I haven't done one of these since LJ was hip

[randomdreams]

How old are you?
51. I have to do the math repeatedly because somehow I don't believe that number.

Tattoos?
Not on purpose. But if the criterion is organic material injected deeply enough into the skin to leave a permanent mark, then yes. I did it through an explosive rather than a needle. I recommend against that.

Ever hit a deer?
I hit an elk once. It went 'oof'. I did too. It and its comrades kindly refrained from goring me while I was getting back up and on my bicycle.

Ridden in an ambulance?
Does a flight for life count? How about if I don't remember it?

Sang karaoke?
Not officially.

Ice skated?
I mostly would skate over to where the really dangerous holes in the ice were and poke around there until some adult yelled at me.

Ridden a motorcycle?
I've had a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license since 1987, which was the last time I rode a motorcycle, alas.

Stayed in hospital?
I only found out about four years ago how long I was in the hospital after the big car crash. I had lived for a decade thinking it was only three or four days.

Skipped school?
Oodles.

Last phone call?
State Farm and I are having a long discussion over how my house is insured, because I want it insured for its present value, not its purchase value, in case it falls in the swamp and burns down, which seems increasingly likely.

Last text from?
A pokemon go friend who desperately wants to have lunch so we can trade pokemon.

Watched someone die?
No.

Pepsi or Coke?
Coke, specifically diet coke that uses Splenda. The molecular structure of Splenda makes chemists wince, but I've read a _lot_ about sweeteners.

Favorite pie?
Almost any. I wasn't big on the lucky charms pie my friend made, but that's about it.

Favorite pizza?
Blue Pan, Highlands district of Denver.

Favorite season?
I'm torn between June 21 (the longest day of the year) and August 10 (the hottest). In there somewhere.

Broken bones?
Jaw, collarbone, pelvis, femur, scapula, humerus, are the ones I have not broken. I remember being in the hospital, and the doctor showing me the x-ray of my torso and saying "I can't find a rib that isn't broken in multiple places." The time they had to bolt my tibia back together hurt the worst, but the broken metatarsil was the grossest.

Received a ticket?
I consider it a gold star year when I don't get a ticket. 2018 was a gold star year. 2014 was the previous one.

Favorite color?
Cobalt blue, more specifically RAL #58.

Sunset or sunrise?
I would stay up to sunrise on a regular basis if I had a different job.

Comments

[ivy]

I think it only counts as a tattoo if said injection was the intentional action of a human. Otherwise it's more like shrapnel.

I'm glad you remained ungored! Was the elk basically placid about this?

Flight for life totally counts as an ambulance.

[randomdreams]

It was shrapnel. Okay. I'll count that as a no.

The elk was surprisingly placid. She stumbled and then got back up on her feet and only trotted a few steps away before turning around to look at me. That means to me that she thought I was a threat she could easily fight off. She was right.

[asakiyume]

Did all the broken bones come in the car accident that put you in the hospital for the longer-than-you-remembered time? And did the explosive incident that left you with a tattoo also put you in the hospital? There's a song "coal tattoo" about having a tattoo from an explosion in a coal mine...

[randomdreams]

The car accident was responsible for only two unique bones broken: vertebra and skull. I've broken so many ribs so many times over the years, I can't even count.

Did you have cap guns when you were a kid? Like, you put in a roll of paper caps (composed of blackpowder and flint) and each time you pull the trigger the hammer smacks one and it goes kerblam? I thought it would be fun to collect just the powder, so I built a little extractor: a piece of erector set plate, because the holes are exactly the same diameter as the explosive pod of the paper cap, and an erector set axle that just fits through the hole. So: position the cap, punch it out. My cleverness is limited to implementation not forethought, sometimes, so I braced the erector set plate against my thigh, punched a bunch out, and one of the times I punched one out, it went through the plate, pushed down into my thigh muscle, and exploded, firing a tiny little sunburst of blackpowder and flint out into the surrounding skin.

I've gotten better at forethought since then.

[asakiyume]

You were such a resourceful kid! Yes, we did have cap guns like that, and as I think about it, yeah, the caps *are* exactly the same size as the holes in erector sets.

I guess a few starburst experiences does help one add in the forethought.

[amaebi]

Wow, you really ran into an elk on your bike? I'm glad they didn't gore you, but I'm surprised if they didn't give you a lecture on lese-majeste.

[randomdreams]

Another time my brother and I hit a deer while riding a tandem. That was safer. They are both less intimidating and less bold. It's extremely rare but elk have killed people in Colorado.

[sistawendy]

I did it through an explosive rather than a needle. I recommend against that.

This may be peak Random right here. Either this or your lucky bike shorts.

I mostly would skate over to where the really dangerous holes in the ice were and poke around there until some adult yelled at me.

You can't not risk accidental death, can you?

[basefinder]

I don't think I've heard about the big crash.

Maybe I will do this meme. It seems kind of fun.

You and I are briefly in our 50s together... in May I will advance to the next decade. Not sure how I feel about that.

[zyzyly]

I would have guessed you were in your 40s, but only because I don't know why.

[shalpacafarm]

The elk in Yellowstone terrified everyone. This was before wolf reintroduction though.

I’m going through old emails.

How long were you actually in the hopsital?