INFINITY Welcomes Careful Drivers

Today is or was July 4th, the day we Americans celebrate Independence day. I didn't do much though I had planned to originally. With the recent decision by the Supreme Court in the D.C. v. Heller case affirming that the 2nd ammendment does in fact guarantee and individual right to keep and bear arms, despite certain other groups' view that the 2nd is a collective right, I decided to celebrate by excercising that right a bit.

I got out of work early Thursday and made my way slowly down the road to Ed's Gun Shop on US 1 down toward Southern Pines. There I picked up some targets and a fair bit of ammunition for my little Makarov and my SKS. I planned to spend the 4th making my own bangs, with firearms, oblitterating some wayward targets in my back yard. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

I had been feeling sore the last couple days as an old injury reared it's ugly head. Normally, I just take some Skelaxin when it starts to flare up, get some rest, and it pretty much takes care of itself. Unfortunately, there are two to three times a year where that muscle bunch that runs from the base of the skull down the left side of my neck to the scapula, spasms and draws up so completely tight that I can't turn my head, or even get out of bed without a goodly amount of pain and immobility.

Thus it happened. Slowly, the bastard creeped up on me until I was hurting. I popped a couple Skelaxin and laid down next to Dana, who was trying to take a nap. I lasted about an hour before the pain got to be too great and I finally decided to head off to the doctor for the customary Toradol shot.

The first thing we tried was RapidCare in Sanford. Let me tell you, we've tried them twice now, and both times have been utter disappointments... so I will tell you now, DO NOT GO TO RapidCare in Sanford. The first time, they couldn't seem to understand how my insurance works, and my wife ended up having to pay for her entire visit up front. They made it a real pain in the ass for a woman who was feeling quite badly to get any help and simply would not take my insurance, even though every other doctor in the world knows my insurance company and accept it readily.

The second strike was Thursday evening. Their hours are posted as open until 8 PM. We arrived at around 6:20 PM and as I painfully made my way into the receptiona area, we were quickly turned away because they decided to close up early. Here I am, unable to turn my head without turning my body, wincing in pain getting into and out of the car, and even walking sometimes causing pain to shoot through my neck into my shoulders. So screw them. Again, DO NOT GO TO RapidCare in Sanford.

We stopped off at Kerr Drug, to see if their clinic was open, but it was not. They were VERY helpful, though and pointed us down the road to another urgent care clinic run by Dr. Powell. So off we went to a third location.

Let me say that I really liked my experience at Dr. Powell's office. The staff was nice, courteous, and professional. Thankfully, they weren't crowded, so I got in pretty quickly, and the doctor was in in a matter of minutes. We chatted a bit, and he sent a nurse in to shoot my ass full of Toradol and Norflex (a muscle relaxant). He sent me on my way with some pain meds and more Skelaxin and after a brief dinner, we headed home.

I woke this morning in considerably less pain, though there is still some lingering tightness in my neck. I spent a good bit of the day in bed, in a drug induced haze not moving very much, and thus, instead of blowing away imaginary Red Coats and other Enemies of Freedom, I read a book, watched some TV, and cooked my wife a nice 4th of July dinner of Steak, grilled corn and potatoes.

I didn't get to fire my weapons, but I had a good day none the less. Now it's time to head off to bed once more to let the miracle of modern pharmacology ease the last vestiges of the seige I am currently under. I've won this battle, but it'll be back, it always comes back.