Keys, Computer, Hair, and Toes

So, it's only Wednesday and it's been a bloody bad week (as the English would say).

It started off great. Sunday night I decided to cut my hair...really, really short. Sarah's first repsonse was, "Daring!" Elisabeth suggested that I dye my hair, since "it's easier to dye short hair and make it all even." We ran to Woolworth's, found "Hypnotic Red," and commenced dyeing my hair in the bathroom. Amazing bonding time and I've gotten almost nothing but good feedback. I love it and feel a lot more comfortable, like this hairstyle is closer to who I am, at least right now.

When I fell down that short flight of stairs at Bondi Beach a month ago, my second toe on my right foot was pretty painful. I wondered if it was broken, but everyone and the internet told me that, because I could stand on it, it was probably just bruised. I went on the antibiotics for it, everything seemed fine. However, it was still swollen and purpley-pink. I couldn't think of anything except that the infection was still there, so I made another appointment for Monday morning with the doctors on campus.

When I saw the doctor, she informed that, if it was still swollen, my toe would be in trouble. She looked at my other, normal toe, and decided that it was most likely broken. I was instructed to get my toe x-rayed at a nearby Radiology Centre...nearby for someone with a car, that is. But I'll get to that in a second.

Tuesday morning, I woke up, turned on my computer to finish an assignment I had gotten an extension on, and discovered that my computer couldn't load Windows. Panicking, I attempted to call the professor who had given me the extension (no answer), then headed down to the Information Technology (IT) Services Help Desk. I couldn't find my keys, so I left keyless, to wait for the desk to open. Once the guy came (ten minutes late, nothing in Australia opens on time), he wasn't able to do anything for me. He told me I needed a reboot CD, which, if my computer came with (which I don't remember it having come with one), I left at home. I brought my computer to Derek, an electrical engineering major and computer science minor, who was able to recover my files (thank God, I would have lost all of my pictures and music). I called my professor, who granted me another extension, and tried to find someone with a CD of XP. My friend David has one, but it's only in German, and Brisbane Dave thought he had one, but he can't find his.

I went to get my foot x-rayed. The bus I wanted to take was 10 minutes late, causing me to panic until I finally saw it. I found a seat where I thought I could see the bus stops as they went by, but 20 minutes later, just barely saw my stop swing by. I hit the "STOP" button located on the bus and waited for another 5 minutes before the bus driver stopped. I then walked back to the stop and down the road, when I finally found the Radiology place.

I walked in and didn't have to wait a minute before I was called up, which was nice. I was brought into a room and told to sit on a bench. I wasn't given any extra coverings, as I had been told I would by other people, to protect the rest of my body from the radiation. Instead, the woman pointed a light at my foot, went behind a wall, pressed a button, the machine made a noise, and then she'd come back and tell me to move my foot another way. she took five pictures all together. For the last one, she taped my toes in all different directions so that she could get a straight-on shot of my toe from the side.

I then had to wait a half hour for my x-rays to be analyzed and then delievered to me, because they couldn't send the x-rays to Macquarie. I walked towards where I thought my bus stop would be, and ended up walking to another stop much further down. Luckily, I caught the correct bus home.

They hadn't taped up the envelope completely, although there was a sticker that said "TO BE OPENED ONLY BY REFERRING DOCTOR." I of course opened it and showed all of my flatmates and friends my toe. There was a clear line from the joint down through the side of the bone. A little triangle of my bone had moved off. The letter accompanying the x-rays said that it was a fracture.

I went back to IT today (Wednesday) to see if they could reload Windows XP on my computer, but they said they only dealt with Macquarie networking problems. Now I'm using Derek's computer to update my blog and check my mail while he's messing with my computer to see if he can fix it.

I also made another appointment with my doctor. She looked at my x-rays and said, in her Asian accent, "You broke it. You broke it bad." Since I didn't do anything about it for a month, my bone has formed a new bond between the two pieces. My toe will be deformed for the rest of my life. Also, she told me that it has been hurting me more lately because it's getting colder. So every winter I will now get to have a painful second toe on my right foot.

I lost my keys, my computer blew up, and I have a deformed toe. Great. Well, at least I have an awesome new haircut!