In an attempt to improve my lousy housework reputation I decided to wash both of the bathrooms today. I really wanted to play golf because we’re facing more bad weather and there were a few hours without rain.

 

Before starting on the second bathroom I wondered if I should play golf first, then wash later. As it turns out, I should have played golf first.

 

While pressing a wet rag hard against a bit of dirt on the toilet, I felt and heard a snap in my left index finger. My first thought was that my bones were like bird bones and that I had broken my finger. The sound and feeling were a combination of cracking knuckles and the snapping of a thin twig of balsa wood. There was hardly any resistance at all.

 

I looked at the finger and it looked like this (this is not my finger - just one I found on the Internet):

 

                    

 

I couldn’t straighten it. Strangely, there was no pain whatsoever.

 

I headed for the emergency room and learned that I had broken a tendon - the one needed for extending the tip of the finger. The x-ray confirmed that there was no bone damage and a splint which I’ll have to wear for 6-8 weeks was applied.

 

According to the doctor, I should make a full recovery, but articles on the Internet lead me to believe I may never be able to fully extend that finger again. No matter. The only thing I worry about is the piano playing, but I think it will be easy to adjust.

 

This is the second self-induced injury I’ve had in the last few years. The last one was a torn meniscus that was due to me rising from a skiing fall. In both cases, if I had known that such injuries were even possible they probably wouldn’t have happened. Someone should make a list of do’s and don’ts for avoiding silly injuries of this sort.

 

Brother B was recently involved in a discussion about nationalized medicine and asked for my opinions. Today was a good real-life case. The service I received was excellent and there was hardly any waiting. It surprised me, however, that it was so expensive. Altogether, it cost me NOK 780 which, at the current very low dollar exchange rate is US$ 141. I wonder if I wouldn’t have got it cheaper in the U.S. even without insurance.

 

Luckily, it looks like I will be able to swing a golf club reasonably well, so the upcoming rounds in Hutchinson are still on.