On Tuesday (9th August) night, I went to the Business Roundtable's 2005 Sir Ron Trotter lecture. The event, held at Te Papa, was very flash and it was the first time I had worn a suit since the accident. I was using my walking stick to get around and, apparently, if I twirled it and put on a top hat I would have looked something like Fred Astaire.
The evening passed pretty much ok except near the start I had a drink of orange juice in my hand when someone lightly bumped in to me. Before the accident it wouldn't have mattered, but this time I managed to spill quite a bit of orange juice. Not the safest pair of hands now, I guess.
The lecture itself was good. It was given by a US academic economist, Tyler Cowen, and was on globalisation and culture. I found I needed to make more of a conscious effort to concentrate during some parts of the speech. For instance, I found that I couldn't remember what the question was that was asked as Prof. Cowen answered it.
My concentration also cropped up as an issue at other times. At one stage, a man on one side of me was talking to a man seated two away on the other side of me. While the man seated two away from me was speaking I thought there was no way the other bloke could have heard, given he was further away than me. I must have been concentrating less, though, than the other bloke, because he answered straight away without clarification.
All in all, I enjoyed the lecture, though, and my fatigue allowed me to stay on a bit afterwards. Who would have thought an economics lecture could be so exciting?
Cheers,
Mike
Friday, August 12, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Computer Geek
This is one of those posts where one subject on its own isn't enough to write a post about but collectively the subjects can turn into something substantial enough.
Firstly, some slightly bad news. I had another chat with my physio during the week about a leaving date and when, previously, she had said that they could think about discharging me sometime in August I realised I should have interpreted her literally and that this didn't mean they would be likely to discharge me until September,
On the face of it, getting discharged a month later than I thought might be a bit of a bad step, but I didn't think I would have been ready to be discharged by the end of August. A discharge sometime in September gives me more time to exceed expectations.
To be well enough to be discharged I have to be able to walk without it mattering if I get distracted (by people talking, for instance) and do things like look over my shoulder while walking. I'm getting closer but I'm not there yet. My latest milestone is that I am now able to walk without an aid between my physio gym and the dining room which is a distance of about 50m thee times. My hips start moving in the wrong way towards the end of the third go, which is apparently a result of muscle fatigue, but it's not enough to stop me finishing off the walk.
My Mum has also put me on to a website that offers programmes for people to practice using their brain power. If you click on the link (My Brain Trainer) or type www.mybraintrainer.com into your address line you will be taken to the site. It is actually designed for normal people (those without brain injuries) and if you click on Take the Challenge you can try an exercise for free. The score to beat is about 127-128, which was set by my brother on his first go.
As predicted by the medical staff, my reaction speed is significantly below average but improving. It seems a bit geeky to rely on my computer for some of my recovery, but what can you do? Before you have a go at the challenge could you pass me my pocket protector?
Cheers,
Mike
Firstly, some slightly bad news. I had another chat with my physio during the week about a leaving date and when, previously, she had said that they could think about discharging me sometime in August I realised I should have interpreted her literally and that this didn't mean they would be likely to discharge me until September,
On the face of it, getting discharged a month later than I thought might be a bit of a bad step, but I didn't think I would have been ready to be discharged by the end of August. A discharge sometime in September gives me more time to exceed expectations.
To be well enough to be discharged I have to be able to walk without it mattering if I get distracted (by people talking, for instance) and do things like look over my shoulder while walking. I'm getting closer but I'm not there yet. My latest milestone is that I am now able to walk without an aid between my physio gym and the dining room which is a distance of about 50m thee times. My hips start moving in the wrong way towards the end of the third go, which is apparently a result of muscle fatigue, but it's not enough to stop me finishing off the walk.
My Mum has also put me on to a website that offers programmes for people to practice using their brain power. If you click on the link (My Brain Trainer) or type www.mybraintrainer.com into your address line you will be taken to the site. It is actually designed for normal people (those without brain injuries) and if you click on Take the Challenge you can try an exercise for free. The score to beat is about 127-128, which was set by my brother on his first go.
As predicted by the medical staff, my reaction speed is significantly below average but improving. It seems a bit geeky to rely on my computer for some of my recovery, but what can you do? Before you have a go at the challenge could you pass me my pocket protector?
Cheers,
Mike
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