Another beautiful, warm, sunny day. Did some more varnishing. Roy tried to replace the speedometer cable in the Sumlog, but found out he couldn't, because there was no way to take apart the propeller unit without destroying it. Anyway, the other log should work ok now.
Phoned Boat/U.S. again. The boy, Kevin, has gone back to Newport without writing up my order or telling anyone else about it. The guy I talked with today, Rick, said he'd phone Kevin first thing tomorrow morning to find out the status of the order and then page me. Where have I heard that before? We'll see.
Everything was going great until late afternoon. I finished varnishing, took a shower and washed my hair, and then rode my bike to an ATM to pop out some money so we can pay the yard bill tomorrow so we can go back in the water. It was a perfect day for a bike ride. After I got the loot, I decided to go to a hardware store another mile or two down the road and see if I could get some 180-grit sandpaper. I don't know what's happened to 180. I've been to several different stores. They have plenty of 120, 150, 220, etc., but no 180. I thought surely this big building-supply store I was going to would have it. Unfortunately, the store was farther than I remembered, it was rush hour, I ran out of shoulder, and there was no sidewalk. This is one of the worst places to ride a bike in I've ever been. There are no bike lanes, and drivers, especially those making left turns, don't seem to pay any attention to bicyclists. Twice I had to make emergency stops and another time I had to swerve to avoid left-turners. Cars and buses were zooming by me so fast and so close, I could feel the air pressure as they went by. I could hardly wait to get off the street, away from the traffic. As soon as I saw the store I was looking for, I turned eagerly into the driveway without paying enough attention to where I was going. I assumed the driveway slanted, but there was a rise of about an inch. My front wheel hit it at the wrong angle, deflected, the bike toppled over, and I went sprawling. My first concern was my glasses--I was afraid they'd fall off and break, but they stayed on and were fine. I was wearing my helmet, so there was no damage to my bean. I was afraid the bike might be damaged, but it seemed to be ok. The skin was scraped on my left knee and right elbow--no big deal. But my right arm hurt and felt all twisted. I was afraid it was broken. Managed to pick myself up, raise the bike, and stagger over to the store. Wouldn't you know--after all that, they didn't have any 180-grit sandpaper!
My right arm was hurting something fierce, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to ride back to the boat. I had visions of phoning Cobb's Marina, asking them to lend Roy their car, and have him come after me, but I decided to try riding my bike. Couldn't do anything with my right hand but rest it on the handlebar. Couldn't use it for braking or steering. Rode very slowly and carefully, walking my bike across busy intersections. As soon as I got back to the boat, I was going to ask Roy to borrow the Cobb's car and take me to an emergency room. Even if my arm wasn't broken, there was definitely something wrong with it that needed medical attention.
What a relief when I finally reached the boat! And what a disappointment when Roy wasn't there! He had gone someplace on his bike, too. It was after six, so there was no way to get to a hospital and back by bus, and I was afraid to try to drive Mrs. Cobb's car by myself with my arm in that condition, so all I could do was wait.
Pretty soon, Roy returned. Ironically, he had gone to the huge building-supply store, HQ. If I'd known he was going there, I could have had him get the sandpaper and none of this would have happened.
Roy seemed reluctant to take me to an emergency room. He checked my arm and didn't think it was broken. He told me to lie down and rest for half an hour. I tried, but didn't get much rest. We ate supper, Roy washed the dishes, and I went to bed early.
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