-=> ED KOON wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 EK> On Jul 27, 2003 10:30am, WAYNE CHIRNSIDE wrote to ED KOON:

 EK>> He did come to my office 5 years ago to pick up an old PS2 and some
 EK>> other unneeded stuff.

 EK>> I must say, In real life, face to face, he is a likeable person.

 WC> A kind remark?
 WC> Did perhaps my mentioning my spine was shortened
 WC> 2 1/2 inches over a five inch span make an impact on your
 WC> opinion I'm a "welfare fraud?"

 EK> Your Captain Ghetto America storeys convict you. Boarding up Crack
 EK> Houses, Yada, Yada, Yada!

About an hour doing nothing more then learning against
plywood already hoisted into place by a security agent
who was also holding the piece against a window
to run screws in with a battery powered screwdriver
and I bailed on him before he was done.
This was three years ago.
Anyway I wasn't boarding up a crack house but giving minimal assistance
to that security agent in boarding up my former residence which
was foreclosed upon. 
So I'm convicted of what exactly?

 WC> Did that factual statement distilled from the orthopedic
 WC> surgeon technospeak for that injury make clear to
 WC> you the severety of my injury?

 EK> It doesn't seem to hurt your ability to use a computer.

I'm lying prone as we converse in this text based media
with the keyboard propped up in my lap.
The computer sits on a wheeled hospital cart next to the bed.
Some days sending out 10 posts takes me from 9 AM
to 5 PM and on those days I'm sweating from the pain
and quite frankly stink from it, on better days
I manage much more as in the last four days
after discovering the benefit of propping up the
keyboard I managed a sweat free 4 day productive run
before hitting the wall.
Propping my keyboard  up is a recent discovery and
thus not bending my legs up helps me considerably.
I'll be able to bathe the dog in a couple of days
as well as keep up housekeeping better as a result of
this discovery.
I used to bathe the dog every ten days around the time I
was assisting an individual boarding up a house for an hour,
now I bathe the dog every three months.

Why not credit the unbelieveable effort I put into
getting back to work through "Abilities of Florida"
attending classes 8 hours a day as well as traveling to and from?
Even I don't believe I managed to do that today but I did.

 WC> I've no steel rods or prosthetic implants or bone fusion to
 WC> alleviate the consequences of this injury.

 EK> Because the Injury are not severe enough to warrant it!

 Because there was limited funding available and Voc Rehab
 had on it's approved list of doctors one of which
 refused to do a spinal fusion citing morbidity rates.

 Just how does one lose 2 1/2 inches of spinal column
 in a 5 inch span without that injury being severe?
 Really I'd _love_ to hear you reply with a credible answer to _that_!
 Know any orthopedic surgeons? Ask one about this if you do.
 The injury spans the L-4 vertabre to the Sacrum.

 When first in Charles Finn's office I compared the diagram of
 a healthy spine on the wall with an x-ray of mine and even with an
 untrained eye the difference was painfully obvious.
 Had Dr. Wassel been on the list or had I private insurance or funding
 I'd likely be working today. Dr. Wassel was one fine bone breaker,
 orthopedic surgeon, used him before when I had private insurance.
 A couple of weeks after he operated on my knee I walked
 from Redington Beach to Clearwater via Seminole BLVD to Missouri
 to Clearwater Beach over the bridge to Sand Key back down to
 Redington on Gulf BLVD, this was in 1975 and I did it to check
 out the work he did on me,

 WC> BTW, both monitors expired in short order (perhaps stored too
 WC> long not turned on at your place of business?), the tape
 WC> backup drive has been useful but unreliable, the PS-2's Dallas
 WC> clock chips battery died and after pricing them discarded the unit,
 WC> and I'm currently using the Practical Peripherals external
 WC> modem.
 WC> I would have kept the PS-2 but for the fact none of
 WC> setup disks at the IBM support site would allow me to boot it.

 EK> The monitors were found next to a dumpster where i live, figured
 EK> someone could get some use out of them. The tape drive was useful back
 EK> then as well. A friend gave me that PS2 old but it worked perfect. Glad
 EK> you are still able to use the modem.

So aren't I. The software 56k modem now I've got Windows 98
running no longer works. Good thing I saved the Quantum drive when I
thought it was defective. Turned put to be the lousy ribbon 
drive cable had developed a fault.

 EK> Now if you would quit whining and figure out a way to earn a living
 EK> with your computing skills life would be better for you!

Unfortunately my stamina has left me under burden of chronic pain
and my concentration fails me after some period of time.
Mostly I just fool around with Fidonet.
Were I able to figure out a way to add to my income I would, that's
why I went to "Abilities of Florida" in the first place.
A previous attempt to setup a Linux box met with some success,
setup PPP, POP3, text based web browser, OLR, telnet but Verizons
SMTP authorization requirement eluded me so I could not send
e-mail unless going through a BBS.
Now that I've learned to prop the keyboard
up with a rolled up towel instead of bent knees I may try to
get back to that... or not depending on how well my new system works.
After that I may learn HTML and if it plays well
I may seek self employment doing web pages in which event I
could afford to hire someone to clean my house.
Currently configuring Windows 98 is giving me enough trouble
due to failing eyesight for nearby objects and a small monitor.

Most people with injuries as severe as mine are either paralysed
or in assited living facilities.
I was fortunate in that the force applied to my spine was largely
compression with little shearing force, that would have severed
the spinal column, and would have left me
paralyzed below the waist which by the way is still a possibility.
If I undertake too much effort I do suffer sudden unexpected
and painful falls as well as less pleasant symptoms that all to
clearly demonstrates just how close to paralysis I truely am.

At least I tried to give you some helpful advise with your
swollen leg in elevating it.
BTW I've not traveled over 1/3 the distance of electro-automotive
in the intervening six years since I saw you face to face
not too long before realizing I could not work in any capacity.
I may review that outlook if my new means of working at the computer
continues to work out but then I'll have to obtain presciption
glasses rather then these grocery store magnifiers.
I keep trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and you keep
replying in ignorance of the consequences of my injuries.
I use the term ignorance as applicable to spinal injury and not
in insult.
Were I capable of "boarding up crack houses" I surely would have
supplimented my income as you know even those on disablity
are allowed several hundred dollars additional income with no loss
of benefits.
Before injured I worked as a delivery driver and setup person for
professional quality workout equipment, before that worked
66 hours a week as a printer for 5 years and 45 hours a
week in receiving at the very same company.
Today merely keeping a clean house often is beyond
my abilities.
 
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