Owwwwwww

Well. we’ve been a little busy lately. I used the power-washer (thanks, John) to strip the paint from the outside of my house, I replaced a window above the front door, and I’ve been working a lot.

On the way to work on Saturday morning, a deer stepped in front of my motorcycle – just around the corner from our parking lot. I didn’t think much about what I did – just slammed on both brakes as hard as I could. Good news – I think I missed the deer. Bad news – I didn’t miss the road.

After slamming on the brakes, the bike skidded down onto its left side, tossing me with it. My shoulder hit the ground pretty hard and my left foot was still tangled up in the bike. I eventually became separated from the bike as it slid to a stop about 40 feet from where I did.

I am so unbelievably lucky. That morning, I put on my heavy leather jacket and even wore my gloves. I lost my left glove and skinned a few knuckles – but it could have been so much worse. My full-face helmet, my leather jacket and the gloves kept this from becoming much worse than it might have been.

I remember rolling on the road as I came to a stop – I lost some skin on my wrists and elbows. There’s a question for you – even though I was wearing a jacket, both of my elbows are scraped up. The jacket is intact. How did that happen??

Once I stopped rolling, I looked around and determined that laying on the street in the dark, separated from my motorcycle, was probably not a good thing. I carefully got up and found that I was missing a shoe. I looked around in the darkness, spotting it in the weeds next to the road a few feet behind me. I put it on and walked to the bike, laying on its side – the lights still on and pointing in the direction of the refinery. I climbed on, cycled the ignition switch (the tilt switch had killed the engine – just as it should have) and rode the rest of the way into the parking lot. I parked the bike and walked into work as if nothing had happened.

Well, I must have been a sight. One shoe half-shredded, bleeding from various places and just slightly out of breath. They called our on-site safety specialist, who started checking my blood pressure – just as I started to go white and started feeling really bad. I didn’t pass out, but I almost did – and the blood pressure numbers must have been really low. They decided to send me to the hospital to get checked out, and at the time, I didn’t feel like arguing with them.

I felt much better after laying down on the stretcher – i think I should have tried to lay down earlier. The guys in the ambulance took me to the emergency room, where I was put on a wheeled bed-thing and parked in a hallway. Someone put a tag on my collar, but other than that, I didn’t see anyone. After about an hour, I decided to get up and leave. Perhaps they were really busy, I don’t know. In any event, I felt much better, and decided that I needed to get to work. I called work for a ride, went back in and finished my shift.

I then rode my wounded bike home, stopping at the drug store for some gauze, antiseptic and a compression bandage for my ankle. (must have been a sight) My son got paid on Friday, so he was gone, out spreading around the pay from two weeks of washing dishes – so I couldn’t expect any assistance. I had to walk Bonnie when I arrived home – it must have taken me 45 minutes to get around the block. I got out of my shredded jeans, wrapped up my swollen ankle and washed up the scrapes. I bought Bactine because it comes in a spray bottle (good for large areas) and also because they say that it doesn’t hurt. They lie.

I was able to go to work on Sunday without any problems. I’m still limping, but I can drive my car around the refinery and much of my job can be done from my desk. Fortunately, the weekend work didn’t require too much from me. Normally, I have Monday off, but I will have to go to work tonight because we’re short-handed at work – I don;t get any extra pay for that, either. Oh well….

I called the bike shop this morning – they can take the bike on Wednesday. My insurance company has also been notified. I found out something interesting from the claims adjuster: If I hit the deer, the damage to my bike will be covered as a comprehensive claim. If I didn’t hit it, it’s covered under my collision coverage, which carries a higher deductible. The difference is about $750. He asked me if I hit the deer – I told him that I was too busy rolling around on the road to take notice. They will examine my bike for signs of deer strike when it gets to the shop. Of course, if I had hit it right on, it probably would have meant the end of me, so I’m glad the bike went down.

Good news – I walked Bonnie this morning and it was a bit less painful. I’m sure that tomorrow will be even better. I won’t be on the treadmill for a while, though.