today, or rather wednesday, i smashed my scooter.
twenty-year old idiot in front of me braked sharply and turned off with no warning or indicator, i didn't have much time to react - i could either try and swerve into middle of road and hope i miss the oncoming traffic, or just hit the idiot in front of me as safely as i could. i managed to brake a bit, but was still going at 40mph or so when i hit. i thought i clipped the corner of him, but police told me i hit his front wheel arch. i went for a bit of a tumble and ended up about ten yards down the road with the scooter on top of me. it's a big heavy steel scooter too, not a little plastic one. driver didn't even get out to see if i was ok! he told the police that i was trying to undertake him! scooter written off - haven't seen it myself, but front wheel is hanging off apparently.
i knew enough about first aid not to try to move, but there i was on a grass verge in great pain with a scooter on top of me. luckily someone came running out of a house, even better was the fact that she works for police and is a qualified first aider. she lifted bike off me and covered me with a duvet as it was very cold (but not frozen). also random police car just happened to pass by 2 minutes later and called ambulance.
ambulance took a while to reach me, but i was in good hands. taken to hospital and had lots of x-rays. broke a couple of fingers, making typing slow, couple of cracked ribs, and fractured both my pubic ramii on my pelvis. doctors said it's nothing serious, it will heal on its own in six weeks or so, but in the meantime it will hurt a lot - they were right!
stayed in hospital overnight and they said i could go home if i could learn to use crutches - didn't get on too well with them, so i've got a zimmer frame. luckily i live in a bungalow, so no stairs to worry about, and i'm managing to hobble about slowly on my own. i have good friends nearby to help, and an aider is going to come in three times a day to help a bit more. luckily i can do nearly everthing myself apart from heavy stuff. my landlady who lives in farmhouse twenty yards away has offered to cook all my meals.
am on a cocktail of painkillers that only take the edge off - sitting down and standing up are excruciating, but hobbling about is not too bad with frame. been told to mix being in bed, sitting on soft chair, sitting on hard chair and to walk around as much as i can.
so nothing serious, could have been a lot worse i suppose. my head hit the ground pretty hard, but helmet did its job and i didn't black out or anything.
what is worse from a geek's perspective is i smashed my little netbook - i was coming home from uni library where i had just finished writing an assignment - i hope hdd is still ok, but machine won't boot. not had chance to investigate further. really cant afford to get a new one at the moment either.
oh well, i'm still alive and i have my desktop pc and internet to keep me amused and friends to support me.
well it's LEGAL according to the Law now after all it's my property 
