Mayalaen

I went to visit Evan last night. He's doing REALLY well. His left eye is horribly bloodshot, but he's already able to see out of it even though he had an orbital bone fracture.

They did a surgery Monday to place some mesh to stabilize the bone, and he's wearing a patch to rest the eye, but he can already see out of it, which is pretty awesome only a few days out from an orbital fracture. It's a little blurry, but already improving. His right toe was broken, but they set it and he's not having any pain from it. His recent incision (knee surgery) opened back up in the accident, but no other damage was done to that right knee!

His left hip is fractured in multiple places, and day before yesterday they did another surgery to put in a plate and screws, which was very successful, and yesterday he was able to transfer himself from the bed to the recliner, which was what they were waiting for him to do before allowing him to move to a rehab center, so he should be moving in the next few days as soon as it's all arranged. It was a 100-mile round trip to go see him, so hopefully he'll get moved soon!

He's in pain, but he's a very stubborn kind of guy who has a very strong will, so he's already doing more than they said he could do and he's ready to hit rehab hard!

He explained the accident to us and it was very odd. One of those freak things. He was on a highway going 75-80 (speed limit is 75 even on 2-lane highways here) and a pick-up truck towing an SUV was going the opposite way. The cable let loose on the SUV and it went across the median.

Evan had the choice between hurting other people or just hurting himself, so he stomped on the brakes instead of veering into oncoming traffic or going into the other lane going his way and sideswiping the other vehicles going his way. He didn't have much time to slow down and the SUV heading for him was going pretty fast too, so his car is totaled.

One cool thing about all of this is that he has been having trouble with a pinched nerve in his neck ever since he had the knee surgery. It was causing the right ring and pinkie fingers to go numb and causing pain all throughout the arm and neck. Ryan and I were joking the other day that it would be cool if the accident fixed that, so I asked Evan about it, and would you believe the accident fixed the pinched nerve? He can feel his fingers again and there's no tightness or pain in his arm or neck!

They expect him to be in rehab for a couple weeks, and for a week or two after that they want him to take it easy, but he's claiming he's going to be back to work in 8 days. Stubborn dork :D

We decided to change around hours at the shop so that each of us aren't going in for little chunks of time and instead are going in for big chunks of time but splitting up whole days between us.

Between the four of us, it's hopefully going to give us each time to unwind between work times. And it'll also mean that I'll have some time to write while at work.

~Maya

(Crossposted from LJ)

So I have a new job. After nearly 20 years in the same line of work (beginning when I was 14), it's refreshing and scary at the same time.

I'm now the sole IT person for three small businesses, and the business taking the most of my time right now is a tattoo and supply shop that I'm 1/4 owner of.

By IT person (since it can encompass so many things), I mean that in three small businesses where none of the employees or owners have more than a somewhat passable knowledge of computers and most of whom know nothing about them and/or refuse to even touch them/learn about them, I run/maintain everything electronic, even the televisions and music/sound system.

When I finally realized my childhood dream of being a reclusive writer was a no-go (mental issues and changing meds really, really fuck with creative abilities), I switched gears. And even though I never thought it was more than a hobby, I've loved computers and technology in general.

So I could probably say it was my dream job without realizing I could have it as a job. I'm extremely shy, don't do well in public, have a lot of anxiety, and am absolutely horrible at communication.

Having my previous job situation drop out from under me the way it did kind of kick-started me into needing to do something (I'm not the type of person who can do nothing, and I'd work even if I won millions from a lottery that I don't play), and the opportunity presented itself at the most perfect time for these three businesses to finally be to the point where they needed tech and right now.

It's not an easy job. And it's made harder by the fact that a lot of the employees fight learning, and I suck at communication, but everyone knows I know my way around computers, and they trust me.

The grouchiest employee of the group recently growled at another employee when this other employee offered to have his "buddy" come in to look at the computers. Mr. Grouchy wouldn't even consider it and just said I had it under control, don't touch it, don't mess with it, etc.

It's totally adorable to me because I'm ridiculously shy, would rather hide in a dark corner and work, and that is contrasted with all the employees who are the opposite of shy -- very gruff and big and all those adjectives you'd associate with tattoo artists and their friends.

Not to say they're mean. They're all pretty great guys. But to see them all trust me and ask for me and fall all over themselves to at least try a little bit when I try to help them learn something... it's just cute.

The free (other than tipping) tattoos are a huge bonus, and the guys don't mind at all (as far as I know).

Now that we have a full-time piercer in the shop, I'm thinking of getting a few more piercings too!

~Maya

(Crossposted from LJ)