee and one bloody red. But, hey, it really could be a whole lot worse.

8 Comments:

At 2:07 PM, Blogger meg said...

Oh, man! Pobrecita.

It's probably no comfort at all to know that you do an exquisite job painting the scene for us.

 
At 3:46 PM, Blogger Gatherina said...

is good you comments, i very liked. muy birthday is an 13 day of January, and i I do not have problem with the day, good things happen to me. ok good luck in your live.

it excuses by writing is that I am Chilean.

 
At 6:01 PM, Blogger effective nancy said...

Oh, that sucks. I'll bet your joints were already out of whack, and now this. I hope your knees and computer feel better. When my mom does this sort of thing--and she does it a lot--she also tends to hurt her hands, so maybe you're still lucky?

 
At 10:44 AM, Blogger What Now? said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your wipe-out! I'm glad that the baby is okay, but I sure am sorry that you're bruised and purple and aching. And how sad for your second day of work. And your poor computer too. Oh dear.

 
At 10:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ouch! Ouch! poor you! I'm glad it wasn't any worse, and I hope you recover quickly!

 
At 1:14 PM, Blogger YelloCello said...

Thanks, everyone, for your kind thoughts. The good news is that it didn't happen with or near people from the brand new job. Was just headed in to my post-doc office, where I work with folks I've known the last 6+ months, thank goodness!

 
At 4:27 PM, Blogger Azri said...

Hi,
Its ok, sometimes in life everybody will be facing a problem like yours, maybe not exactly the same but the problem will cause the same effect as yours.... Be prepare....:)

Cheers,
Pet Treadmills

 
At 11:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, I glad it not so worse...Have a nice day

 

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