further boggle permutations

(not that this is really new...)

so, striking out into 3-d in a different way, i was thinking of having 2 boards, one above the other. all standard rules apply, but in addition, you could move up/down or diagonally up/down between the boards. then i realized i didn't think i could really get this to work for me w/ 2 boards next to each other. and i couldn't figure out how to have one above the other, showing the correct alignment, while still having all the letters visible, and only the current letters visible. so, as long as i'm coming up with unworkable permutations, why not go whole hog, as it were, and suggest a 5 by 5 by 5 cube of letters to play with (actally, i suppose a 4 by 4 by 4 cube would work here, even for a minimum 5 letter game. after all, that's 64 letters...). how to get it so only the correct letter is visible, and all the letters are visible to everone? all i could think of was some sort of star trek thing, where each cube is programmed with its 6 (or 7. hooray for qu.) letters, including which is "on" each face of the cube. then, once the cubes are shaken into some sort of airy translucent grid contraption, x seconds later all sides of the cube show the same letter that is on the top face. still doesn't address sight lines, though i'd assume the letters would be more apart than they are now. maybe not exactly a spacious cube, but more along the lines of a square frustum, cut off at the bottom, so the lines of acceptable play would still be there, but the alignments wouldn't tend to block visibility as much. hmmm....

hand/ finger update

the pins are out!

this morning, the doctor checked how the fingers were doing, took the dressing off, took some x-rays with the fluoroscope, then pulled the pins. he used a forceps, and pheromone was right - no anesthesia, painkilling, whatever. a few moments of pain, but not bad. i didn't watch, though, figuring that would squick me more. this way i could just focus on the real pain.

anyway. not too much bleeding, and a bit later some more fluoroscope pix, a hand w/o dark straight lines of pins. i can see where the break is/was - apparently there's a month lull before the bone would show up as completely healed. but the finger moves (as much as it does) as a unit. now it's up to me to do the therapy, get range of motion back. the doctor asked me to bend as much as i could, and seemed relatively pleased with the results. i see him in 2 weeks (he's off to chicago for his wife's professional conference next week), and he wants lots of progress...

i still need to keep the dressing on my hand covered when i shower. next week hopefully the dressing will be able to come off, let me start applying prodigious quantities of cream to the lizard skin on the back of my hand, and shower without it being a production (and just last week i was excited by the thought of showering at all...)

another 5 days of antibiotics, just to be on the safe side, make sure nothing happens while the open wounds heal. another trip to the pharmacy. i'm lucky to have health insurance...

side note: i have the pins. they're wrapped in gauze, in a plastic glove. for some reason i was surprised at how long they are, around 3 inches or so, sharp at one end (big surprise), curved into a right angle at the other. anyone have ideas for what to use them for, other than just ditching them?

working, right

"ma'am, i need you to step away from the keyboard."

"ma'am, please stop typing now. you've been requested to stop on 2 charges, one count of neglecting the work you're supposed to be doing, and one charge of forgetting to eat when hungry lest you miss something "good" posted to your friends page."

"yes, i understand index checking is a boring job designed to rot the brain, ma'am, but i really need you to stop typing now."

"i'm giving you 5 seconds, ma'am."

"i'm drawing my weapon ma'am. please stop typing now."

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1."

[a flash, and the screen goes blank, fades to black.]

pt

just had my first official appointment with the physical therapist. (previously, i'd gotten splints made, and some preliminary exercises.)

the totally cool part for me, the math geek, was how she measured range of motion in both hands (for comparison purposes), using 2 clear pieces of plastc grommetted to a clear circular plastic protractor. i may have been her first patient who was so interested in this... there was also a cool tool for measuring the circumference of fingers at different points (precision to the nearest eight of an inch). lots of notation, a whole page of numbers giving a description of where i am (left hand) and where i'm trying to be (right hand).

she also asked about pain, and was surprised when i said there wasn't any. i think i have different perceptions of pain, somehow. she kept persisting, and i finally agreed that when i was trying very hard to make a fist, maybe a 1 on a 0 to 10 range. really, things are stiff. very stiff, but not very painful.

she asked for the things that were most frustrating me not being able to do them. somehow i couldn't seem to remember much besides chopping veggies and driving until later in the appt.

now i have 5 new exercises to do 4x/day, things to work on the axes of motion i have trouble with. so i try to make a fist, to lay my hand flat on a table, to bend my hand forward from the wrist, and bend the fingers forward from the bottom joint. oh, an put my hand as flat as possible, then pull the fingers as close as possible, then spread them as far apart as possible.

i don't have to wear the splint! she recommends it when i'm out, or traveling, or sleeping, but it's more of a reminder (to me and others) to be careful around it. so, no new splint with red and yellow velcro...

maybe i should make a small sculpture with the 2 splints, the pins, and the bottles the prescriptions came in, enhanced with some gauze or something, put in one of my x-rays if i can get it, call it "healing"...
nah, not quite my style.

royalty

I have become the Exfoliation Queen.