Lisa Took a Tumble

[kevin_standlee]

Last night after dinner, Lisa and I were taking a walk (as we often do), when the pavement under Lisa's feet on the left edge of the street crumbled away and sent her tumbling. The fall tore up her knee (and put a rent in her jeans), and twisted her ankle on the leg not bleeding from the scrapes of the asphalt.

Fortunately, we were only a couple of blocks from home. After Lisa concluded that she didn't think anything was broken, I helped her to her feet and supported her as we slowly limped home. I got warm water and bandages, and she cleaned and dressed the torn-up knee (which looks pretty ugly, but she says is mostly superficial) with antibiotic ointment. A little later, she seemed to be moving around okay, but this morning was a different story.

Today, her ankle was swollen a bit (although not obviously bruised), and she couldn't put any weight on it. But everything is moving, and she still doesn't think she broke anything. I offered to take her to urgent care to have the ankle X-rayed, but she doesn't think it necessary. Fortunately, we have a pair of crutches in the house, which I brought to her so she could hobble around as needed. She gave me a shopping list and I brought stuff home from Raley's for her. The checkers at the local store remarked on me being on my own; that's how much we apparently are memorable.

If I hadn't already voted a couple of weeks ago in favor of it, this would have just solidified my support for an advisory measure on the local ballot that would instruct the city council to seek legislation to allow them to impose a 5-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel sold within city limits, said money to be dedicated to road maintenance and repaving. It's a hard sell in a massively anti-government, super-conservative area like Fernley, where you see people saying, "We're taxed too much as it is" and "they should learn to get by on what they already have," and also with a lot of "economics" that makes me think they think that the money coming in twenty years ago is good enough, inflation is some thing made up by liberals and doesn't really exist, and that they don't need to have the roads repaved, because they drive a big old 4WD heavy-duty truck and Government Is Evil anyway.

As I've mentioned, there were many races where I didn't vote, because there was exactly one candidate (a Republican) on the ballot, on account of the local Democratic party didn't even bother fielding a candidate because they knew it was hopeless. Maybe I should have run for State Assembly instead of Fire Board. I would have made it to the general election by default! Not that I would have won, of course, not in a district that will probably vote something like 80% Republican. But this Fernley road tax was put up by the less-crazy Republicans and has support from them; it wouldn't have made it out of the council otherwise. We can but hope that there are enough people locally who can make the connection between fuel taxes and roads.

Comments

[scott_sanford]

Yikes! I hope she feels better soon!

Road maintenance is one of those things that's so obviously useful that's it's hard to make any good argument against it...but I'm sure some people are trying.

I was also noticing the number of uncontested seats in my area's election. The county Soil & Water Conservation office seems to have had a shake-up, as there are two people running and three open positions; that's probably a situation where there aren't all that many qualified people not already busy with something else.

[kevin_standlee]

I'm pretty sure these people complaining want the roads repaired. They just don't think they should have to pay anything for it. They think the money they paid in the past was good enough then and should be good enough now. In their minds, inflation doesn't exist, and it should cost the same to fix things today as it did twenty or forty years ago. I asked one of them if he's ever had a raise in pay over the past twenty years, and he told me that was none of my business, and those government employees are fat and lazy.

I personally think that some of these people think there should be no taxes, no guv'mint, and to fix the roads, they and the good-old-boys should get their guns and round up some people they don't like, point their guns at them, and say, "You work on the roads or we shoot you," and that would be just dandy.

[garyomaha]

Heal quickly, Lisa! Perhaps Kuma can spare some honey to put on the wound. (Although I'm not sure what medicinal qualities honey has.)

[travelswithkuma]

Honeys is goods for evertythings! Nots sures about knees, thoughs. Bears has beens tryings to takes cares of girls. Boys has been carryings Bears whens Girls can'ts.

[delosharriman]

Honey has, as I recall, some bacteriostatic properties which can make it useful in dressing superficial wounds.

[lindadee]

Tell Lisa I empathize with her. I sprained my ankle about a month ago, and I'm still in pain from it. I was in a boot for 3 weeks, and now I'm walking with a brace.

[kevin_standlee]

Yeah, it's no fun, and you have my sympathy. She was getting around a little bit better yesterday evening. She can hobble back and forth with the crutches, but she won't be running any marathons soon. With luck it will only take a few days. It could have been worse.

Even if the advisory measure that would pay for fixing the streets passes, it will be years before we get any relief. It's only advisory, and the state legislature would have to approve it, and then I think the actual tax would have to pass another public vote. Personally, I'd prefer a lower per-unit tax on a broader base (all motor vehicle fuel, not just diesel), even though it means I'd end up paying more for fuel personally.