Yesterday morning, just after getting off of my commuter bus and it started driving away, I realized that I had left my Kindle on the bus.

I really didn’t want to lose it, and forgot how old and out of shape I am, so I started chasing after it, running quickly (for me) waving my arms like a lunatic… I wasn’t feeling optimistic, but after a while I saw that the bus had stopped at a red light just over a block ahead, so I thought there might be a chance to catch up with it. Unfortunately, in the middle of a street, my weight got too far forward and I fell on the asphalt.

I got right back up and started running again and, fortunately, a construction worker up ahead saw me and figured out from my wild gesturing that I was trying to get to that bus, and he got the driver to wait for me.

So, I recovered my Kindle!

Unfortunately, I had scraped my left palm a little and my right arm (below the elbow) more, but the brunt of the impact was borne by my ribs, which were already hurting.

Today, I feel like I was hit in the chest with a baseball bat. Everything is sore, but the pain is mostly in my ribs and stomach, which seem to be more involved in every movement than I realized. It hurts to lie down, to get up, to sneeze (!!!), to walk, to stand, to sit down, to lift my arms, and to breathe (deeply). My left hand is so tender I can’t grip anything with it. But, if I sit fairly still and work on the computer (as I do most of the day), the discomfort level is fairly low.

So, I’m working from home today and trying not to move too much or quickly.

Even though I would pay much more than the price of a Kindle to avoid this experience, it seems like it would be much much worse if I’d lost the Kindle too. Maybe it’s just my desperate attempt to see a bright side, but I’m sticking to it.