I figured out the bruises

[cjsmith]

My tendency to bruise easily leads to occasional minor mysteries in my life. Lately it's the outsides of my upper legs.

For several days I thought the car accident must have jostled me harder than I'd thought. But no; NEW little bruises kept adding themselves to the constellation.

Took me until last Friday to figure it out. They're from climbing over the handbrake.

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Ack! Hope your body has gotten back to normal after the accident.

Let's compare bruises! I have six or seven small ones over my arms and torso...but they are from the branches of the arborvitae poking me as I leaned over the top of it reaching for the far branches.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hee! I still have occasional twangs in random areas in my spine, but I'm confident that everything is rapidly approaching normal. Er, as normal as I get anyway. And I'm now getting a little better at NOT pulling the handbrake until I get to the passenger seat.

Arborvitae is malicious. The stuff actively attacks people. I'm sure of it.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I'm adding another new bruise to my collection tomorrow. I *always* get bruises on my stomach and hips from airline seatbelts.

(But I still wear 'em at all times inflight. I've been on a couple of flights which dropped more than several feet enroute, and I'm tall enough that I know I'd be one of the passengers to get a concussion or something from slamming into the overhead.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow, seat belts do it to ya? But only airline ones? Huh. How annoying.

My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[allanh.livejournal.com]

Specifically, the buckles, but on smaller planes, I've gotten hip bruises from narrow seats' armrests. This is why I detest flying coach on 737s, 727s & MD-80s.

Oddly enough, I don't have an armrest problem on CRJs ... the armrest on those planes manages to just miss all of the tender spots.

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yuck. I bet that gets old quickly. I wonder how you'd do in smaller aircraft. Some of them have room for adult human beings, and some... um... don't really!

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[allanh.livejournal.com]

A CRJ is the smallest commercial equipment I'll knowingly book myself on.

In general aviation aircraft, I do OK. I fit well into most King Airs, and into Citations (I, II, or III; haven't tried later models).

(You do know that I used to work for a businessjet aircraft brokerage, right?)

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Nope, I didn't know that. Me, I was thinking more along the lines of a Saratoga or a Pitts, but that's just my bias! ;-)

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[allanh.livejournal.com]

At one point in time, many, MANY years ago, I wanted to learn to fly a Citabria.

I don't think I could fit even one leg into a Citabria now.

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

You'll just have to buy yourself a CRJ, I guess!

Re: My drug of choice? 777 or 747 Business Class

[allanh.livejournal.com]

And find someone to fly it for me.

Oh, wait! That's where you and Rob come in, isn't it?

Never mind.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I do that too, with the small mystery bruises, I mean.


Usually I realize mine (always on my hips or thighs) are from whacking the corner of my bedframe. It's one of the nice mission-style ones, with the sticky-outy corner bits. You know, like the uprights have little roofs on them? (Never get one of those, no matter how attractive, unless your bedroom is a LOT bigger than mine is!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sticky-outy corner bits LIVE to attack us! Isn't that awful? They look so nice, and then you get one into your home, and KA-WHAM!, it shows its true colors.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

They're from climbing over the handbrake.

And not even in a fun way, apparently! ;-)

I'm always looking down at some extremity and finding a cut or something and having no idea how I got it. Often there will be a decent amount of blood and I won't feel it. Until I've noticed it.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The whole "mystery injury" thing adds surreality to life, doesn't it?

I'm slowly building the habit of NOT pulling the handbrake until after I get to the passenger side of the car. Here's how the habit goes so far:

-turn off car
-automatically set the brake
-realize I'm about to climb across
-release the brake
-climb across
-get out of car
-lock and close the door
-realize the brake isn't set
-open door again
-set the brake
-lock and close the door

I'm sure there are some optimizations that can be done. I just... somehow I know they've got to be possible. ;-)

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. At least the unusable door on my car is the passenger door. So I can get in and out with no problem and I just tell other people we'll have to go in their car. (Hmmm ... maybe I shouldn't get it fixed ... saves a lot of gas that way....)

I get mystery bruises all the time. I thought it was just me! I bump into things and I'm so fixated on whatever I'm doing at the time that I don't notice it. Then later I find a black-and-blue mark or a scrape or a cut and say Where did this come from?! It is indeed very disconcerting.

I'm glad you figured it out! Hopefully you won't have to be climbing around in the car for much longer!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's not just you! We're both members in good standing of the Mystery Bruise Club!

The insurance guy comes tomorrow morning at 8am. To my work. For all I know, they'll take the car away right then. I don't know what I'll do after that.