That's Good / That's Bad: The Day in Review.

Still in the middle of crunch time at school, I've suspected that I've had attention deficit disorder (ADD) as I've had difficulty concentrating on school work. So, I go to the doctor, and he tells me I don't have ADD. That's good.

However, it's not so much that I don't have ADD (no test was administered, because my doctor "didn't have time"), but I don't have a doctor that doesn't dispense pills like candy (I think that's good). Therefore, he only dispenses prescriptions for Ritalin if a parent comes in with their kid and their kid isn't sitting still and destroying the office. According to him, I'm "functional." Therefore, no Ritalin for me. And, therefore, I find myself blogging, watching DVDs, and goofing off when I should be studying. That's bad.

But, being that I was in my doctor's office (and I didn't want him to think that I was just pill chasing), I decided to have a bunch of other things done while I was at it, so I got my tetatanus shot upgraded. Therefore, I don't have to worry if I happen to step on a rusty nail. That's good.

Three scars, left leg

Back in 1994, I underwent a surgical technique called Ilizarov surgery, which involves having crooked or deformed bones corrected by surgically breaking them (via cortiotomy) and then straightening them through a network of wires pins and screws (click the link to learn more). This process also involves pins that are drilled to the bone through the skin. Since the pins were removed, the bone reacted and not only healed up the hole, but generated scar tissue and excess bone growth. Excess bone growth manifests itself as lumps under the skin. If I'm wearing functionally tight fitting footwear like snowboard boots or rollerblades for more than six hours at a time, I will be left with blisters or abrasions over the pin sites. I asked my doctor if I can do anything about that (eg: surgeon goes in and sands them down or something like that), but my doctor says it'll likely come back and even worse than before. That's bad.

"Fell in Love with a Girl" by the White Stripes,
transcribed entirely with my right hand

One of my goals of the year is to become ambidextrous, so I've taken steps by doing the daily morning crossword with my right hand while I eat cereal with my left (I'm left handed). So far, the results are somewhat mixed. Today, I got bored in class, so I wrote out the lyrics to "Fell in Love with a Girl" by the White Stripes with my right hand. Surprisingly, it's actually legible. Barely. That's good.

While I was at the doctor's office, when asking about options about what to do about the excess bone growth in my legs, he pulled out a catalogue of braces, supports, and tapes from an athletic medicine company. I mentioned off hand that I wear a wrist brace (actually a wrist guard for inline skating) during my martial arts classes. I then go into the story about how I crunched my left wrist after messing up a backflip. He asks to examine at the wrist. I stress it in a certain way that isn't painful, but causes weird crunching sounds (the other wrist doesn't do that). I also explain that certain movements cause pain while others do not. He then goes on to say that it won't get better on its own and will need surgery to repair. It'll take at least six weeks to recover, plus rehabilitation. He issued me an appointment card to get my left wrist x-rayed. I need that hand to write and my right-handed penmanship is not that legible. That's bad.

I submitted my portfolio for a summer work experience session through my school program. I submitted lots of eye-catching colour images, which I think will help, because I already talked to the person doing hiring and she indicated that she'd be interested in seeing them. I think I have a really good shot at that position. That's good.

Unfortunately, the summer experience is spread out over the entire summer, which means booking time off to get my surgery done will be difficult. Plus, it'll make finding paying work during the summer pretty difficult too. That's bad.

The school week is finally over. That's good.

I barely have enough time to study and work at the same time. That's bad.

If I quit my job, I'll have more time to study. That'll be good.

If I quit my job, I'll be broke. That'll be bad.

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