Close call

I had a rather startling accident Thursday, and while I walked away relatively unhurt, I was badly shaken. Somehow a blue Ethernet cable that runs under my desk had pulled, or been pulled, away from the wall, and I didn't notice it was under my feet. It was 7:30 a.m. when I jumped up from my seat and realized a foot was caught in the cable.

I had jumped up fast enough that I was already off balance by the time I realized my foot was caught, and I was helpless as I fell down like a ton of bricks.

On the way down, I think I made a flash decision NOT to throw my hands out - because I would probably break one or both of my wrists - and I twisted somewhat to ultimately take the brunt of the fall on my left knee.

You can imagine what I thought as I was going down. Some of my thoughts included:

A. I've never broken a bone before. I hope this doesn't hurt too much.

B. Patricia is not going to enjoy getting the phone call that I'm in the hospital.

C. I wonder who'll get the paper to press today.

My cry as I went down was essentially a strangled scream of surprise and dismay. I can imagine what it sounded like to Rey, the sports editor, who was the only other person there.

After I landed I rolled over on my back, Rey rushed over and asked if I needed an ambulance. I told him I wanted to lay there a minute and see how I felt.

I didn't feel any sharp pains, and after a minute I realized I had survived the fall intact. I got up on my own and after a few minutes got back to work.

I took a bad jolt and I felt somewhat woozy until after lunch, but all things considered I think I was pretty lucky. I'm glad Rey was there, in case I had needed any help. It's also good to see I'm not that fragile.

Probably as a result of the overall stress to my system, by Friday I had caught a stomach virus that's been going around the office, and I had a stomach ache Saturday. It seems to have been a 24-hour thing, and I'm feeling better now.

My left knee remains sore, but it never swelled or discolored, and it will probably feel normal in another day or two.

Although I have some things to do Monday, it is my day off from doing the paper, so I have a little time to recover. I skipped church this morning, Patricia has to give my regards since she teaches third and fourth grade Sunday school.

Like I said, a close call, but it turned out OK.